Showtime boxing boss Stephen Espinoza said Friday Floyd Mayweather’s fight with Robert Guerrero last Saturday at the MGM Grand attracted “over a million” pay-per-view buys. “We’re not sure how much over,” Espinoza told The Post. “That question will be answered over the next few weeks.”
One million buys is the magic number that normally equates to pay-per-view success. It’s like a running back gaining 1,000 yards during a regular season or a pitcher winning 20 games.
It was especially important to Mayweather to have at least one million buys in the first fight of his six-fight mega-deal with Showtime that guaranteed him $32 million for beating Guerrero in a one-sided 12-round decision that will be replayed tonight. Anything under one million would have been viewed as a failure for Mayweather and Showtime.
“That Floyd could generate this number of buys without a well-known opponent — or an opponent who hadn’t been in a number of pay-per-view events before — only reconfirms that Floyd’s drawing power has not at all diminished,” Espinoza said. “He’s still the No. 1 star in the sport.”
Some in the industry suggested the fight dubbed “May Day” needed to attract 1.5 million PPV buys just to break even, because of Mayweather’s high price tag and money spent on marketing and promotion that included an All-Access series. In Espinoza’s view, it was money well spent.
“The event was a success in all respects,” he said. “It was a financial success, and from a programming perspective and a marketing perspective it was a success and from a branding perspective it was a success. We’re very happy with the way the event turned out.”
Those who watch tonight’s replay will hear booing during the final round, presumably from fans who didn’t appreciate how masterful Mayweather was despite spending two months of his year-long layoff in jail for a domestic abuse conviction.
His footwork, hand speed, defensive skills and overall brilliance neutralized Guerrero, a six-time champion in four different weight divisions. All three judges scored the fight 117-111.
“Anybody who was booing that performance doesn’t understand boxing,” Espinoza said. “They aren’t really a fan of the sport. There are some fans that reacted negatively to the dominance, but for the true fan of the sport, what we witnessed wasn’t just a clinic, it was literally technical artistry at its best. Yo* don’t get to watch that often in any sport.”
Mayweather was in the Showtime offices this week and reiterated his intention to fight again in September. Golden Boy Promotions has opened preliminary talks with unbeaten Mexican junior middleweight champion Saul Canelo Alvarez. The hand injury Mayweather suffered during his fight against Guerrero isn’t believed to be serious.
“From where I sit it appears both Floyd and Canelo want that fight,” Espinoza said. “So I’m cautiously optimistic that’s going to happen. There’s still a lot of negotiating to do, but the biggest hurdle is getting both guys to want the fight. I think that hurdle has been cleared.”
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Saturday night at the Paramount in Huntington, Queens native and fan favorite Vinny Maddalone takes on unbeaten prospect Richard Carmack in a 10-round heavyweight bout.
Other matchups are: Alan Gotay vs. Bryan Acaba, six rounds, lightweights; Anthony Karperis vs. Carlos Nieves, four rounds, junior welterweights; Dave Meloni vs. Soumana Abdoulaye, four rounds, featherweights; Carlos Lopez vs. Marcus Beckford, four rounds, middleweights; and Yathomas Riley vs. Lionell Thomson, eight rounds, light heavyweights.
“This is a terrific opportunity for me,” Maddalone said. “While I haven’t fought at The Paramount yet, the Star Boxing events there are always sold out and it’s a great atmosphere to fight it. It’s only 25 minutes from my house and I’m expecting a great deal of support.”