Well, I have to admit, I'm surprised here. Honestly, I believed the Canelo-Cotto PPV would be a bit of a dud as far as pay per view buys were concerned. Clearly, I was wrong. Or at least I was wrong according to some well placed individuals who are in positions to know the truth. Yup, heavy media hitters Dan Rafael and Kevin Iole are claiming HBO has announced the card brought in 900,000 buys.
That, my friends, is good for the sport of boxing. For unless there's some terrible conspiracy at work here and both Rafael and Iole have been deceived, the numbers are legitimate. Who would have thought after all the disappointment that came with the Mayweather-Pacquiao card last May? Who would have thought after the relatively low numbers that came with the Golovkin-Lemiuex card this autumn?
Well, actually, a lot of people expected Canelo-Cotto to be a huge hit. I simply wasn't one of them. The fact that neither Cotto nor Canelo seemed interested in facing the formidable GGG in the future in a legitimate 160 lb fight doomed the numbers to the lower end of the scale - or so I thought. Truth be told, though, these numbers released today indicate that fans really do love a good matchup based on its own merits. This, of course, leads me to deepen my suspicion that titles no longer matter in the sport of boxing.
Then, of course, there's the Rousey-Holm aftershock factor. Could it be that the enormous MMA upset a week earlier wet fan's appetites for the Canelo-Cotto shindig? Could it be that former boxer Holm's decisive victory over media darling Rousey made the sweet science all the more appealing a few days after such a stunning achievement? I think both things may very well be likely.
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