Gervonta Davis's recent pay-per-view numbers for his fight against Frank Martin on June 15th have been disclosed and they have fallen below expectations. As per Dan Rafael, the event attracted between 325,000 and 350,000 buys, a significant decrease compared to the 1.2 million buys Davis garnered in his fight against Ryan Garcia on April 22, 2022. This notable decline hints that Davis's previous success was largely due to Garcia's popularity rather than an increase in Davis's own appeal.
The selection of Frank Martin as Davis's opponent seems to have been a misstep. Martin, who had not fought for a year and barely won his last match against Artem Harutyunyan, was not able to generate much interest. It appears that Tank’s management underestimated the situation, possibly swayed by the numbers from the Garcia fight and failing to recognize that Garcia's fame was the main factor behind those impressive results. Surprisingly, Davis did not object to this matchup, leading to disappointing pay-per-view sales.
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In the past, Daviss pay per view figures have been modest when he doesn't face a high-profile opponent. For example, his fights against Hector Garcia (200-250K), Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero (275K), Isaac "Pitbull" Cruz (200K), Mario Barrios (210-215K) and Leo Santa Cruz (200-225K) all had relatively low sales. The recent numbers from the Martin fight confirm that Davis performs better with more popular opponents like Ryan Garcia.
Looking ahead, if Davis aims to replicate the million-buy success of his bout with Ryan Garcia, he must pursue matchups with similarly renowned foes. Despite his current popularity fueled by Mayweather Promotions, it's evident that this alone isn't sufficient to maintain high pay-per-view numbers.
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