Andre Berto Pins Bad PPV Numbers on Floyd Mayweather
For a Floyd Mayweather fight, the pay-per-view numbers for his bout with Andre Berto weren’t overwhelming. It’s unlikely Mayweather, who made a cool $32,000,000, will lose any sleep over it. But Berto, who made around $4,000,000 for his part, couldn’t resist pointing out the reason for the lackluster figures.
Apparently the problem was Mayweather himself. According to Berto (34-4, 23 KO), his September 12th conqueror had already turned off a lot of fans following a sleep-inducing clash with Pacquiao in May. For the record, 400,000 – 550,000 people purchased Mayweather-Berto.
“It’s definitely Floyd’s fault,” Berto told TMZ. “He left a sour taste in everybody’s mouth because of the Pacquiao bomb shell. I knew if he had the chance he would run around and make it boring, but I tried my best to not let that happen and disappoint the people. They deserve excitement.”
Mmm…Berto seems to be missing the obvious. Fans have been flocking to watch Mayweather (49-0, 26 KO) for years ‘despite’ his defensive style often dubbed ‘boring’. The Mayweather-Pacquiao bout probably didn’t help September 12th’s numbers, true, but it was the actual Mayweather-Berto match-up itself which likely affected them most.
Prior to the fight, Berto had a small fan-base, and more importantly, no one gave him a chance of winning. And it turns out they couldn’t be more right. Bottom line: no one on earth wanted to see Mayweather-Berto. Nobody!
Cotto vs Canelo Undercard Looking Strong
November 21st’s Cotto vs Canelo looks to be a hotly-contested, sellout event, so it’s only right a night of this magnitude deserves a stellar undercard.
OK, it won’t sound stellar to casual fans, but real boxing heads will look forward to the following two match-ups. Junior Lightweights Takashi Miura and Francisco Vargas will be getting it on for the WBC strap, and Bantamweights Randy Caballero and Lee Haskins will be trading blows for the IBF crown.
We’ll be bringing you a full preview into these fights soon, but all that needs to be known for now is all four fighters are Top 10 ranked in their respective divisions. Not a bad thing, considering there’s been a number of dreadful mismatches in boxing lately. We won’t mention Quillin vs Zerafa, Stevenson vs Karpency as some of them.
What’s your opinion on Andre Berto’s blaming of Floyd Mayweather for low PPV numbers? And what of the Cotto-Canelo undercard?
Mark Phillips is the Head Staff Writer/Assistant Editor at BoxingBase.com, and provides worldwide news, coverage and analysis – he can be reached via our Contact Page.
