The Myth of Miguel Cotto Being a Bigger Draw then Shane Mosley

I feel like I am doing the boxing version of the Discovery Channels Mythbusters. People will believe what they hear if they hear it enough. We always hear, don’t fight Sugar Shane Mosley, he isn’t a big draw. He doesn’t sell tickets…etc. I decided to do a little research and I found that yes Miguel Cotto has out sold Mosley in tickets in New York City and out East. And I also found out that yes Shane Mosley can’t sell out a fight when he fights Luis Collazo. I also found out that the 2 biggest crowds in Staples Center history involved Shane Mosley. But forget gate attractions for a second. I decided to look at PPV buys, and I was astounded by what I found. Folks it is even close, Shane Mosley’s PPV numbers are double that of Miguel Cotto. Yes, he has 2 fights with Oscar De La Hoya which inflates his numbers. But even if you take those fight out, he still out sells Miguel Cotto. I did a break down of 5 PPV events of Shane Mosley and 4 of Miguel Cotto, and like I said, numbers don’t lie my friends.

Miguel Cotto PPV

Paul Malignaggi 2006–
*Less then 150K Buys
Estimated total.

Zab Judah 2007–
*220K Buys
Estimated Total

Michael Jennings 2009
Less then 150K Buys
*Estimated Total

Margarito
450K Buys
*Estimated Total

Average of 243K Buys

Mosley PPV Buys

De La Hoya I–2000
588K Buys
*Estimated Total

De La Hoya II–2003
950K Buys
*Estimated Total

Vargas I–2006
415K Buys
*Estimated Total

Vargas II-2006
350K Buys
*Estimate Total

Estrada-2005
225K Buys
*Estimated Total

330K Average without De La Hoya
505K Average with De La Hoya

I will take out the De La Hoya fights because we all know De La Hoya was the draw there. But for people who say Vargas was the draw when he fought Mosley. Remember De La Hoya-Vargas did 935K Buys and Mosley-De La Hoya II did 950K Buys. So that squashes that argument. For what it is worth Mosley-Cotto did 350K Buys. But you have to ask the question, who carried that card for PPV purposes. It was a 130K Buy increase from Cotto’s fight with Zab Judah, a 59% increase with Mosley on the card.

There is no doubt Miguel Cotto is a huge draw in New York City. He can sell tickets better then almost in any fighter in the business. But being good in a niche market doesn’t neccessary make you a bigger draw.

One more thing before I close. Shane Mosley-Antonio Margarito did a 3.9 rating, and had 1.9 million viewers compared to 1.68 million viewers for Miguel Cotto-Joshua Clottey, according to boxingtruth.com. and the Nielson ratings.(HBO had a Free Preview this past weekend, thus more potential viewers) Sorry the numbers don’t lie. Shane Mosley is a bigger mainstream draw then Miguel Cotto, thus will be a bigger draw if a Pacquiao fight takes place in Las Vegas. Numbers don’t lie.

Source: http://www.boxing24.com/the-myth-of-cotto-being-a-bigger-draw-then-mosley/ (June 17, 2009)