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Thursday, September 19
 
PPV revenue hits $45.6 million for De La Hoya-Vargas

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS -- Oscar De La Hoya's knockout of Fernando Vargas did some heavyweight numbers for a pay-per-view fight.

HBO said Thursday that the fight last weekend between 154-pounders generated 900,000 buys and revenue of $45.6 million, making it the second biggest non-heavyweight pay-per-view event ever behind De La Hoya's 1999 fight with Felix Trinidad.

Although the sales were large for the title fight, won by De La Hoya in the 11th round, the bout did not crack the top 10 pay-per-view events ever. Topping that list was the 1997 rematch between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, which generated 1.99 million buys.

The most money ever made on a boxing pay-per-view promotion was the $103 million brought in by Tyson's fight in June with Lennox Lewis, which was bought by 1.8 million customers.

The success of the pay-per-view, coupled with a live gate of about $9 million, means De La Hoya and Vargas will likely each make much more than their guarantees of $14 million and $6 million, respectively.

The fight will be rebroadcast Saturday night on HBO.




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