De La Hoya Predicts 2 Million Buys for Canelo-GGG 2
One of the most highly anticipated rematches in recent boxing history will take place on Sept. 15 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas when Gennady Golovkin defends his WBA and WBC Middleweight Titles against Canelo Alvarez.
The two fought a highly praised contest on Sept. 16, 2017, but the bout turned into a controversy when one judge scored the bout 118-110 in favor of Canelo, rendering a split draw rather than a clear winner.
And with all the drama and hype surrounding the upcoming rematch, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya — promoter of Alvarez — feels confident the pay-per-view will break the two-million buy mark. This comes according to David Tetreault, Golden Boy’s Executive Vice President of Media and Entertainment who spoke at “The Business of Boxing” event in New York City.
“Oscar is predicting two million pay-per-view buys for September 15th,” Tetreault told FIGHT SPORTS.
Golden Boy adds that they have been having good sales with Fathom, which will air the rematch in theaters as Fathom did for the original Canelo-GGG fight.
The original Canelo-GGG showdown saw approximately 1.3 million buys, the best showing of a pay-per-view fight between two championship-level boxers since the 2015 Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao, which saw an estimated 4.6 million buys.
This excludes the 2017 crossover “Money Fight” between Mayweather and UFC superstar Conor McGregor, which saw 4.4 million buys — though UFC President Dana White previously disputed this number. White has recently made comments that he feels the upcoming UFC 229, which features McGregor in a long-awaited fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov, will reach two million pay-per-view buys.
Alvarez has been a part of a bout that broke the two-million buy mark previously, as his 2013 showdown with Floyd Mayweather produced about 2.2 million buys and an estimated $150 million in revenue. De La Hoya’s fight with Mayweather back in 2007 also broke the two-million buy mark, with 2.5 million purchases and $139 million in domestic revenue, a record that stood until Mayweather-Pacquiao.
The GGG-Canelo rematch was set to take place back in May, but Alvarez ended up testing positive for clenbuterol and pulled out one month before the fight’s date. He received a six-month suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
The failed drug tests brought bad blood into the mix, with Golovkin considering Alvarez a cheater and wanting to punish him, while Alvarez maintains his innocence (he claims the failed tests stem from tainted meat) and says he has the ability to knock out the unbeaten middleweight champion.