The lightweight title fight between Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko was one of the most highly-anticipated matchups of the year — but mainly for the hardcore boxing fan.

Haney just about edged Lomachenko to come away with the unanimous decision win and defend his lightweight titles. Despite how competitive the fight was, many observers felt the Ukrainian should have come out on top.

That includes team Lomachenko who have since appealed the result and asked for all the major boxing bodies to keep him as the mandatory challenger — something that led to a NSFW rant from Haney.

If things are heated now, it was also heated before the fight as Haney viciously shoved Lomachenko during their pre-fight face-off resulting in a large fine for the American.

But despite that and the immense amount of talent in the ring, the fight didn't translate to many pay-per-view buys. According to boxing reporter Dan Rafael, it only did “about 150,000” in the United States.

It's not a disaster — especially given the price point of $59.99 — but it's still not great either as many expected it do better.

As one Twitter user pointed out, as talented as both Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko are, they don't have the brash personality or knockouts required to really attract a mainstream audience or casual fans.

In contrast, Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia did more than 1.2 million buys with their pay-per-view costing $84.99. Davis has also regularly sold more than 150,000 buys when fighting non-Garcia opponents as well.

Here are some of the reactions to the reported pay-per-view buy numbers:

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)
Haney Garcia prediction

Dominik Zawartko ·

Ryan Garcia and KSI in front of a boxing ring, questionmarks in the air

Fremont Farkas ·

Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney in front of a boxing ring

Fremont Farkas ·