MikeLigalig.com

By Dave Skretta, AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK

Manny Pacquiao is not simply the best boxer in the world. He's also the sport's biggest box office attraction.

Pacquiao's comprehensive destruction of Antonio Margarito for a vacant junior middleweight title on Nov. 13 at Cowboys Stadium generated at least 1.15 million buys and $64 million domestic revenue, according to figures announced Tuesday by HBO Sports.

Those numbers are expected to increase slightly once all the figures are counted, but Pacquiao already is assured of his third straight year with at least one fight breaking the 1 million mark.

"It wasn't even on the right-hand side of the computer spreadsheet," said HBO vice president Mark Taffet, whose job includes handling pay-per-view broadcasts, when asked whether the numbers exceeded his expectations. "It's an outstanding number."

Pacquiao's victory over Oscar De La Hoya in 2008 generated 1.25 million buys, and his knockout of Miguel Cotto last year did 1.2 million. Taffet said his last five fights combined have generated at least 5.1 million buys, putting Pacquiao on par with De La Hoya, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather Jr. as the biggest earners in pay-per-view history.

Of that group, the Filipino icon is the only non-American.

"He's become a world figure, that's what differentiates it from the superstars that preceded him," Taffet said. "And his coverage is not just in sports media. He's transcended sport, to the point where he's the first non-American to generate these kinds of numbers."

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