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27th Sep 2017

Conor McGregor vs Floyd Mayweather reportedly came heroically close to PPV record

We're sure they'll get over the disappointment

Ben Kiely

Unsurprisingly, the McGregor-Mayweather PPV sales were outrageously high.

The Money Fight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather still grabbed the attention of the masses despite the remarkable reporting from the boxing community across the waters. Big hitters in that realm noticeably ignored the fight’s existence, while those who did, shat all over it like a boozehound after a dodgy kebab at ridiculous o’clock in the morning.

The very negative coverage was one of the reasons why Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole suggested the fight may not break the all-time PPV sales record. The combat sports scribe also cited the relatively short build up as a potential hindrance to overall sales.

As it turns out, illegal streaming may very well end up being the reason why the diamond-encrusted pant didn’t shatter the record as 3 million people were reported to have illegally streamed the fight online. However, if the latest report is to be believed, the numbers are still sensational.

Although it is nowhere near that staggering 6.5 million figure that began doing the rounds following Urijah Faber’s famous Instagram story.

According to a report from BoxingScene, Mayweather vs. McGregor raked in 4.4 million domestic PPV buys. This would leave it second behind 2015’s ‘Fight of the Century’ which brought in around 4.6 million buys.

If this figure is accurate, it’s an incredible feat considering it will be only the second fight ever to break the 3 million mark. Taking third and fourth respectively are Mayweather’s 2007 prizefight against Oscar De La Hoya which drew around 2.5 million and his 2013 bout against Canelo Alvarez which raked in 2.2 million.

Credit to Mayweather, he currently sits atop the ‘A’ side throne of sports. He has been involved in the four biggest PPV events in sports history despite his style being considered ‘boring’. The man’s arguably a better promoter than he is a boxer, and he ended his career with a pristine 50-0 record as perhaps the greatest talent of his generation.