Report: Mike Tyson vs Roy Jones Jr. event sold 1.6 million PPVs
The Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. exhibition boxing event has reportedly sold more than 1.6 million PPVs.
The event was promoted by Triller, owned by Ryan Kavanaugh. In the days that have ensued after the event, Triller has received widespread praise for its presentation of the event.
The combat sports community has been rife with speculation as to how well Mike Tyson’s return to the boxing ring has done at box office. The consensus, based on preliminary reports, is that the event managed to garner more than 1.2 million PPV buys.
Ryan Kavanaugh has now confirmed that the event has sold more than 1.6 million PPVs.
Triller owner Ryan Kavanaugh has reveals the success of Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr.
As reported by BoxingScene.com, Triller owner Ryan Kavanaugh has noted that the Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. exhibition boxing event has garnered about 1.6 million PPV buys.
“Despite everyone wanting for it not to work, we upset them by changing things up and making it work and dominated the conversation.”
One ought to note that after the conclusion of the Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. event, Triller announced that they’d be promoting future events in a similar format.
Mike Tyson’s Legends Only League has been widely discussed. Tyson has revealed that he’d like to see some of the best athletes in the world return to competition under the Legends Only League banner.
Tyson’s Legends Only League will give older athletes the opportunity to return to the sports they once dominated, and once again compete against fellow legends of their respective fields.
On the other hand, some of Triller’s other plans for future events include the new partnership with hip hop legend Snoop Dogg.
Snoop Dogg, who received widespread praise for his highly entertaining work on commentary at the Tyson vs. RJJ event, is set to launch his new boxing promotion named Fight Club, with the help of Triller.
Apparently, the current plans involve putting forth five or eight PPV events in 2021, with each event being organized in a format similar to the Tyson vs. RJJ showcase.
Each event would feature up-and-coming professional boxers, musical performances, and much more. However, the only change will be that the exhibition matchups between older fighters, such as the one between Tyson and RJJ, aren’t likely to be a part of future events.
Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. is the highest-selling boxing and overall combat sports PPV of 2020
Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. is the highest-selling combat sports PPV of the 2020 calendar year, with more than 1.6 million PPV buys. With traditional cable operators expected to provide Triller the exact numbers in the coming days, this tally is expected to rise.
The highest-selling combat sports PPV of 2020, prior to Tyson vs. RJJ, was UFC 251. The event witnessed Jorge Masvidal step in on extremely short notice to fight UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, and reportedly did 1.3 million PPV buys.
Meanwhile, the highest-selling boxing PPV of 2020 was the rematch between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder, which did 850,000 PPV buys. Needless to say, it has now been beaten soundly by the Tyson vs. RJJ event.
The last notable boxing PPVs that did more than a million buys were Saul "Canelo" Alvarez’s fights against Gennady Golovkin. Their first fight in 2017 did 1.3 million PPV buys, whereas the rematch in 2018 did 1.1 million.
During his prime, Mike Tyson was the biggest box office star in all of combat sports. His first fight against Evander Holyfield in 1996 did 1.59 million PPV buys, whereas their rematch in 1997 did 1.99 million. Then, Tyson’s fight against Lennox Lewis in 2002 did 1.97 million PPV buys.
To this day, the highest-selling heavyweight boxing PPV of all time is Mike Tyson’s 1997 rematch with Evander Holyfield. It's also known as the infamous "bite fight", because Tyson was disqualified in the matchup after repeatedly biting Holyfield’s ear.
Furthermore, boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. still holds the records for the four highest-selling boxing PPVs of all time.
Mayweather’s fight against Manny Pacquiao did 4.6 million PPV buys, whereas his clash with Conor McGregor did 4.3 million. Mayweather’s fight against Oscar De La Hoya garnered 2.4 million PPV buys, while his fight against Canelo Alvarez did 2.2 million.
In the aftermath of his incredibly successful exhibition boxing showdown – both from a sporting and business perspective – Mike Tyson has consistently asserted that he will be competing more in the future.