Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says he’s reluctant to put the March 15th fight between WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez and former IBF champ Subriel Matias on PPV due to piracy issues.
Besides piracy, Lopez isn’t a PPV draw, and Matias isn’t one, either. The two-division world champion Teofimo has failed to gain a wider audience for his fights, perhaps due to his loss to George Kambosos Jr and his poor performances in several of his fights since.
Piracy Problem
So, instead of showing Teofimo’s defense against the dangerous puncher Matias (21-2, 21 KOs) on ESPN PPV, it could be shown on regular ESPN. That isn’t what Arum had hoped for, given that Teofimo’s contract with Top Rank will soon expire.
Arum had hoped to match Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs) against Devin Haney, but he couldn’t get that fight made. So, he went in the direction of Matias, the former IBF champion, who lost his title to Liam Paro last year by a 12-round unanimous decision on June 15th.
“I’m not so enamored with pay-per-view … so few people buy them now,” Arum said to Boxingscene. “We’re losing so many buys with piracy, and until you get a grip on that, the numbers you’re counting on are not the numbers they should be.”
This is not a PPV fight, and that’s Arum’s biggest problem. Only big fights involving stars were put on PPV in the past, but now, the promoters place almost anything behind a paywall. They’re then surprised when the fights fail to bring in big numbers. It’s not piracy. It’s called a lack of interest.
Putting fights on PPV that aren’t designed for that is asking for trouble. Also, promoters put fighters on PPV too early in their career before they’ve gained a fanbase. Gervonta Davis is an example of that. He was on PPV early in his career, fighting scrubs, and not surprisingly, the numbers were low and continue to be.
