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via Imago

via Imago

November 6 was arguably the biggest fight night of the year 2021. The number one pound-for-pound boxer, Canelo Alvarez, became an undisputed world champion for the first time. He beat Caleb Plant in a super middleweight unification fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. On the same night, at the Madison Square Garden, UFC 268 took place. Kamaru Usman was in the main event against Colby Covington. The rest of the card was also stacked heavily.

Fight fans were looking forward to the events, and the numbers that have come in prove that. According to Lance Pugmire, the pay-per-view buys for Alvarez-Plant reached 800,000. The number exceeded everyone’s expectations, as, before the fight, industry insiders were predicting the fight to draw somewhere between 500,000 and 600,000 buys. This was Canelo’s return to pay-per-view (Showtime) for the first time since his 2018 rematch with Gennady Golovkin. The boxing event was available to fans at $79.99.

UFC 268 also did great in terms of PPV buys. The event card featured two title fights and one fight of the year contender, along with other great fights. As reported by Aaron Bronsteter, the UFC event sold an impressive 700,000 pay-per-views through ESPN+ alone.

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This was the fourth biggest PPV of the year for the UFC. Only UFC 257 and UFC 264 (both headlined by Conor McGregor) and UFC 259 are ahead of it. It was available to the fight fans at $69.99.

These are just domestic numbers, and worldwide numbers can make a vast difference in the comparison.

ALSO READ – “There Needs to Be a Trilogy”- Colby Covington Demands a Rematch Against Kamaru Usman

Is Canelo Alvarez vs. Kamaru Usman the fight to make?

Canelo Alvarez is the best boxer in the world right now. He is currently on an eight-fight win streak and has a 57-1-2 record. His only loss came at the hands of Floyd Mayweather Jr. when he was in his prime. He is coming off an impressive 11th round TKO win over Caleb Plant. He is expected to fight Ilunga Makabu in May 2022. However, there is one guy constantly calling out Canelo.

That guy is the UFC welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is the number one pound-for-pound MMA fighter in the world, and is looking to fight Alvarez. In the build-up to his fight against Colby Covington at UFC 268, he had hinted towards fighting the boxing champ after beating ‘Chaos.’ In a recent interview, he said, that is the fight he wants next and he believes he can beat Canelo.

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However, the boxing legend doesn’t seem interested in fighting the UFC champion. However, looking at the numbers their last event brought in, having both of them fight each other, will surely break some PPV numbers. Both are the best fighters in their sport, and fans would love to see them go toe-to-toe.

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Which event according to you was bigger? Would you like to see Kamaru Usman vs. Canelo Alvarez? Let us know in the comments!

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