Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Logan Paul announced on Monday that they will be fighting in a boxing exhibition in February. The matchup pits a social media star against one of the greatest boxers ever. It will also mix worlds in terms of the audiences it can deliver. Mayweather brings more traditional sports fans, while Paul has his own following that includes a younger, social media-focused audience.
Though the fight isn’t real, its promoters have lofty goals.
In an email announcing the fight, the promoters said the fight “is expected to shatter pay-per-view records.”
That is one serious bold claim, and something we doubt will happen, though we reserve the right to be proven wrong.
Mayweather’s fight against Manny Pacquiao in 2015 generated 4.6 million pay-per-view buys. His fight against Conor McGregor in 2017 did 4.3 million buys. Mayweather’s bouts with Oscar De La Hoya and Canelo Alvarez also did over two million buys apiece.
How much of an audience is there for a Mayweather-Paul exhibition? The early price special of just under $25 should help sales, but it took Mayweather against some of the greatest fighters to set records.
Does Paul have enough of a following to lead to millions of sales? We have our doubts about this setting records.
