Floyd Mayweather's return to boxing last Saturday night was a success both inside the ring and at the box office, as his decisive win over Juan Manuel Marquez drew more than 1 million buys and generated $52 million in pay-per-view revenue, according to HBO PPV.
The fight, in which Mayweather -- who had retired from the sport in 2007 -- used his speed and size advantage to pound out a unanimous decision over Marquez, is the first PPV boxing event to top the 1 million buy mark since the Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao fight, which drew 1.25 million buys in December 2008.
HBO PPV's tale of the tape for the Sept. 19 bout showed 525,000 buys from cable homes and 475,000 from satellite homes.
Mayweather-Marquez is only the fifth non-heavyweight fight to top the 1 million
mark -- the gold (and green) standard of the PPV event industry. Topping the list is the 2007 De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather fight, which garnered a PPV boxing record 2.4 million buys, followed by the 1999 De La Hoya-Felix Trinidad and 2008 De La Hoya-Pacquiao bouts (1.25 million buys) and the 2005 De La Hoya-Bernard Hopkins fight (1 million buys).
"Sept. 19 was an event that connected with sports fans across the country," said Mark Taffet of HBO Pay-Per-View. "Floyd Mayweather has clearly reinforced his standing as a top attraction and fans are excited about his return to the sport."
HBO PPV will look to top the Mayweather-Marquez performance on Nov. 9 when boxing pound-for-pound champion Manny Pacquiao fights Miquel Cotto. If Pacquaio wins that match, it could set up a blockbuster Mayweather-Pacquaio PPV event sometime in 2010.
