UK boxing PPV buys are rarely ever revealed. For the first time however, we can now truly understand the surge in popularity in UK boxing.
It’s well known now that boxing in the UK is absolutely massive once again.
This return to popularity has been seemingly happening gradually in recent years – personified by the growth in superstar status of current heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
Simply put, he sells a shed load of tickets, sponsorship and pay per views.
Traditionally, the main player for pay per view boxing in the UK and TV giant Sky Sports never let slip what the figures for pay per view buys actually are.
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Unlike in the US where the numbers nine times out of ten usually always come out.
Boxing’s main promoter in the UK over the last five years and at this stage, the world, Eddie Hearn, also traditionally has been slow to give these numbers away too.
Only ever hinting at them for the most part over the last couple of years. He’s started to change that policy in recent times it appears however.
Maybe it’s because things are going so well he just doesn’t care who knows anymore. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t feel any competition in his home country as a promoter, or overseas in the US.
Who knows, but what is now known now though is how his big pay per view shows over the last year and a half or so have panned out for him in the big pay per view fights.
Speaking to Kugan Cassius of IFL TV recently Eddie Hearn spoke on how things have gone for his big UK boxing PPV buys over the last 18 months or so:
“Back in the day 250,000 pay per view buys used to be a solid touch, you know. Then, like lately, lets go back to Dillian Whyte against Joshua, again, off the top of my head, 420,000 buys. Anthony Joshua against Charles Martin – 500 and something thousand buys. Kell Brook against Gennady Golovkin – 400,000 buys. Anthony Joshua against Eric Molina – 450,000 buys. David Haye against Tony Bellew – 750,000 buys. Klitschko against Joshua – 1.2 million buys.”
Not too shabby.
For clarity, lets break that down quickly in a chart form time-frame (note he didn’t mention the Dominic Breazeale fight with Anthony Joshua or Carl Frampton vs Scott Quigg during this time frame which were also PPV – presumably they didn’t do as well as the below in reality)
- (December 12th, 2015) Anthony Joshua vs Dillian Whyte – 420,000
- (April 9th, 2016) Anthony Joshua vs Charles Martin – 500,000+
- (September 10th, 2016) Gennady Golovkin vs Kell Brook – 400,000
- (December 10th, 2016) Anthony Joshua vs Eric Molina – 450,000
- (March 4th, 2017) Tony Bellew vs David Haye – 750,000
- (April 29th, 2017) Anthony Joshua vs Wladimir Klitschko – 1,200,000
As you can see, boxing has steadily began to come into a boom time in the UK which in itself, has also helped world boxing.
Numbers are currently being awaited for the recent Errol Spence Jr vs Kell Brook pay per view on Sky Sports Box Office in the UK.
