Prime Rank promoter Bob Arum says he’s reluctant to place the March fifteenth struggle between WBO mild welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez and former IBF champ Subriel Matias on PPV attributable to piracy points.
In addition to piracy, Lopez isn’t a PPV draw, and Matias isn’t one, both. The 2-division world champion Teofimo has failed to realize a wider viewers for his fights, maybe attributable to his loss to George Kambosos Jr and his poor performances in a number of of his fights since.
Piracy Drawback
So, as a substitute of exhibiting Teofimo’s protection in opposition to the damaging puncher Matias (21-2, 21 KOs) on ESPN PPV, it might be proven on common ESPN. That isn’t what Arum had hoped for, on condition that Teofimo’s contract with Prime Rank will quickly expire.
Arum had hoped to match Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) in opposition to Devin Haney, however he couldn’t get that struggle made. So, he went within the route of Matias, the previous IBF champion, who misplaced his title to Liam Paro final 12 months by a 12-round unanimous determination on June fifteenth.
“I’m not so enamored with pay-per-view … so few individuals purchase them now,” Arum stated to Boxingscene. “We’re shedding so many buys with piracy, and till you get a grip on that, the numbers you’re relying on are usually not the numbers they need to be.”
This isn’t a PPV struggle, and that’s Arum’s greatest downside. Solely huge fights involving stars had been placed on PPV previously, however now, the promoters place virtually something behind a paywall. They’re then stunned when the fights fail to herald huge numbers. It’s not piracy. It’s known as a scarcity of curiosity.
Placing fights on PPV that aren’t designed for that’s asking for hassle. Additionally, promoters put fighters on PPV too early of their profession earlier than they’ve gained a fanbase. Gervonta Davis is an instance of that. He was on PPV early in his profession, combating scrubs, and never surprisingly, the numbers had been low and proceed to be.
