Report: Mayweather-Berto fight bombs at box office
The hotly anticipated Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight on May 2, billed as "The Fight of the Century," was the dream encounter both casual and hardcore fans of the sport had been dying to see. Anything following that bout was going to pale in comparison in terms of intrigue and drama.
Mayweather's (49-0) successful welterweight title defense against challenger Andre Berto on Sept. 12 was proof that the viewing public didn't want to shell out money for a lesser fight. Despite being advertised as the final match of his career, Mayweather's scrap with Berto only managed to draw between 400,000 and 550,000 pay-per-view buys, multiple industry sources told Dan Rafael of ESPN.com.
It seems unfair to make the comparison to Mayweather-Pacquiao, which generated an earth-shattering 4.6 million buys, but even against some of Mayweather's lesser fights, those numbers with Berto have to be considered a grave disappointment.
| Date | Fight | PPV Buys |
|---|---|---|
| 5/4/2013 | Mayweather vs. Guerrero | 1 million |
| 9/14/2013 | Mayweather vs. Canelo | 2.2 million |
| 5/3/2014 | Mayweather vs. Maidana | 900K |
| 9/13/2014 | Mayweather vs. Maidana II | 925K |
| 5/2/2015 | Mayweather vs. Pacquiao | 4.6 million |
| 9/12/2015 | Mayweather vs. Berto | 550K* |
*unofficial
"I think Floyd is a victim of his own success," Showtime Sports general manager Stephen Espinoza said. "No matter what we did following that massive May 2 event, it was almost guaranteed to be viewed as a letdown.
"Was Mayweather-Berto the biggest Mayweather fight ever? No. But we got four very entertaining fights on the pay-per-view card and a historic night in that Floyd announced his retirement. All in all, we're very happy with the event as a whole."
Mayweather dominated the fight from start to finish, earning 120-108, 118-110, and 117-111 scores from the judges. Berto landed just 17 percent of his 495 punches, with "Money" using his signature defense to leave his opponent swinging in the wind.
The fight was nowhere near a sellout, with just 13,395 spectators in attendance.