The PPV buy rate numbers for the November 22 Top Rank card in Macau headlined by Manny Pacquiao vs. Chris Algieri have not been released as of this writing and, according to one source, may not be announced at all due to “very disappointing” figures.
Boxing matchmaker and professional loud voice, Rick Glaser, has been the only entity with “insider” reach to even comment publicly on the subject, issuing this Tweet on November 30:
Hearing #Pacquiao–#Algieri #PPV number very disappointing, to the point TopRank/#HBO hasn't released a number, and may not. #boxing
— Rick Glaser (@RickGlaser1) December 1, 2014
Glaser is all over the spectrum in the arena of credibility, because he does have his agendas as a figure still very much owning horses in the race, so to speak, but has been fairly accurate regarding situations not immediately crucial to his own interests. It’s not hard to believe that, in this particular case, he may be right on the money.
A Pacquiao-Algieri flop shouldn’t come as any surprise, though, because of the fact that foreign-hosted PPV shows are always an extremely tough sell to the mainstream fan and Algieri, despite a huge propaganda push by Top Rank, was never considered a viable or deserving challenge to Pacquiao.
Pacquiao’s last bout in Macau, against Brandon Rios– a fighter considerably better-known and more accomplished than Chris Algieri– delivered a disappointing 475,000 buys in 2013.
UPDATE ( 7:44 PM Central Time)
Rick Glaser issued a follow-up Tweet just now with a an actual buy rate estimate:
Wow, horrible, #Pacquiao PPV reputedly did just over 300,000 buys & its the lowest #Manny #PPV figure since becoming a super star. #boxing
— Rick Glaser (@RickGlaser1) December 3, 2014
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