Pacquiao-Hatton Pay Per View Numbers Very Good

There has been much speculation as to why the Pay Per View numbers for the May 2 Pacquiao-Hatton fight were taking so long to be published.  This was after all the most bet on boxing much of the year thus far.

From SportingNews First Cuts:

"For anyone familiar with this game, that's an immediate red flag. When the numbers are good, they're always out to the media immediately, and when they're disappointing, they always seem to get held back for weeks on end."

This fight may be the exception to that rule.

Dan Rafael of ESPN.com is reporting that the Pacquiao-Hatton PPV fight of May 2 did roughly 850,000 buys.  That is quite good.

This would be the second highest PPV take ever for a fight that did not involve Oscar De La Hoya, Mike Tyson or Evander Holyfield.

On May 2, 2009, Pacquiao fought Ricky Hatton for the IBO and Ring Magazine Light Welterweight titles at MGM Grand Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The fight was originally placed in jeopardy due to disputes with both camps over the fight purse money. Eventually, the money issue was settled and the fight went on as scheduled. HBO aired the contest.

Pacquiao started the fight strong, knocking down a sluggish Hatton twice in the first round. At the bell, Hatton seemed to have re-grouped, only to get knocked down for the third time 2:59 into the second round, awarding Pacquiao the win by KO.

The next available boxing betting odds were on the following fights for May 15 all courtesy of Bookmaker.com:

BORDELANDHALLE, MAGDEBURG, GERMANY HEAVYWEIGHT - 12 RDS

BORDELANDHALLE, MAGDEBURG, GERMANY SPR MIDDLEWEIGHT

ODYSSEY ARENA, BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND HEAVYWEIGHT - 12 RDS

ODYSSEY ARENA, BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND JR MIDDLEWEIGHT - 10 RDS

ESPN2 - HARRAH'S HOTEL CASINO, ATLANTIC CITY, NJ LIGHTWEIGHT - 10 RDS