Mayweather Wins Amid Calls for PPV Rematch
HBO Expects de la Hoya Bout to Top His 1999 Fight vs. Trinidad
By R. Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, May 6, 2007
Las Vegas -- Nearly 48 hours after the finale of HBO’s much-hyped Oscar de la Hoya-Floyd Mayweather pay-per-view boxing event here, the drumbeat has already begun for a potential rematch.
HBO officials said performance figures for de la Hoya-Mayweather -- in which Mayweather beat junior-middleweight champion de la Hoya in a very close split decision -- won’t be available until the middle of the week.
The event’s $19 million live gate set an all-time record for a boxing match, surpassing the $16.8 million gate for a 1999 Lennox Lewis-Evander Holyfield fight here.
More uncertain is whether the event will beat the all-time PPV record of 1.99 million buys set by the 1997 Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson II PPV event or the $106 million revenue take earned by the 2002 Tyson-Lennox Lewis bout. HBO and fight promotion company Golden Boy Promotions placed nearly $100 million worth of marketing noise into the fight.
HBO pulled out all the production stops for the event, using an unprecedented 19 cameras to cover the action, including a super-slow-mo camera that helped viewers capture the full impact of a power punch against the head of his opponent, according to HBO officials. A typical PPV event will utilize eight to 10 cameras.
In addition, HBO employed 175 production people to produce and distribute the event both here and abroad, a significant increase over the 100 employees usually working a traditional HBO PPV and World Championship Boxing event, the network said.
While HBO officials were optimistic about the fight’s performance, they remained mum about the potential of a sequel to the much-hyped fight. But sources close to the company aren’t ruling out the possibly of putting the two combatants back in the ring either later this year or sometime in 2008.
While Mayweather said during an interview on ESPN that he could be persuaded into a rematch, if the conditions were right, he also said during the postfight press conference that he could up and retire right now, undefeated and considered the best fighter in the world.
“I don’t have any else to prove,” Mayweather said.
de la Hoya, who owns the successful boxing promotion company Golden Boy Promotions, is also considering retirement. He said during his postfight interview that he would go home and evaluate his performance before deciding to return to the ring.
But one executive close to HBO believes both fighters could be coaxed back to the ring -- for the right price.
While the judges may have awarded the fight to Mayweather, the sell-out crowd of 16,800 believed the Golden Boy was the clear winner.
The pro-de la Hoya crowd thought de la Hoya was the clear aggressor and loudly booed the judges’ decision that gave Mayweather the win. Two of the three judges scored in favor of Mayweather, making him the WBC super-welterweight champion.
Among the cavalcade of celebrities taking in the fisticuffs, according to HBO, were Denzel Washington, Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lopez, Tobey Maguire, Mary J. Blige and Sean “P Diddy” Combs.
Also on hand from the world of sports were former boxing champions Roberto Duran and Thomas “Hit Man” Hearns, and pro basketball legend Michael Jordan was said to be in attendance, as well.
HBO took the advantage of hundreds of domestic and international boxing writers gathered for Mayweather-de la Hoya to announce its next PPV event, a July 21 middleweight bout between Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright. The event will retail at a suggested price of $49.95.
Upcoming fights to air on HBO’s pay TV service include the July 7 Wladimir Klitschko- Lamont
Brewster heavyweight-championship title and a July 14 fight featuring former junior lightweight champion Arturo Gatti.
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