Unlike in the US where broadcasters like HBO and Showtime traditionally and proudly shout out the numbers of what a fight sells, Sky Sports in the UK tend to have a policy of keeping their numbers quiet. Good old promoter Eddie Hearn however has finally let slip what the record is.
Boxing’s return to mainstream sports over the last few years in my opinion was a change in the sport’s fortunes that originated in the UK.
Boxing is still booming in the UK mind you, but now the sport is flourishing around the world in the professional code from an international perspective.
Big fights involving the likes of Anthony Joshua and Carl Froch over the past number of years have been major contributing factors to this overwhelming success boxing has experienced, but, neither hold the record for most pay per views sold in the UK as it turns out.
Speaking in an interview with Danny Flexen of Seconds Out, Eddie Hearn said:
“Like 1.28 million (buys) or something like that (is the record). No, it was Mayweather-McGregor. Basically Joshua-Klitschko, Joshua-Parker and Mayweather-McGregor were all within like 60,000 (buys) of each other. They think this one (Joshua-Povetkin) is going to go through the 1.3 (million).”
If Joshua vs Povetkin were to do more than 1.3 million pay per view buys in the UK on Saturday that would be quite the achievement.
All those numbers are all the more impressive when you compare how much bigger America is as a country than the UK in terms of population.
As for the record above being Mayweather vs McGregor, incredible numbers.
Particularly considering neither of them were British and the fight took place at nearly 5am in the morning UK time as the fight was in Las Vegas last year.
Time will tell if Anthony Joshua vs Alexander Povetkin sets the PPV record in the UK this weekend.
From a US point of view the fight will be live and exclusive on streaming app DAZN.
Discover more from Boxing News and Views
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
