Usyk vs. Fury was the best fight in the last three years in terms of paid broadcasts sold. But the proceeds were not impressive

Held on May 18 in Riyadh heavyweight unification bout between the now ex-WBC title holder Tyson Fury WBA/WBO/IBF/IBO World Champion Alexander Usik became the best in the last three years in terms of the number of paid broadcasts sold. The broadcast of the Usyk-Fury fight on paid platforms was bought by about 1.5 million people.

The number of broadcasts sold is the eighth result in the history of professional boxing. However, if we base the amount of money earned from PPV, the Usyk-Fury fight lost even to the exhibition fight between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones, which took place in November 2020.

According to Forbes, the Usyk-Fury pay-per-view, which ranged from $33 to $80 in different countries, brought in about $50 million for the platforms. The Tyson-Jones fight brought in $80.5 million. Even the Davis-Garcia fight, which collected 400,000 fewer PPVs than the Usyk-Fury fight, brought in twice as much money – €102 million.

The Mayweather-Pacquiao fight in 2015 remains the record-breaking fight in terms of both the number of broadcasts sold and the amount of money raised: 4.6 million PPV for a total of $401 million.

It is worth noting that Mayweather remains the main generator of income from PPV: five of Floyd’s fights are in the top 10 in terms of the number of paid broadcasts sold and the amount of money earned. Four of them occupy the first four places in both indicators.

On the night of May 19, Usyk inflicted the first defeat of Tyson Fury’s professional career in a fight that took place at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). The victory was awarded to the Ukrainian by a split decision of the judges: 115-112, 113-114 and 114-113.

Alexander became the first absolute heavyweight champion in the four-belt era. In the heavyweight division, the last time the absolute title was held was by Lennox Lewis in 1999, but back then three titles were enough to win the title.

Read also: Usyk retains first place in P4P rating according to The Ring

Usyk subsequently issued a statement in which he announced that he would give the IBF belt to the winner of the British derby between his two former opponents in the ring – Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua.. Thus, Alexander lost the status of absolute world champion in heavyweight, which he held for more than a month.

Usyk and Fury have reached an agreement for a rematch. The “Gypsy King” has officially activated the rematch option. The second fight between Alexander and Tyson will take place on December 21, 2024, in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman said he would seek the introduction of video replays in this fight.