Pacquiao-Clottey did 700,000 pay-per-view buys

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HBO reports that the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight in Texas on March 13 generated 700,000 pay-per-view buys, with $35.3 million in revenue.

The numbers fell far short of Pacquiao’s 12th-round TKO of Miguel Cotto in November, but that bout (which had 1.25 million PPV buys) against the popular Puerto Rican world welterweight champ had more of a so-called “B name” upside.

The Clottey figure instead showed how Pacquiao’s popularity has soared in the last two years, given that his March 2008 bout versus the respected Juan Manuel Marquez had just 400,000-plus buys.

“We are extremely pleased with the ... performance of Pacquiao-Clottey. It significantly exceeded our expectations,” HBO PPV President Mark Taffet said. “It is a testament to the popularity of Pacquiao and the vitality of the sport, and it gives us great encouragement as we look toward the May 1 [Floyd] Mayweather-[Shane] Mosley pay-per-view fight.”

Pacquiao, who clobbered Clottey in a unanimous decision, winning all 12 rounds on one judge’s scorecard, has has now produced 6.25 million PPV buys, worth $320 million in revenue in 12 PPV bouts, HBO reports.

-- Lance Pugmire