The Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia fight did even bigger business than those involved in the event expected.
BoxingScene.com has learned that their Showtime Pay-Per-View main event generated approximately 1.2 million buys in the United States. Most insiders interviewed by BoxingScene.com before Davis’ seventh-round knockout of Garcia projected that it would produce anywhere between 450,000 and 750,000 buys, which still would’ve been a success based on the state of the boxing pay-per-view business in the U.S.
Their 136-pound, non-title fight – which drew an announced sellout crowd of 20,842 to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas – also generated approximately $22.8 million in ticket sales. That ranks fifth in Nevada boxing history, behind only Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao (nearly $72.2 million), Mayweather-Conor McGregor (more than $55.4 million), Alvarez-Gennadiy Golovkin I (more than $27 million) and Alvarez-Golovkin II (more than $24.4 million).
Davis, 28, and Garcia, 24, are two of the most popular boxers in the sport, but piracy and high price points have negatively impacted pay-per-view sales in recent years. Their fight captivated casual boxing fans and the sport’s hardcore base alike, however, which helped make it Showtime Pay-Per-View’s most successful event since Mayweather-McGregor in August 2017.
Mayweather-McGregor drew a reported 4.3 million pay-per-view buys, behind only Mayweather-Pacquiao in May 2015. Mayweather-Pacquiao produced a record 4.6 million buys and more than $600 million in overall revenue.
The bout between Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) and Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) was produced and distributed by Showtime, but it was also sold by DAZN, PPV.com and numerous cable and satellite operators in the U.S. It cost $84.99 on all of those platforms except DAZN, which offered it to its annual and monthly subscribers for $59.99.
Showtime – which, like BoxingScene.com, is owned by Paramount Global – has televised Davis’ last 13 fights either on pay-per-view or live on the network. Golden Boy Promotions, which has an exclusive output deal with DAZN, represents Garcia.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing