Saturday’s Errol Spence-Terence Crawford fight delivered a big punch for the pay-per-view boxing category by drawing an estimated 600,000 to 700,000 buys, industry sources said. 

While the July 29 event will most likely fall short of the industry standard 1 million PPV buys, the fight — which Crawford won with a convincing ninth-round TKO of the formerly undefeated welterweight champion Spence — is expected to finish as the second-biggest PPV boxing event of the year so far, following Showtime’s April Tank Davis-Ryan Garcia bout, which drew a reported 1.2 million buys.

Despite Crawford’s one-sided win, the two fighters could meet later this year in a rematch. After the loss, Spence indicated that he would look to exercise a rematch clause in the contract that could put the fighters back in the ring as soon as December. A rematch would likely be fought at the 154-pound junior middleweight division, which is seven pounds heavier than Saturday's welterweight division fight.

Prior to Saturday’s event, Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza said he thinks the Spence-Crawford bout will boost the PPV appeal of both fighters. “These two gutsy fighters will emerge as bigger stars [after the fight] then they are going into the fight,” he said.

The PPV boxing category will now turn its attention to the August 5 event between YouTube star Jake Paul and former UFC champion Nate Diaz. The DAZN-distributed event will stream on DAZN PPV, ESPN Plus and PPV.com

The pay-per-view boxing category will look to continue its strong 2023 campaign Saturday (July 29) with the much anticipated Errol Spence-Terence Crawford fight from Las Vegas. 

The Showtime-distributed welterweight unification bout is the seventh major event for the PPV boxing category this year, with Showtime’s April 22 Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia event setting the mark as highest-performing fight the year so far with a reported 1.2 million PPV buys.

Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza said the Spence-Crawford bout pits two of boxing’s most popular and best pound-for-pound fighters together in a rare unification championship fight. The event, which retails for a suggested $84.99, is expected to finish among the top-performing PPV boxing events of the year, although Espinoza would not predict a specific buy number. 

“It will be one of the two or three biggest PPV events of the year,” he said. “This is a bigger fight than anything else we've seen in the sport and should be one of the biggest [PPV] fights of the year.”

While Spence-Crawford may not break PPV records, industry observers said the fight will continue to boost the appeal of the category that still has several more big events scheduled.  

“Davis-Garcia was certainly about what was going to happen in the ring but was also about the social media circus that preceded the fight, which helped its performance,” In Demand and PPV.com senior VP of programming and marketing Mark Boccardi said. "The Spence-Crawford fight will sell itself on what happens in the ring as opposed to a lot of other pay-per-view events that are sold during the marketing and promotional period leading up to the fight.”

As for what's next, the PPV boxing category will be back in play on August 5 with a fight featuring YouTube star Jake Paul and former UFC mixed martial arts champion Nate Diaz. In September, Canelo Alvarez will put his undisputed super middleweight championship on the line against former champion Jermell Charlo in a blockbuster PPV boxing event. 

The pay-per-view boxing category’s already strong 2023 campaign will get a major boost in July as Showtime will distribute the much anticipated welterweight boxing match between champions Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford.

The fight, for the undisputed welterweight championship, will take place in Las Vegas and will pit the undefeated WBC, WBA and IBF 147-pound champion Spence Jr. against WBO champion Crawford. Both fighters have headlined PPV boxing cards, and industry observers believe that the fight could surpass the industry standard 1 million PPV buys.

“Spence vs. Crawford is the type of matchup that will demonstrate boxing’s enduring popularity – a marquee event to bring the sports world to a halt with all eyes on the center of the ring in Las Vegas,” Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza said. “This fight will be talked about alongside all of the legendary welterweight and undisputed world title bouts throughout history.”

The fight is the seventh major PPV fight card in 2023 and fourth for Showtime. The network’s April 22 Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia fight is the highest-performing fight of the year thus far, generating a reported 1.2 million PPV buys.

Most recently, DAZN’s May 6 Canelo Alvarez-John Ryder bout drew a reported 450,000 PPV buys.

This weekend's busy, live TV sports lineup starts on the soccer field with World Cup quarterfinals round action.

Fox on Saturday will televise live World Cup games between Morocco and Portugal, along with England versus France. The winners from the two games will meet in a December 14 semifinal matchup, with that winner qualifying for the World Cup finals against the winner of the December 13 semifinal game.

In the boxing ring, welterweight champion Terence Crawford on Saturday will step into the ring against David Avanesyan in a pay-per-view fight. Also on PPV, retired eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao will fight an exhibition bout against martial arts fighter DK Yoo.

ESPN Plus on Saturday will stream the Teofimo Lopez-Sandor Martin fight, while DAZN will carry the Josh Warrington-Luis Alberto Lopez featherweight championship bout.

Also: Manny Pacquiao, Terence Crawford Fights Round Out 2022 PPV Boxing Card

In the octagon, ESPN will distribute via PPV the UFC 282 mixed martial arts fight card featuring a main event light heavyweight championship bout between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev.

ABC will air a Saturday primetime matchup between the Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors in a rematch of the 2022 NBA Finals won by the Warriors.

On the links, TNT on Saturday will air its golf exhibition event The Match, featuring Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy facing Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth. NBC and Golf Channel will offer weekend coverage of the PGA’s QBE Shootout event.

Also: TNT Turns Primetime Spotlight on 'The Match' Golf Event

Week 14 of the NFL season picks up Sunday with regional action on CBS and Fox, followed by NBC’s primetime Sunday Night Football contest between the Miami Dolphins and the Los Angeles Chargers. ■

The pay-per-view boxing category will look to pack one last revenue punch this weekend as marquee fighters Terence Crawford and Manny Pacquaio step into the ring in separate fights.

Crawford, the undefeated WBO welterweight champion, will defend his title December 10 against top contender David Avanesyan in an event that will retail at a suggested PPV price of $39.99. Crawford last fought on PPV in November 2021, drawing a reported 135,000 PPV buys in his win over former welterweight champion Shawn Porter.

Pacquiao, the second biggest PPV boxing draw behind Floyd Mayweather, will fight Saturday in an exhibition match against mixed martial arts fighter DK Yoo that will retail for $29.99. The eight-division world champion retired in 2021 after suffering a loss to then welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas in a PPV bout that drew 250,000 PPV buys, according to reports.

Overall, Manny Pacquiao has generated 20 million PPV buys and around $1.25 billion in PPV revenue over 24 PPV bouts.  Pacquiao's 2015 fight against Mayweather remains the biggest PPV event of all time, drawing 4.6 million PPV buys.

The two fights will effectively end a busy PPV boxing year that didn’t include a blockbuster 1 million PPV buy event but included several mid-range events featuring such high-profile boxers as Canelo Alvarez, Deontay Wilder, Gennady Golovkin, Tyson Fury and Gervonta Davis.

Lightweight champion Davis will launch the category’s 2023 PPV lineup with a Showtime-distributed January 7 bout against Héctor Luis García. A Davis win would set up a major spring 2023 PPV fight against unbeaten Ryan Garcia. ■

Integrated Sports has teamed with SVOD company BLK Prime to distribute the December 10 pay-per-view boxing event between welterweight champion Terence Crawford and David Avanesyan.

The fight, which will retail at $39.99, will also feature the U.S. boxing debut of mixed martial arts champion Cris Cyborg. In Demand, DirecTV and Dish will make the fight available to linear cable viewers, while BLK Prime.com and PPV.com will stream the live event, according to Integrated Sports president Doug Jacobs. 

"We wanted to make the Crawford vs. Avanesyan PPV available for the masses, so we made the decision to go the traditional route with cable and satellite, in addition to our BLK Prime app," BLK Prime's Sam Katovski said in a statement. "Integrated Sports has been in the business for many years and has the experience to hit all corners of the United States. We are happy to be partnering with them and we look forward to a great night of boxing on December 10." ■

With Saturday's Canelo Alverez-Gennady Golovkin fight officially in the books, the pay-per-view boxing category is in the process of finalizing it's fall schedule, which could include a lucrative Errol Spence Jr.-Terence Crawford welterweight unification bout. 

Alvarez, the undisputed super middleweight champion, won a close but unanimous decision against Golovkin in the third bout between the two boxers. While PPV buys for the fight were not available, the event is expected to rank among the top performing PPV boxing events of the year. The fighters’ 2017 fight, which ended in a draw, and their 2018 bout – won by Alvarez in a disputed decision – drew a combined 2.4 million viewers, according to industry sources. 

Following Alvarez-Golovkin, the PPV boxing category is hoping for a mega welterweight unification fight between WBC, WBA and IBF champion Spence and WBO champion Crawford. The fighters have agreed to terms for a November 19 bout, but no contracts have been signed, according to ESPN.com.

Spence last appeared in the PPV ring this past April, defeating former welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas by TKO. Crawford last November defeated Shawn Porter in an ESPN-distributed PPV event. 

The fall PPV fight schedule also includes Fox Sports’ October 15 fight between former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and Robert Helenius, as well as Showtime’s Oct. 29 bout between YouTube sensation Jake Paul and former UFC mixed-martial arts champion Anderson Silva.■

ESPN Plus Saturday (Nov. 20) will distribute its first ever exclusive pay-per-view boxing event as it teams with boxing promotion company Top Rank to offer the Terence Crawford-Shawn Porter welterweight championship event.

The PPV event, which retails at a suggested price of $69.99, follows the streaming service's strategy of exclusively distributing the UFC's monthly mixed martial arts PPV events. ESPN VP of programming and acquisitions Matt Kenny discusses the decision to secure exclusive PPV rights for Crawford-Porter and the streaming service's future PPV boxing plans, as well as the performance of last month's Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder III PPV boxing event . An edited version of the story appears below.

Picture This: How significant for ESPN Plus is securing exclusive pay-per-view rights for a major boxing event?  

Matt Kenny: I think this is a great example of just how dynamic our relationship is with Top Rank. We're very opportunistic about each and every one of the cards that Top Rank stages and promotes on our platforms. We’re laser focused on serving fans, and the opportunity to bring Crawford and Porter together exclusively on ESPN Plus pay-per-view is just a great opportunity for us.

PT: Is it possible that some potential PPV fight buys could be left on the table by not offering this fight through other traditional PPV distribution outlets?

MK: We have a lot of experience doing exclusive pay-per-views with the UFC. At the end of the day, we want to create the best possible experience for fans on our platforms. ESPN Plus is an incredible product -- we have more than 17 million subscribers as was reported during our last earnings call. At those type of numbers, we're proud of the product that is available to fans. Over the last couple of years, ESPN Plus has become a really vibrant environment for combat sports fans. We think an event like Crawford-Porter not only super serves the combat sports fan, but certainly has crossover appeal to general sports fans that are already on our platform watching other content.

PT: Will PPV buys for Crawford-Porter match or surpass what ESPN Plus has done for some of its top-performing, exclusive UFC PPV events?

MK: We certainly don't get into projections. This is our first exclusive ESPN Plus PPV boxing event with Top Rank, and as I mentioned earlier I feel really optimistic that we're going to have a very successful night and more importantly deliver a fight that sports fans are really going to appreciate.

PT: ESPN and Fox Sports co-distributed the third Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder fight last month. How did that event performed and will ESPN and Fox Sports work together on future PPV boxing events?

MK: We were very pleased with the results of Fury-Wilder III, both quantitatively and qualitatively. That was the second event that we partnered with Fox Sports, and the collaboration between the teams was incredible. We all left that experience hoping that we'd have the opportunity to do it again at some point down the road. Those fights were wonderful examples of different media companies coming together and actually creating something special in an industry that is usually regarded for not necessarily having folks play nice in the sandbox. We’re proud to shatter that traditional dogma, and if the opportunity presents itself to work together again down the road, we’d certainly take a look at it.

PT: How aggressive will ESPN Plus be on the PPV boxing front in 2022?

MK: We're going to continue to be opportunistic and evaluate opportunities as they become available. We have the flexibility to be nimble, so as things materialize in this very dynamic sport we could respond appropriately to better serve fans as well as  help drive shareholder value and hit our company goals and objectives.

This weekend’s TV sports lineup steps into the squared ring as ESPN Plus distributes its first major pay-per-view boxing event exclusively. Saturday's Terence Crawford-Shawn Porter welterweight championship fight will steam on the digital service only for a suggested retail price of $69.99. ESPN2 will feature live fights from the undercard of the PPV event. 

ESPN Plus will also feature a live UFC Fight Night event featuring a women’s bantamweight main event bout between Ketlen Vieira and Miesha Tate.  

Week 12 of the college football season finds all NCAA top 10-ranked teams in action on Saturday. Top ranked Georgia battles Charleston Southern on ESPN Plus, while second-ranked Alabama hosts No. 21 Arkansas on CBS. ABC televises games featuring third-ranked Oregon against No. 23 Utah and fourth-ranked Ohio State versus seventh-ranked Michigan State.

The remaining schedule includes No. 5 Cincinnati-SMU (ESPN), No. 6 Michigan-Maryland (Big Ten Network), No. 8 Notre Dame-Georgia Tech (NBC), No. 9 Oklahoma State-Texas Tech (Fox) and No 10 Wake Forest-Clemson (ESPN). 

NBCU -- fresh off its new six-year carriage deal with the English Premier League -- will offer live game coverage from the league Saturday on NBCSN, USA Network and NBC, as well as NBCSN on Sunday. ABC and ESPN will air live MLS action Sunday afternoon. 

Weekend 11 of the NFL season begins with regional action on Fox and CBS, and ends with NBC’s Sunday Night Football contest between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Los Angeles Chargers. 

Golf Channel and NBC will offer live weekend coverage of the LGPA Tour Championship, while ESPN will offer Sunday morning coverage of the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix auto race. 

The Masters golf tournament takes center stage during a TV sports weekend otherwise dominated by college and pro football. 

The prestigious PGA tournament from Augusta National Golf Club will resume its weather-delayed second round Saturday morning on ESPN, with third and fourth round action slated for CBS on Saturday and Sunday.  Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas share the lead going into Saturday morning’s action. 

The college football schedule continues even as more games were cancelled this weekend due to the ongoing pandemic. Among the top primetime games this weekend includes Wisconsin-Michigan on ABC and Oregon-Washington State on Fox.

At least 15 games had been cancelled or postponed for this weekend due to the pandemic, including top-rank Alabama’s game against LSU, Auburn-Mississippi State, Ohio State-Maryland and Pittsburgh-Georgia Tech contests.

Sunday's 13-game, NFL week 10 schedule concludes with NBC's Sunday Night Football telecast will feature the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots

On the boxing front, ESPN on Saturday will televise the welterweight boxing championship fight between champion Terence Crawford and former champion Kell Brook.. 

NBC and NBCSN will share telecast duties for Saturday’s IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring auto racing event, which takes place after being postponed from its original spring start date due to the pandemic. On Sunday, ESPN will telecast the Formula One Turkish Grand Prix race. 

On Saturday ESPN and boxing promotion company Top Rank Inc. will distribute the Terence Crawford-Amir Khan welterweight championship pay-per-view boxing match, their first co-promoted PPV boxing event since the two companies reached an exclusive, seven-year distribution deal.

The fight, which has a suggested retail price of $69.95, is getting a major marketing boost from ESPN’s sister company Marvel Entertainment. Earlier this week ESPN released a 30-second spot that ties in the PPV fight with Marvel's blockbuster film Avengers: End Game, which premieres next Thursday (April 25).

ESPN vice president of programming and acquisitions Matt Kenny recently spoke to me about the significance of the Crawford-Khan PPV event for ESPN and Top Rank as well as the fight’s big Avengers promotional tie-in.

Why do you feel pay-per-view is the right distribution platform for the Crawford-Khan fight?

When you think of the best pound for pound boxers in boxing, Terence Crawford is right at the top of that list. We’re couldn’t be more pleased about our partnership with Top Rank, and as we looked at the [boxing] landscape we thought this would be an appropriate time to do our first pay-per-view together. We felt that Terence and Amir would be the perfect main event for our first foray under this new deal.

The PPV category recently lost a number of marquee fighters to upstart sports streaming services. Is the platform still a viable outlet for big PPV boxing events?

Absolutely. We’ve heard feedback from distributors that boxing is still very much a strong performer in the pay-per-view space. At the end of the day, people are interested in big events, and PPV boxing has historically fallen into that category. We feel really confident heading into this weekend that Crawford and Khan are not only going to put on a great main event, but the undercard is stacked as well. We really think boxing fans are going to get alot of bang for their buck this weekend.

Is ESPN and Top Rank doing anything outside of traditional PPV marketing tactics for this fight?

WE could not be more proud of how ESPN and the Walt Disney Company have embraced this event and put forth a promotion that the industry hasn’t seen before. I think really the biggest example that we could point to is a co-promotion spot that just hit social media that features Crawford and Khan in a co-promotional piece with the theatrical release of Avengers: End Game next week. When you think about that, Avengers End Game is arguably going to be the largest theatrical release in movie history, and for us to be able to leverage that intellectual property to create an even bigger event feel for Crawford-Khan is something that none of the streaming services or our competitors can do.

Will ESPN and Top Rank look to distribute more pay-per-view boxing events this year?

We’re going to be incredibly opportunistic … I think that’s the best way to describe it. We are interested in putting on the best fights for boxing fans and want to be part of the [PPV] conversation, so we’re open for business and interested in putting the best fights forward. We’re really in the early stages of our long term deal (with Top Rank), and to have had [lightweight champion] Vasyl Lomachenko on ESPN+ last Friday and Crawford on pay-per-view this Saturday, we think we’re really helping to elevate boxing as a whole and to establish ESPN’s leadership position in the space. 

ESPN will throw its hat into the pay-per-view boxing ring in April when it teams with boxing promoter Top Rank Inc. for the Terence Crawford-Amir Kahn welterweight championship fight.

The April 20 Crawford-Kahn fight marks the first time ESPN and Top Rank have co-promoted a major PPV boxing card since the two reached a distribution agreement in 2017. It’s unclear how much the fight will cost consumers, or how viewers will be able to access the PPV event.

“Showcasing Crawford-Khan as the first pay-per-view event under the Top Rank on ESPN banner is truly a cause for celebration. Crawford is a world champion, a global phenomenon and perhaps the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport and Khan is a fighter that everyone wants to see every time he steps in the ring,” said ESPN executive vice president, programming and scheduling Burke Magnus in a statement. “This is what boxing needs, more big-name showdowns, and this fight is a perfect example of the vision that we had when we teamed up with Top Rank.”

The Crawford-Kahn fight is the third PPV boxing match scheduled thus far in 2019, following this Saturday’s (Jan. 19) Showtime-distributed Manny Pacquiao-Adrien Broner fight and Fox Sports’ March 16 Mikey Garcia-Errol Spence Jr. fight. 

ESPN and Top Rank have partnered on an exclusive multi-year, multi-platform boxing distribution deal, the two parties announced Saturday in Las Vegas.

The extensive agreement calls for ESPN to distribute Top Rank boxing events across television, streaming, direct to consumer and pay-per-view platforms, including ESPN’s recently announced OTT service set to debut in 2018, according to the parties.

 ESPN and Top Rank will kick off its deal on Sept. 22 with title fights from featherweight champion Oscar Valdez and super middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez.

ESPN and Top Rank earlier this month teamed to televise championship fights for Vasyl Lomachenko (Aug. 5) and Terence Crawford (Aug. 19). The Crawford/Julius Indongo main event averaged 1.2 million viewers on ESPN, according to the network.

“ESPN is excited to announce this new relationship with Top Rank, the most comprehensive and innovative media agreement in the history of the sport,” Burke Magnus, executive vice president of programming & scheduling, ESPN said in a statement.  “We believe in a new vision for boxing that will super-serve existing boxing fans and create legions of new fans through the highest quality boxing content across multiple ESPN platforms - 365 days a year. Together, ESPN and Top Rank will build the superstars of tomorrow through unrivaled exposure, original content and cutting-edge technology.” 

ESPN will showcase 18 main events in the first year of the deal, said the network. In addition, ESPN will feature all undercards, select main events, re-airs of all ESPN and PPV events and Top Rank archival fights across multiple platforms.

"Top Rank is thrilled to enter into this relationship with ESPN, the top sports media brand in the world," said Todd duBoef, President of Top Rank.  "This unprecedented partnership offers a 360 approach to the entire boxing vertical, including live world class events, unparalleled coverage as well as access to historical moments in the sport."

ESPN’s live coverage of the controversial July 1 Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn welterweight championship boxing match was a knockout on the ratings front, averaging 2.8 million viewers despite the main event starting well after midnight on the East Coast.

The fight, which ended in a controversial decision win for Horn, was Pacquiao’s first non-pay-per-view appearance in eight years and marked a strategic move by boxing promotion company Top Rank to offer quality, competitive boxing matches featuring high-profile champions on basic cable.

Top Rank in August will offer fights featuring junior lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko (Aug. 5) and Terence Crawford (Aug. 19). Both fighters have had the majority of their prior fights air on HBO.

Top Rank president Todd duBoef recently spoke to Multichannel News programming editor R. Thomas Umstead about the controversial Pacquiao-Horn fight, the company’s decision to move premiere fights from premium television and pay-per-view to ESPN, and what it means for boxing’s future. An edited transcript follows.

MCN:What did you think about the Pacquiao-Horn decision?
Todd duBoef: I wasn’t in Australia for the fight, but everyone who was there in person thought it was a very close fight. As you know, a lot of times when you’re there in person it feels different than when you watch it on television. From my perspective, watching it on television, I thought Manny clearly won. More importantly, I thought it was dramatic and terrific television.

MCN:Were you satisfied with the ratings performance of the fight?
TD: The numbers were off the charts, especially when you take into consideration that the fight was happening in Australia as well as the time of night the fight took place. Timing-wise the fight was set up for the traditional pay-per-view window and not set up for linear distribution. [The fighters] walked in the ring at 12:03 [a.m. ET] which is not in the primetime window that most big sports events take place. I think it shows how powerful the sport is on a global basis.

MCN:How did Top Rank come to the decision to distribute the Pacquiao fight on ESPN instead of via pay-per-view or on the premium cable channels?
TD: We’ve had different conversations with different people as it related to where our product is best shown. My theory has been that boxing needs a 360-degree television perspective and needs to be presented more on a main sports platform. When I say 360, I’m talking about not just the live event but all the content associated with the live event, and I think what ESPN did was fantastic. I think their promotion in advance of the fight, their post-fight coverage and everything they did actually presented boxing like the major sport that it is. The general sports fans are on the [linear and digital] platforms. They’re not necessarily on the premium platforms.

MCN:With two Top Rank-promoted championship fights scheduled for August on ESPN featuring fighters that have fought most of their careers on HBO, is this a trend for Top Rank, in terms of offering its big boxing events on linear television?
TD: Yes, I would say more of a trend. I think to have that platform — which turns the lights on for the sport — is fantastic. For us to use our assets toward turning those lights on for the sport on a consistent basis, not just once every six or eight months, is important for the long-term health and awareness of the product.

MCN:Having said that, there’s already talk about a rematch of the Pacquiao-Horn fight. Is that a possibility since this was such a gripping fight, and would you look toward pay-per-view distribution for that one?
TD: I think there’s obviously a natural conversation about that. Everybody that watched that fight was entertained. The fight had an ebb and flow to it and it was dramatic. I think people were a little disappointed in the decision, but it got people talking about the sport, which was good. We haven’t talked to Manny — he initially said yes [to a rematch] but at the end of the day he has a real job as a politician so when he’s ready we’ll have that conversation. After that if we go forward, then we can talk about whether we’ll be back on the same platform.

What a difference a year makes.

This time last year, cable operators were still counting the windfall from the May 2, 2015, Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao pay-per-view fight, which generated a record 4 million buys and more than $400 million in revenue.

Fast forward to today, and the category is preparing for HBO’s July 23 PPV event between undefeated welterweight champion Terence Crawford and undefeated contender Viktor Postol -- with far fewer performance expectations.

In fact, the combined revenue and buy take of the category’s two fights so far this year — HBO’s April Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley Jr. Fight and its May Canelo Alvarez-Amir Kahn fight — along with next Saturday’s fight won’t even come within a jab’s length of Mayweather-Pacquiao’s performance.

Still, with Pacquiao and Mayweather virtually out of the picture in retirement, HBO said it’s using this year’s PPV telecasts to nurture the next generation of PPV fighters, in the hopes that a few will break through and serve as the industry’s next big cash cow.

“When a promoter identifies a talented fighter and decides to build him up, at some point they have to throw them into the deep waters to see whether they have the thing that they could sell,” HBO vice president, programming, PPV, Tony Walker said. “Crawford is talented, he has an edge to him, and in the fight he’s going up against a fighter that is equally as skilled. Good competitive fights always sell, and it comes during a time where there’s not a lot of competition in the marketplace.”

Crawford has never headlined a PPV card, so it’s not surprising that Walker would not reveal projections for the PPV event. He added that HBO and fight promotion company Top Rank want to gauge Crawford’s appeal on the big stage.

“Manny Pacquiao didn’t generate a million buys in his first PPV event, so we’re going to see how it performs,” Walker said. “We’re optimistic — I don’t know a number, but I know that we and Arum are pretty enthusiastic.”

The industry has stepped up marketing efforts for the fight, committing to the traditional outlay of promotional spots, social-media promotion and other marketing tactics typical of marquee PPV events. With few PPV boxing cards on the slate, Walker said the industry is looking to maximize the revenue return from every fight that’s offered.

“All of the distributors are running cross-channel spots, digital ads and electronic program guide ads, as well as showing past fights featuring the fighters,” Walker said. “There is a lot of marketing around the show.”

While there aren’t any big PPV fights scheduled beyond Crawford-Postol, there maybe a silver lining for the PPV boxing category this fall. Published reports last week quoted boxing promoter Bob Arum as saying that Pacquiao will return to the ring then, just months after announcing his retirement following the Bradley fight.

Walker and HBO could not confirm a potential fall Pacquiao fight, but any in-ring appearance by the PPV category’s former pound-for-pound champion would provide a major revenue boost to the category, regardless of his opponent.

Pacquiao has generated the second-highest level of PPV revenue within the boxing category, behind only Mayweather.