Since the dawn of the pay-per-view era, boxers’ popularity has been measured by how many buys they attain for their biggest title fights.
Since the first big PPV fight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns in 1981, the sport has been dominated by the biggest names who attracted millions to buy the fights through pay-per-view.
While the likes of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier were household names the world over, they did not fight in the pay-per-view era, although their impact on the sport should not be understated.
Here are the biggest pay-per-view buy rates in boxing history, which are dominated by one of the greatest undefeated champions in the history of the sport.
5. Mike Tyson vs Lennox Lewis
While at the end of his incredible career in the ring, Mike Tyson proved he could still be a massive draw when matched with world Heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis.
Tyson was knocked out by Lewis in the eighth round to end his chance of becoming champion again, with a record number of people seeing him take the loss on pay-per-view.
A reported 1.95 million people purchased the event across the world, a record at the time. The bout generated over $100 million and proved to be both men’s highest payday.
What makes this fight’s buyrate even more impressive is that it is the only one on this list not featuring Floyd Mayweather.
4. Floyd Mayweather vs Canelo Alvarez
Mayweather handed Mexican fighter Canelo Alvarez his first loss ever as he showed the world he was still a top fighter in 2013.
Canelo had enjoyed a 42-1-1 record up until that point, similar to Mayweather’s own 44-0 record going into the bout.
This title unification bout was billed as “The One” and had 2.2 million people paying to tune in and see if Canelo could be the man to finally beat Mayweather.
As it turns out, he couldn’t. Mayweather dominated the bout, despite what the scorecards would tell you, and took home the victory after 12 rounds.
3. Floyd Mayweather vs Oscar De La Hoya
The torch passed from Oscar De La Hoya to Mayweather as two of boxing’s biggest draws finally faced off in an explosive fight in 2007.
This superfight was, at the time, the most lucrative in boxing, generating over $130 million in revenue and leapfrogging Tyson vs Lewis as the biggest bout in the sport.
De La Hoya was the undisputed King of pay-per-view, reigning as the biggest draw in boxing, as well as the WBC Super Welterweight champion.
He was paid $52 million to Mayweather’s $25 million purse for the bout, although that didn’t stop “Money” taking home the win after 12 close rounds to become champion.
2. Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor
As well as being the UFC’s biggest-ever draw, Conor McGregor also has the second-biggest boxing PPV buyrate to his name for his clash with Mayweather back in 2017.
The UFC double champion stepped into the boxing ring for his first professional fight against the undefeated Mayweather in 2017, aiming to knock him out to prove himself the conqueror of boxing and MMA.
While he impressed in his debut bout, Mayweather took control of the fight, eventually winning via TKO in the tenth round.
However, their bank accounts came out as the real winners. With Mayweather earning close to $300 million and McGregor walking away with $130 million, it was one of the richest fights in boxing history.
That was in part due to the incredible pay-per-view numbers, with over 4.3 million people stumping up the cash to see this crossover fight to see Mayweather go 50-0 before retiring from boxing.
1. Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao
Mayweather’s long-awaited clash with Manny Pacquiao in 2015 had more hype than any other fight in history, as proved by its unbeatable buyrate.
While the fight came six years later than expected and neither fighter was the force they once were, Pacquiao vs Mayweather was still a bout that the world simply had to see.
These two legendary champions were two of the greatest in the world in the 2000s, drawing millions of dollars (billions, in Mayweather’s case) for their largest fights.
While the bout itself was a slight letdown, the spectacle was there to see, clearly. It drew 300,000 more buys than Mayweather/McGregor, with 4.6 million people purchasing the bout.
A decade on, that is still the biggest buyrate in boxing history and set a record that could never be broken.