Dan Rafael of ESPN is still standing behind his source for the final pay per view numbers for the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Robert Guerrero fight despite Showtime saying that the fight will bring in over 1 million buys when the final tally is in.
Rafael says his source is telling him that the Mayweather-Guerrero final PPV numbers will be only 870,000 PPV buys, a much lower number than what Showtime is saying.
Rafael said on his chat this week: “I have good industry sources who swear on their children that this fight will not reach 1 million buys, much less be ‘in excess’ if 1 million and I believe them. These are people with no dog in the fight who I respect and have known for many years and trust. I am told that the number right now is about 870,000 buys.”
Bottom line, boxing is entertainment. That is why fans in their droves pay big money: to be entertained. But yesterday in Moscow, Russia, cruiserweights Guillermo Jones and Denis Lebedev gave way, way, way too much in the name of entertainment; the beaten and savagely beaten up Lebedev in particular. Looking like the Elephant man or actor Eric Stoltz in the film ‘Mask’, Lebedev, the entire right side of his face swollen, his eye perhaps permanently damaged, should have been pulled out long before he was counted out in the 11th-round of an absolute slugfest.
(Photo credit: Casino/Showtime) By John G. Thompson: While March’s clash between Timothy Bradley and Ruslan Provodnikov stands as the clear favorite for Fight of the Year (with honorable mention to Alvarado vs. Rios), this Saturday’s bout between IBF light welterweight champion Lamont “Havoc” Peterson (31-1-1, 16 KO’s) and “interim” WBC light welterweight champ Lucas Martin Matthysse (33-2, 31 KO’s) seems bound to produce the kind of fireworks which might put it in contention. 
ESPN writer Dan Rafael says that Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer e-mailed him saying that the reports about Floyd Mayweather Jr. wanting a fight with WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to take place at 147 lbs. isn’t true. 
Floyd Mayweather Sr. doesn’t want his son Floyd Jr. fighting the 172 lb. WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) at 154 lbs. because he sees the potential of Canelo filling up on water weight in the 24 hours after the weigh-in and coming into the fight weighing well over 170 pounds in their proposed fight on September 14th.
Neither IBF light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson (31-1-1, 16 KO’s) or WBC interim light welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse (33-2, 31 KO’s) will have their titles on the line for their fight this Saturday, May 18th on Showtime at the Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA.