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Canelo vs. Smith garners about 300,000 PPV buys

Photo by: Tom Hogan/Golden Boy Promotions
Fighters Network
11
Oct

Canelo Alvarez’s stoppage of Liam Smith on Sept. 17 produced an attendance record of 51,420 for a boxing match at AT&T Stadium. No such records were set on HBO PPV, but it didn’t spit the bit, either. The bout against the mostly unknown Smith garnered around 300,000 buys, a source told RingTV.com on Tuesday.

It’s a respectable number for a fight that was panned as a mismatch going in. Canelo’s fight against Smith for his 154-pound title was seen as a referendum of his drawing power on the pay platform. Could Canelo produce a good number on the pure strength of his name with an opponent few knew?

Whereas his bout with Miguel Cotto amassed 900,000 buys last November and his match with Amir Khan in May did around 600,000, critics pointed to the celebrity of both Cotto and Khan as helping Canelo stockpile such numbers. But in England’s Smith, who had never fought in the U.S. before last month, Canelo had his biggest challenge.

While he didn’t assert himself as the runaway star on PPV he’s been presented as, he likely met or in some cases may have surpassed expectations that some had for the bout. The 300,000 buys equate to around $20 million in domestic PPV profits.  The news of the PPV buys was first reported by ESPN.com.



 

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