FLOYD MAYWEATHER proved the pay-per-view king but Conor McGregor and Mike Tyson have ran him close.
Mayweather smashed the box office record several times throughout his career, setting the record in 2015.
Floyd Mayweather stars in the two highest sold PPV fights and four of the top fiveSIPA USA
Conor McGregor is also a huge PPV pull featuring in five of the top ten fightsGetty – Contributor
His fight of the century against Manny Pacquiao – almost half a decade in the making – sold 4.6million PPVs in the US.
It is a record that still stands today after Mayweather’s crossover bout with UFC superstar McGregor sold 4.3m buys.
A year later when the Irishman returned to the UFC, he faced arch rival Khabib Nurmagomedov in a bitter grudge match.
It sold 2.4m PPVs, which matched the same number that broke the record at the time when Mayweather beat Oscar de la Hoya in 2007.
Mayweather’s win over Canelo Alvarez in 2013 currently ranks in fifth with 2.2m buys, the last boxing match to sell over two million.
Heavyweight legend Tyson reigned as the face of boxing from the moment he won the title aged 20 in 1986.
His rematch loss to Evander Holyfield in 1997 and defeat to Lennox Lewis in 2002 both sold over 1.9m PPVs.
More recently, McGregor’s two fights with Dustin Poirier proved big business for the UFC.
Their rematch in January 2021 sold 1.6m buys while the trilogy seven months later raked in 1.8m.
It was the biggest box office success in the UFC since McGregor’s rematch win over Nate Diaz in 2016, which sold 1.6m buys.
The former two-weight champion is set to return this year against American Michael Chandler.
GettyMike Tyson features twice in the top ten, with his second clash vs Evander Holyfield pulling in 1.9million buys[/caption]
ReutersManny Pacquiao’s bout with Mayweather is the highest of all time going by PPV buys[/caption]
Canelo Alvarez’s fight with Mayweather also makes it into the top fiveGetty Read More