Pacquiao-Broner title bout draws 400,000 PPV buys

Manny Pacquiao, right, hits Adrien Broner during their WBA welterweight title boxing match Saturday, Jan. 19, 2019, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

MANILA, Philippines—Manny Pacquiao proved that he’s still a major draw when his title defense against Adrien Broner raked in an estimated 400,000 pay-per-view buys.

According to ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael, Pacquiao’s defense of his WBA World welterweight belt was worth $30 million in pay-per-view revenue in the United States alone.

The report added that the Nevada State Athletic Commission has yet to make the announced crowd 13,025 at MGM Grand official but it’s estimated that gate revenue will reach seven figures.

Pacquiao-Broner also happened in the same date as the UFC 233 wherein Henry Cejudo defeated TJ Dillashaw to retain his UFC World flyweight title that split the attention of fight fans.

Boxing’s only eight-division World champion long established his drawing power with his PPV numbers usually reaching more than a million in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

Pacquiao is also one-half of the highest-earning PPV bout in sports history when his fight against Floyd Mayweater in 2015 reached 4.6 million buys in the US and around 5.7 million worldwide.

The fight against Broner was also Pacquiao’s first time in the United States and in PPV since he fought Jessie Vargas to win the WBO World welterweight championship in 2016 in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao’s next two fights after the Vargas win weren’t aired in PPV and weren’t fought in the United States.

The next fight was a loss to Jeff Horn and was fought Brisbane that was aired live on ESPN in July of 2017.

Pacquiao bounced back from that controversial loss a year later when he beat Lucas Matthysse for the WBA 147-lb strap in Malaysia that was streamed live on ESPN+.