While initial estimates for Gennady Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) vs. Daniel Jacobs (32-2, 29 KOs) had the HBO PPV broadcast pulling in no more than 150,000 buys, the final total is a bit higher and perhaps a bit more satisfying for GGG’s promoter Tom Loeffler. On Friday, Loeffler confirmed to Yahoo’s Kevin Iole that the fight drew in 170,000 buys, which is higher than the 153,000 buys for Golovkin’s PPV debut against David Lemieux back in October 2015. Loeffler had expectations that the Jacobs fight would exceed the Lemieux totals, but never made any specific declarations as to the number of PPV purchases. GGG vs. Jacobs also had a live gate of $3.7 million, nearly double that of the Lemieux fight, which had considerably cheaper ticket prices. Loeffler also pointed out that GGG merchandising sales totaled around $150,000, another record for his fighter.

Golovkin defended his numerous 160 lbs titles with a close unanimous decision win over Jacobs, who was knocked down in the fourth round, but otherwise became the first man to ever go the distance with GGG in a twelve-rounder. There is no rematch clause in effect, so Golovkin and his team are moving on towards setting up a fight with WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders (24-0, 12 KOs), which would unify all of the major middleweight belts. The target date is June 10th in Kazakhstan, Golovkin’s home country, so we’ll see if that can materialize.

The big money fight for Golovkin is obviously vs. Canelo Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs), who has become boxing’s de facto #1 pay-per-view draw. Oscar De La Hoya has been adamant that his fighter is the A-side in this matchup, and indicated to the LA Times’ Lance Pugmire that he’s changing his offer to GGG based off of his lack of PPV success.

“Because when Triple-G [Golovkin] and Jacobs does between 100,000 and 200,000 homes, it’s a big risk for me to put up a lot of money up front,” De La Hoya said. “So if we want to make this fight happen, we have to work with each other. It all depends on the pay-per-view and that’s the risk we all have to take.” [...] “People talk about Golovkin being this big superstar. Why is he selling only between 100,000 and 200,000 homes?” De La Hoya asked. “He’s no Canelo, that’s for sure.”

Canelo is scheduled to face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (50-2-1-1, 32 KOs) in a 164.5 lbs catchweight bout on May 6th, also on HBO PPV. The all-Mexican showdown is expected to draw a major crowd on Cinco de Mayo weekend.