Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois bout was a spectacle at the Wembley Stadium. However, the spectacle yielded a shocking result when Dubois knocked out Joshua in the fifth round, to retain his IBF heavyweight title.

Even after the shock result, Eddie Hearn and His Excellency Turki Alalshikh celebrated the success of the event, claiming a record 96,000 attendance for the event. However, now, a source has come out and stated that not only are those attendance numbers much lower, but the PPV also had a shocking buy rate in the US. If this is in fact true, it raises concerns regarding piracy in boxing, expensive PPV prices, and the timing of the event.

Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois: Shocking PPV Buys

Firstly, one fan took to ‘X’ to reveal that the attendance number for the event was not 96,000, as was earlier expected. As per the data provided by the Brent Borough Council, the official attendance was around 85,466. As a government body, Brent Borough Council provides reliable data and they also receive official numbers for Wembley events.

More alarming were the PPV numbers, especially from the U.S. market. According to ‘War a Week Radio’s Joseph Herron, who revealed the figure on Boxing Source YT channel, the event garnered 815,000 PPV buys worldwide, a comparatively decent number. However, of that total, the U.S. accounted for just 15,000 buys, a dismal result for a fight involving such big names. This revelation in the YouTube video was then reported by ‘Matt, Brunch Boxing CEO & Host’. After which it was shared by multiple boxing commentators online.

Despite the sources, these figures provided should be taken with a pinch of salt as no official numbers have been revealed by the promoters or broadcasters as of yet. Though 800,000 PPV numbers may be a sizable collection worldwide, the 15k discrepancy from US viewers is in fact disconcerting.

Despite reducing the PPV price to $19.99 in both the UK and the U.S., a move specifically intended to make the fight more accessible, the buy rate fell significantly short of expectations in the U.S. For comparison, Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga, which was priced at $89.99, managed to pull in similar figures from PPV, highlighting the ongoing issue of expensive PPVs alienating potential buyers.

One major factor contributing to the decline is the rise of illegal streaming, which continues to undermine boxing’s traditional revenue model. Many fans, unable to justify the cost of multiple high-priced PPVs in a short time, have turned to illegal streams. This problem has become more pronounced in recent years, with events like the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk event in May missing out on close to $100 million in PPV revenue due to piracy.

A wind of change

In 2024, there have been at least five fights that cost at least $70 on PPV. The Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk had a price tag of $70. We have already mentioned the Canelo vs Berlanga fight. But even the Canelo vs Jaime Munguia fight cost around $85 dollars. This means if you are a fan of the unified super middleweight champion, you had to pay almost $200 for just his two fights.

The Ryan Garcia vs Devin Haney fight too cost around $100. All these expensive fights resulted in the rise of illegal streams because as much as these fights were unmissable, not everyone could afford such hefty fees.

That is why Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua’s event took a step in the right direction by heavily decreasing the PPV price. And this might have started a positive trend in the boxing industry.

The upcoming fight between light heavyweight giants, Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, has been priced at $15 in the U.S. and around £19.99 in the UK on platforms like DAZN and Sky Sports. Whether it will be a successful experiment or not is yet to be seen. But it certainly will benefit the fans. It might be a short-term solution to attract the watchers once again towards the sport, as boxing does not have many alternate income sources apart from ticket sales and PPV revenue. As piracy continues to eat into profits and fans become more selective with their purchases, promoters must find ways to keep the sport financially viable while also delivering value to the fans.

However, the question remains: can boxing promotions find a sustainable revenue model at these lower prices? If successful, this could pave the way for a new era in boxing, but if not, the sport may revert to the old, high-priced PPV format. For now, the industry is in a state of flux, and it’s uncertain whether these price cuts will be the long-term solution.

What do you think about Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua’s PPV buys? Do you think lowering prices is the answer? Let us know your thoughts down below.