According to early estimates, PPV buys for the Margarito/Pacquiao fight were estimated at 1.4 million viewers. This is double the amount for Pacquiao’s fight with Joshua Clottey in March. It also is the number for the Floyd Mayweather/Shane Mosley fight in June.
Lance Pugmire of the LA Times posted a tweet stating that the attendance figure of 41,734 was a disappointment. At the post-fight press conference, Bob Arum citedtough economic times as a factor for the low attendance. In comparison, the attendance for the Pacquiao/Joshua Clottey fight in March at Cowboys Stadium was 50,994.
Payout Perspective:
Preliminaries
Jones/Soto-Karas action. Admittedly, the establishment I went to watch the fight had multiple televisions so I was watching the Oregon-Cal game during most of the prelims. However, I did catch the Mike Jones/Jesus Soto-Karas fight. The fight was highlighted by a flurry of action in the 2ndround as Jones hit Soto-Karas with punches in bunches. However, Jones expended so much energy it allowed Soto-Karas to get back into the fight. In the end, Jones won a controversial decision.
Missing the Ghost. It would have been great if Kelly Pavlik was on the card. Pavlik pulled out due to injury. Although on the downside of his career, he is a known fighter and his presence would have complemented the card.
Main Event
There was some pre-fight drama as the hand wrap controversy came into play. But, it was the Margarito camp taking issue with Pacquiao’s hand wraps. Not to be outdone with the gamesmanship, Pacquiao’s camp believed that Margarito was drinking something with the banned substance Ephedra. It appeared to be coffee with Splenda. The broadcast did a good job of investigating the issue by sending Max Kellerman to the back. Although comical, Kellerman provided an up to the minute account of the issues going on in the locker room. While it distracted viewers from the Jones/Soto-Karas fight, it kept people apprised of what was going on in the back. It would be nice to see MMA broadcasts take a page from this from the perspective of providing backstage interviews and more shots of the preparation going on in the back.
Pacquiao/Margarito– A dominating show by Pacquiao. The fight could have been stopped multiple times and it looked like the referee was hoping for a flurry of punches to stop Margarito similar to the end of the Pacquiao/Cotto fight. In his past few fights, it seems that Pacquiao gets bored during the fight (see e.g., the curly shuffle or taking breaks during rounds by putting up his hands and absorbing shots).
Miscellaneous Observations
– The marketing for the fight has been examined hereand here. Also, Tecate remained a constant presence at the fight.
– If you watched HBO’s 24/7, you noticed that Affliction sponsored Antonio Margarito. Nike adorned Pacquiao and entourage with various t-shirts coming to a store near you. I would be interested to know if there was any difficulty for Margarito to find sponsors. Secondly, did Affliction have any concerns with sponsoring Margarito.
– HBO 24/7 is one of the best shows in hyping fights. UFC’s version is a good runner-up. The 24/7 series will be hyping NHL’s annual New Year’s Day outdoor hockey game. Although not a big fan, I will be tuning in.
– Buboy Fernandez: Pac-Man’s success has made this second a noticeable figure. On Saturday, he was adorned with more sponsor patches than anyone in the entourage. As long as Buboy gets a cut of what he wears, I am happy for him.
– Nelly: His mini-set was met by boos where I was watching. Its good publicity for Nelly, but frustrating to all that were waiting for the main event. It is customary that the main event occurs immediately after the national anthems. When Nelly was announced by Buffer, it deflated the crowd.
– Max Kellerman: Nothing against Larry Merchant, but I think Kellerman does an all around good job in analysis and interviewing (despite his run-in with Mayweather after the Marquez fight). He also was a good offset to Jim Lampley and Emmanuel Steward who tend to wander. I noticed he stuffed Lampley’s attempt to go with the consecutive “Bangs” a la the Clottey fight.
– Post Fight Interview: I thought it was interesting that Kellerman asked and got an honest answer from Manny Pacquiao as to whether he took it easy on Margarito in the last round. You could see Kellerman taken aback that Pacquiao admitted to easing up. It was interesting to see how he hesitated in considering whether or not he asks a follow up question. While some may think this shows a lack of killer instinct, it also shows the compassion Pacquiao has for his fellow fighter.
Future Fights
There is much debate as to whether Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will ever fight. This would be the only fight that makes sense and would draw huge PPV and attendance numbers. Mayweather (Floyd and Roger) legal troubles and failed negotiations are hurdles to this superfight.
Despite Shane Mosley’s pleas, it would be hard seeing him winning a fight with Pacquiao. Also, his recent fights aren’t cause to be excited about this matchup. Juan Manuel Marquez could be an option but I am not sure if that is the fight the Pacquiao camp wants since he lost to Mayweather.
Other fighters such as Timothy Bradley, Devon Alexander or Andre Berto are not marquee names that would excite the casual boxing fan.
Mayweather vs Pacquiao would break the 2.15 million PPV record. It’s a shame this fight will not happen or if it does, it will happen when it doesn’t matter as much.
Those are big numbers for Pacman. He continues to build on his strong drawing power. Boxing is still alive and kicking with 2 events this year topping the 1 million buy rate mark.
Margarito had a horrible time finding sponsors. The deal he had with Affliction only payed him if he won the fight. Affliction had no problems with this because it was a no lose situation for them.