Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia will face off on April 22 in Las Vegas for what could end up being the biggest boxing pay per view of 2023. But what makes this fight unique is that there are no world titles on the line. Instead, it’s just two undefeated knockout artists who are primed to become the face of boxing squaring off.
MORE: Everything you need to know about Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia
It’s rare that a fight of this magnitude doesn’t involve a world title but it won’t be the first time that it's happened. Boxing has had plenty of match-ups where the focus has been on the fighters as opposed to the multitude of world title belts available. And these fights did remarkable PPV buys with one falling just short of the all-time record.
The Sporting News presents the five biggest PPV fights that did not have a world title on the line.
Could Davis and Garcia's mega fight crack the top five?
Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez IV
Date: December 8, 2012
Result: Marquez def. Pacquiao via 6th round TKO
PPV Buys: 1.15 million
After three nip-and-tuck affairs that gave Pacquiao a 2-0-1 lead in this rivalry, Marquez navigated his way into a fourth fight with the Filipino wrecking machine. Pacquiao was coming off of a highly controversial decision loss to Timothy Bradley, while Marquez had scored a decision over the virtually unknown Sirhiy Fedchenko. But Marquez was hell-bent on getting his revenge against Pacquiao in their fourth meeting. Just like the first three fights, this was a high-octane war between Pacquiao’s vicious offense and Marquez’s brilliant counterpunching. Unlike their first three bouts, Marquez would send Pacquiao to the canvas for the first time in the third round and set off what would turn into an absolute war. Pacquiao stormed back with a vicious fifth round where he dropped Marquez and broke his nose. It looked like Pacquiao was going in for the kill in the sixth round until he walked into a counter right hand with seconds remaining in the round that dropped Pacquiao and left him in an unconscious heap. Marquez finally got his revenge in one of the most stunning results in boxing history.
Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao
Date: December 6, 2008
Result: Pacquiao def. De La Hoya via 8th round TKO
PPV Buys: 1.25 million PPV buys
This was the fight that set the gears in motion for Pacquiao to face Mayweather in what would be the biggest boxing PPV of all time. After decimating David Diaz at lightweight, Pacquiao jumped up to welterweight to face De La Hoya. Most thought the leap in weight would be too much for Pacquiao to deal with but he absolutely dominated De La Hoya before forcing him to quit on the stool after the 8th round. Not only did he shock the world by winning, Pacquiao sent De La Hoya into retirement with a one-sided beating.
Floyd Mayweather vs. Shane Mosley
Date: May 1, 2010
Result: Mayweather def. Mosley via unanimous decision
PPV Buys: 1.4 million PPV buys
After returning from a short retirement to defeat Juan Manuel Marquez, Mayweather was set to face Shane Mosley. Although Mosley wasn’t quite the fighter he was earlier in his career, his stunning decimation of Antonio Margarito in January 2009 set him up for this massive fight. Mosley almost shocked the world when he hurt Mayweather badly with a pair of right hands in the second round. But Mayweather recovered and went on to completely shut down Mosley for an impressive unanimous decision victory.
Mosley actually held the WBA welterweight title coming into this fight but Mayweather refused to pay the sanctioning fee, which led to the non-title fight distinction.
Mike Tyson vs. Peter McNeeley
Date: August 19, 1995
Result: Tyson def. McNeeley via 1st round DQ
PPV Buys: 1.55 million
Tyson’s return to the boxing ring after a four-year hiatus due to his 1992 rape conviction was the talk of the town. After serving three years behind bars, Tyson was paroled on March 25, 1995, and he found himself back in the ring less than five months later against Peter McNeeley, who entered the fight on a 12-fight winning streak with no fight going past the second round. It didn’t matter as Tyson dropped McNeely seconds into the fight. Moments later, Tyson sent his opponent down again with an uppercut. The only reason this wasn’t ruled a knockout was that McNeeley’s manager, Vinnie Vecchione, climbed into the ring to prevent his fighter from taking further punishment.
Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor
Date: August 26, 2017
Result: Mayweather def. McGregor via 10th round TKO
PPV Buys: 4.3 million
The biggest non-title fight by a country mile is Floyd Mayweather’s final pro bout that saw him face UFC megastar Conor McGregor in a boxing match that really had no business happening. McGregor had never had a pro fight while Mayweather was one of the best tacticians in the sport's long history. But their supersized personalities turned this into a monster event that came close to breaking the all-time PPV record but fell just short of Mayweather’s 2015 showdown with Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather went through the motions before blasting out an overmatched and exhausted McGregor in the 10th round.
