WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis’ successful title defense against Frank Martin reportedly did between 325,200-000 and 350,000 PPV buys on June 15th. The numbers suggest that Tank’s drawing power isn’t as good as he and his fans had thought.
It’s not a surprise that Tank’s PPV numbers for the Frank Martin fight failed to hit the one million mark because fans hadn’t asked for this mismatch.
Martin had looked awful in his previous fight against Artem Harutyunyan; he wasn’t well known to casual boxing fans, and hardcore fans saw this as another cherry-pick for Tank.
Frank was dead weight in the promotion, not creating much interest, and Tank and his helper Leonard Ellerbe could not create artificial excitement for a lackluster fight from the jump.
In hindsight, Tank and his management’s decision to choose Frank Martin rather than a rematch with Ryan Garcia or a fight against Vasily Lomachenko was poorly thought out.
The Ryan Garcia Effect
Boxing insider Dan Rafael reports that the Davis-Martin fight brought in the above numbers, which indicate that Tank (30-0, 28 KOs) has returned to the levels he was at before Ryan Garcia’s fight, which brought in 1.2 million buys.
Depending on how you view Tank’s numbers, they’re either great or disappointing. It’s a big letdown in a true sense because it shows that Tank’s massive PPV numbers for Ryan Garcia were due to Kingry and not to him. That’s what many people suspected because Tank’s PPV numbers before that fight were mediocre.
The real problem that has held Tank back from becoming a mega-star is these reasons:
1. Poor matchmaking: Fighting only soft opposition
2. Lack of personality
3. Failure to use social media to promote
Tank’s PPV Track Record: A Closer Look
Frank Martin: 325-350K
Ryan Garcia: 1.2 million
Hector Garcia: 200-250K
Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero: 275K
Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz: 200K
Mario Barrios: 210-215K
Leo Santa Cruz: 200-225K