Conor McGregor drew twice (nearly triple) as many buys in 2016 than the entire sport of boxing

But Floyd was the biggest draw in combat sports. His style didn't hurt his drawing power at all.

I remember when he quit and people on here were claiming boxing would be better without him but the facts are his was the last genuine star and there is nobody who comes close.

McGregor is a huge star but still doesn't stop him talking about Mayweather. When rousey was the star she talked about Floyd. Dana white talked about Floyd.

 

Of course it did. He became way too reliant on safety first, but in the process gained tons of fans with his "Money" persona.

He's clearly not the last genuine star, as his biggest PPV ever was because of Manny as well. Otherwise he'd be doing 3mill+ ppv's all the time, but he can't.

McGregor talks about Floyd because FLOYD started a rumour about fighting him. So ask yourself who's talking about who. The talk of a fight happening between the two is because Floyd wants it and NEEDS it. Boxing fans are done with Floyd, his last ppv numbers show that. Lowest since 2006! Back to the Arum days with those numbers.

 

This thread has pages of infinite wisdom.

 

Lol since when did 3 mil buys become normal. Oscar held the record for 2 mil for years (oh and that was vs Mayweather). Floyd drew over 1 mil buys numerous times which is huge in ppv terms. He drew over 2 mil v Canelo. A number Canelo has not come close to since.

Forget the Pacquiao fight and show me a bigger ppv draw than Floyd. You won't find one. Show me a fighter that grossed more at the gate than Floyd. Trying to undermine his drawing power by claiming he didn't generate 3 mil buys more than once is pure hating.

Every star will lose drawing power and Floyd come to the end of his at the end of his career.

Every other fighter on the planet would kill for a quarter of Mayweather ppv buys. Every network would kill for those numbers.

Oh and Floyd's numbers vs berto still dwarf everyone else's. A low number by Mayweather standards but Bob Arum would be praising the high heavens if any of his fighters right now could get that many buys.

GGG, Ward, Pacquiao, Wilder, Kovalev, Thurman, Garcia etc etc would be ecstatic if they drew 400-500k. A number which I might add is very vert good for a boxing fight on ppv.

 

I'd say the opposite. MMA is harder to pick up because of the grappling, it's not as spectator friendly friendly as 2 people just slugging it out.

McGregor has a big mouth and knocks people out. Casuals like knockouts and stick a mouth on the knock out artist then you'll get lots of media attention which will get more Casuals interested.

Boxing will have its time again.

Agree on other the other points though, too many belts and too many fighters avoiding each other. Embarrassing at times.

 

McGregor is their draw but they don't have anybody aside from him who's going to get close to his numbers.

 

No, doing THREE MILLION buys and in your very next fight doing THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND is disgraceful. Why do you think he did so many little buys, bud? Wasn't because he blew the biggest chance of his life by being negative, was it? You simply DON'T drop that much interest by being entertaining/having a great dance partner etc. People saw Floyd for what he really was. A talker, not a fighter. He could have cemented his legacy that night in such a big way, but didn't. Why do you think people are all over the likes of GGG/Kova etc? Because they walk their talk.

Conor does 1mill+ buys every time he fights.

No, just no. YOU DO NOT draw THREE MILLION BUYS and in your VERY NEXT FIGHT THAT YEAR do YOU WORST NUMBERS IN TEN YEARS. Are you stupid or something? How do you do three million in may and three hundred thousand in september? How do you lose that many people in 5-6 months? Oh, I know...

The PPV is done now. Arum is done now. He'd still make Manny/Marquez XVIV if he could!

 

Sorry but your argument makes no sense.

DLH v Mayweather did 2.4 mil buys. Mayweather fight after vs Hatton 900k buys which was quite the drop wouldn't you agree?

Mayweather v JMM was next 1.1 mil buys
Mayweather v Mosley 1.4 mil buys
Mayweather v Ortis 1.25 mil
Mayweather v Cotto 1.5 mil
Mayweather v Guerrero 1 mil
Mayweather v Canelo 2.2 mil
Mayweather v Maidaina 900k
Mayweather v Maidana 2 925k
Mayweather v Pacquiao 4.6 mil
Mayweather v Berto 400k

How did Mayweather blow it? The guy drew high numbers numerous times. The Berto number was low but it was against Andre Berto!!! You claim people saw Floyd for what he really was which isn't a fighter? Didn't these people see the same Mayweather prior to Pacquiao yet he still was selling over 1 mil PPV buys? If we go by your logic Mayweather v Pacquiao should never of done 4 mil buys as people must of know that Floyd wasn't a 'fighter' and just a talker.

You claim Floyd blew it as he was negative and people are all over GGG/Kovalov?

GGG cant sell 200k PPV's and Kovalov v Ward in the biggest fight of the year did 160k ppv buys yet you claim people are all over him lol.

Not sure how many times it has to be said but becoming a PPV star is not just about the way one fights.

I will add that Mayweather v Gatti did 365k buys
Mayweather v Judah did 374k buys
Mayweather v Baldomir did 325k buys

Those numbers are better than what GGG or Kovalov did on PPV lol.

Trying to judge someone's ability to draw based on there last ever fight vs Andre Berto is absurd when that same fighter has drew over 2 mil for a fight and over 4 mil for a fight.

You cant argue with the numbers Floyd drew no matter how hard you try.

 

I love an excellent, well matched example of the sweet science but too many of these so called technical boxing masters going around today are putting on half arsed grappling matches themselves whilst demanding to "get paid" - IMO quite a few would be journeyman in any other era. Imagine if boxing rules were actually enforced in the ring and the fans were shown the sweet science instead of third rate hugging and constant splitting by the ref.

 

That is the most narrow-minded thing I've ever heard - the face needs to be american. Let me tell you america are the face of pussies.
The face of boxing can be any nationality. McGregor isn't american, he's irish - a population with only 4 million compared to america's 320.

 

Exactly. I would say its more important that one speaks good English rather than where they are from? Canelo not speaking English for example hurts him rather than him being Mexican.

 

Very true. At least people like Golovkin and Lomachenko actually make the effort to try and speak english.

 

Jesus, why are you using numbers from 9-10 years ago? My argument is this...

Floyd did THREE MILLION and in his next fight did THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND. That is a shocking drop. In fact, it's x10 worse!

You mention DLH. If May was such a draw, why didn't he ever crack half-a-mill buys before he faced Oscar? Oh, that's right, he needed THE GOLDEN BOY to cross over (this is common knowledge). Hatton was a huge star in the UK (damn, he took THIRTY THOUSAND FANS to Vegas with him for that one!) and Manny/Floyd was the one fight EVERYBODY wanted to see Floyd in.

Now, Floyd did some EXCEPTIONAL numbers on his own against nobodies or other big names, but answer me this: If Floyd's power was so good, how did he lose so much interest in FOUR MONTHS? So much interest, that the numbers weren't even HALF as good as the ones against Maidana in the first fight! How does a guy go from the highest EVER numbers of his career and then four months later go to THE WORST NUMBERS of his career when he was in the biggest money-generating phase of his career? You know why, but enlighten me.

GGG, for his English-speaking problems, and lack of high-profile fights draws numbers that are very good for his situation. Didn't he sell out the garden quicker than any other boxer ever? What has this gotta do with him anyway? This is about FMJ.

Just imagine - You pull in THREE MILLION buys for someone, and then, four months later, you do the worst numbers - TEN TIMES worse than your previous fight (he couldn't even do HALF a mill), and you're in the greatest ever money generating phase of your life, is that something that can be classed as a failure or not? Because if you did that in business you'd get fired. That is one HELL of a drop. And you say it's absurd that I mention those numbers! You have no clue of business, and you try and bring numbers up from 2006/7? Go away, man.

So besides the Manny fight, Floyd never done a million buys in like 2-3 years. CM does OVER them MULTIPLE TIMES A YEAR. THOSE kinda numbers dictate that their is a new combat sports star in town. One which this Boxer who is on the downward curve in terms of numbers (and they don't lie. I mean, 400k is abysmal for Floyd. That's a failure) and has had to resort to STARTING A RUMOUR in order to get paid (and he wants it under boxing rules, too! jajaja). Had CM not been around, Floyd wouldn't be offering any fighter out, period. CM is doing HUGE numbers for an MMA'er. Huge. He doesn't need Floyd, Floyd needs him. Hence Floyd starting the rumour.

Face it: We've got a new breed of fighter that is reminiscent to the throwbacks who go for the knockout. Add to that that people have seen Floyd's true colours (failed to lay it all on the line against Manny & it nearly killed the game, follows that up with an absolutely WORTHLESS opponent in Berto - totally pointless fight), and why would anybody want to watch him fight again?

 

Rousey/GSP. Those two can still bring in large numbers.

 

The highest paid athlete in sports needs McGregor lol.