We hear the claim that it's not fair to compare Pacquiao's numbers in one fight against PBF's in another, because one hadn't yet faced ODH, or the other was in a lower weight class at the time. And this could certainly be a reason one fighter's PPV sold better than the other's. But it's certainly not the only reason. Other reasons include the viewership of fights leading up to the event. Take PBF's fight against Mosley. It will be on the heels of three straight weeks of fights on HBO in which the event will be promoted between nearly every round! And there's thousands of other reasons too. What if one fighter's promoter is better than the other's? That says nothing about the fighter's popularity as an individual. But it sure can impact ticket sales. And how about the under-card? Can we really be sure it doesn't impact sales? Especially considering if you don't care about it, you can wait one week and watch the main event for free. The point is, none of us are in a position to take into account all of the factors that could confound a judgement as to who the more popular fighter is as far as PPV sales. And so, at the risk of reintroducing a topic that's been forgotten, at least for now, I propose that it's a debate not worth having.
