Deontay Wilder v Tyson Fury has been heralded as a Pay-Per-View success in the United States, but not for promoter Eddie Hearn.
Hovering around 350,000 buys once the numbers are crunched, Wilder v Fury was the most influential heavyweight fight for fifteen years.
Retailing at $64.95 and $74.95 for HD, Wilder v Fury was predicted to garner 500,000 and couldn’t be compared to the likes of Canelo v Golovkin.
Due to falling short, Hearn says the PPV numbers are nothing short of abysmal.
“It’s now easier to make the Wilder fight vs other circumstances,” Hearn told The Independent.
“So if Wilder would have won devastatingly, he would have been a f****** nightmare. Everyone thought he lost so he drew and although his stock has gone up because he is well-known, it’s not like he was this phenomenon.
“To do 300,000 buys is terrible, absolutely terrible. 300,000 is absolutely abysmal. Dillian Whyte against Joseph Parker did more than 300,000 buys in England.
“I mean we’re talking about across the US. You can’t say it’s good. Canelo and Golovkin have just done 1.2 million and they’re middleweights.”
WBN’s post-fight report stated the following:
Saturday’s match-up between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury is the most lucrative heavyweight fight on US soil since 2003, according to initial figures.
According to reports coming out of the United States overnight, Wilder v Fury will be pushing towards 400,000 PPV buys.
This figure represents the best outcome for sales since Roy Jones Jr. dethroned John Ruiz fifteen years ago to make history.
The fallout since Fury dominated Wilder before the American in-turn knocked him down and almost out in the final round – has been immense.
Boxing has been awash with talk of a rematch, which should happen in the first half of 2019.
Both Wilder and Fury want it. And they stand to make at least an eight-figure check on top of their earnings for the first offering.
The UK, New York and Las Vegas are the frontrunners to host, with the continued debate only adding more fuel to predictions the return will render even more buys.
REMATCH
Wilder v Fury is already in the pipeline, and with the correct push, is already certain to hit over 500k next year.
At the time of the first bout, both fighters were not household names in the stateside market.
With the success of the December 1 clash, the rematch will do much better.
