The reason is because Tyson fought the bulk of his fights under CCTV rather than what most people now call "ppv". 25 years ago the percentage of homes with cable was extremely low and the penetration rate (ability to receive cable) wasn't that high. De La Hoya, fighting most of his career during cable's period of explosion in America, allowed Arum to coin the phrase "The King of PPV" and market him in that fashion. It's accurate, but in no way signifies who was a superior revenue driver for the sport.

For example:

Tyson vs. Bruno 89- Lets say he gets a total of 600k buys. At first glance it would be a shocking number and proof positive that De La Hoya is superior, but there's a caveat. De La Hoya is giving you a pretty much straight ppv purchase rate of $60 while Tyson's CCTV fees ranged from $5,000-$50,000 depending on facility size. Tyson's fight viewing at that time ranged from mid-sized bars to movie theaters with multiple screens and even conventions center rentals.

Mike Tyson was easily the most feared man in boxing for several years. He defeated his opponents before stepping one foot into the ring. Tyson fought on PPV 10-12 times and holds 4 of the top 5 spots and 6 of the top 10 spots for highest PPV totals. In comparison, Floyd Jr has 2 of the top 10 spots.

Mike Tyson PPV History (source: Boxingforum)

1. Evander Holyfield 2: 1.99 million

2. Lennox Lewis: 1.8 million

3. Evander Holyfield 1: 1.59 million

4. Peter McNeely: 1.55 million

5. Frank Bruno 2: 1.37 million

6. Razor Ruddock 2: 1.25 million

7. Bruce Selden: 1.01 million

8. Razor Ruddock 1: 959,000

9. Frans Botha: 700,000

10. Andrew Golota: 450,000

According to About.com, Tyson fought 12 times. So, this list is missing 2 fights. If you go off this list's numbers, then Tyson is averaging over 1.2 million PPVs per fight (12,669,000/10)

Even if there are 2 more PPV fights and they only did as well as the Golota fight, Tyson will still average over 1 million PPVs per fight. (13.5 million/12)

Dont you think you answered the question my friend. You cant be considered king unless you are the first and foremost in a certain category. Collectively, Tyson will be hailed as the greatest ppv draw. Oscar way back 2007 was the biggest draw in boxing. While it can be argued that Mayweather helped a lot in the selling, it was still a Dela Hoya fight staged by the Golden Boy Promotions. In the list you've shown, Oscar ranked 1, and Mike the second best. A lot of boxing experts, aficionados, fans, conclude the Mayweather vs Pacman fight will shatter those numbers set by Oscar and Floyd but until then Oscar Dela hOya remains and still The King of PPV

maywether is king

the highest selling PPV fights off all time list:

1.DE LA HOYA vs Mayweather 2.4 million

2.TYSON vs Holyfield II 1.99 million

3.TYSON vs Lewis 1.97 million

4.TYSON vs holyfield I 1.59 million

5.TYSON vs mcneeley 1.55 million

i consider it a travesty that Iron Mike is not being honoured with the title of 'The King of PPV'

what do you think?