Advertisement

Canelo Alvarez-Amir Khan bout generates close to 600,000 pay-per-view buys

Canelo Alvarez, left, and Amir Khan trade punches during their WBC middleweight championship bout in Las Vegas on May 7.
(Isaac Brekken / Associated Press)
Share

Canelo Alvarez’s sixth-round knockout of Amir Khan on Saturday night in Las Vegas generated “just shy” of 600,000 pay-per-view buys, an industry source told the Los Angeles Times.

Mexico’s 25-year-old Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 knockouts) previously participated in the third-most-lucrative pay-per-view of all time, when he suffered a majority-decision loss to unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013. That bout drew 2.2 million buys, valued at $150 million.

Alvarez’s number against Khan indicates that fight fans are flocking to the World Boxing Council middleweight champion as they move on from Mayweather, 39, and Manny Pacquiao, 37, who had just 400,000 buys apiece in their “retirement” fights within the last year.

Advertisement

By reaching nearly 600,000 buys at age 25, Alvarez posted more sales than anyone at his age since his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, did so in his 1997 victory by unanimous decision over Pernell Whitaker at age 24.

Alvarez struggled with former 140-pound world champion Khan’s speed and boxing skill through four rounds, but then began to pound the British fighter in the fifth and set up a vicious right hand that crushed Khan on the left side of the head, briefly knocking him unconscious.

The victory could set up a showdown with unbeaten World Boxing Assn. and International Boxing Federation middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) later this year, and Alvarez’s sales will certainly be a factor in active negotiations between De La Hoya and Golovkin’s promoter, Tom Loeffler.

Golovkin had fewer than 150,000 buys in his October pay-per-view debut against David Lemieux at a sold-out Madison Square Garden in New York.

An Alvarez-Golovkin bout is likely being pointed to AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

ALSO

Advertisement

Rams will begin contacting season-ticket depositers

Boxing champion Leo Santa Cruz reveals his father’s fight with cancer

Sports book director rejects any Raiders gambling curb if team moves to Las Vegas

Advertisement