Floyd Mayweather vs. Mike Tyson: Who was a bigger PPV star?
Floyd Mayweather is the biggest pay-per-view draw of all time, even outdrawing Mike Tyson.
'Money' earned his nickname for a reason. The 45-year-old has been apart of some of the biggest pay-per-views ever, not even just in the boxing ring. Mayweather has outdrawn the largest MMA and pro-wrestling pay-per-view events as well.
Of the top ten highest-grossing boxing pay-per-view events ever, Mayweather holds five of them according to WorldSportsWeekly. Furthermore, the top four are all 'Money'. His bouts against Manny Pacquiao and Conor McGregor drew in a ballpark revenue of $400 million dollars each.
The only competition to Floyd Mayweather in terms of pay-per-view drawing power in boxing is Mike Tyson. 'Iron Mike' was an immense draw in his prime, and holds four pay-per-view events in the top ten highest-grossing boxing events ever.
The best-selling event that Tyson was apart of was his 2002 slugfest with Lennox Lewis. That long-awaited superfight grossed $112 million dollars, and is one of the largest boxing events in history. His rematch with Evander Holyfield and return against Peter McNeely also cracked the top ten.
While Mike Tyson is not as big of a pay-per-view star as 'Money' is, he comes close.
Floyd Mayweather and Mike Tyson are still stars in 2022
It boggles the mind, but both Floyd Mayweather and Mike Tyson have had two massive pay-per-view events in boxing history within the last two years.
Both men have firmly retired since 2017 and 2005 respectively. However, they've still competed in exhibition boxing matches recently and have done monster numbers on pay-per-view.
'Iron Mike's last exhibition boxing match was against Roy Jones Jr. on Triller Fight Club in November 2020. The bout wasn't a winner, as it ended in a no-contest after eight rounds of competition. However, Tyson did win at the box office with the bout drawing over $80 million dollars in revenue, according to Triller.
Mayweather, on the other hand, recently had an exhibition boxing match against Logan Paul in June 2021. The bout wasn't as entertaining as Tyson's affair with Jones Jr., but it too ended in a no-contest. Living up to his storied history, this Mayweather appearance also did great numbers on pay-per-view
According to Sportico, the pay-per-view bout between 'Money' and 'The Maverick' made over $50 million in revenue. With that in mind, it's safe to say they likely did well in the profit department.