Ellerbe dismisses notion of low PPV numbers for Mayweather-Maidana
Floyd Mayweather Jr. "cashed a $32 million check and he will have a s–t-load of more money coming in every month" in the wake of his majority decision over Marcos Maidana on May 3 on Showtime Pay Per View at The MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe told RingTV.com on Tuesday.
Mayweather (46-0, 26 knockouts) announced on Monday that he will return to the ring on Sept. 13, this, after his victory over Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs) sold 15,718 tickets and drew a live gate of $15,024,400, which ranks fourth all-time in Nevada history, according the Nevada State Athletic Committee's website.
Although the pay per view numbers have not yet been released, Ellerbe characterized himself as being "very pleased" with the numbers and dismissed the notion that Mayweather-Maidana performed poorly. However, many boxing industry insiders wonder if the delay in the announcement from Showtime, Golden Boy Promotions and Mayweather Promotions is an indication that the pay-per-view event underperformed. With Mayweather's giant pay guarantee ($32 million), the PPV event would have had to more than 1 million buys to be profitable beyond the star fighter's purse.
"Floyd Mayweather cashed a $32 million check, and he has a s–t-load of more money coming every month. End of discussion. How much more money is nobody's business. Floyd Mayweather has set the bar, and there's nobody else near him in that world or in that stratosphere. The're nobody remotely doing half of what he's doing," said Ellerbe.
"I have an idea of the numbers, and we're very pleased with where we're at. This process is a little different than maybe it was in the past. Once I have a good, accurate number, then I'll let the public know. But the implication that was made out there—industry sources and all of that baloney—Floyd Mayweather is in a world of his own and competing against himself. That's the bottom line. We had a very, very successful event and very, very successful promotion. We're very pleased with all of the above."
Mayweather pocketed a guaranteed $32 million purse against $1.5 for Maidana, according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the same as he made in his unanimous decision victories over Miguel Cotto and Robert Guerrero in May of 2012 and May of 2013, respectively.