• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, May 10, 2007

HBO's high-profile De La Hoya-Mayweather boxing match Saturday was a knockout--money-wise. It generated record numbers with 2.15 million purchases of its pay-per-view feed and $120 million in revenue. The company said it marked the most-ever purchases of a PPV match by 160,000 and the highest revenue, estimated at $8 million.

The 2.15 million buys (at $54.95 each) came from 1.225 million cable customers and 925,000 satellite subscribers.

The previous record of 1.99 million buys came twice: in 1997 for an Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson bout and again in 2002 for Lennox Lewis-Tyson. The previous revenue high was $112 million for the Lewis-Tyson face-off, according to a report.

The record purchases come at a critical time in boxing. Many have questioned the future popularity of the sport, given its lack of household names, coupled with challenges from the growing mixed martial-arts leagues, among other issues.

"It's satisfying to see that boxing still connects with sports fans throughout the country. We are determined to continue to present high-profile fights that capture the public's imagination," said HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg.

HBO will rebroadcast the fight won by Floyd Mayweather, Jr. over Oscar De La Hoya on Saturday. The network promoted the fight in recent weeks via a reality show chronicling the fighters' preparation. It followed hits "Sopranos" and "Entourage" on Sundays.

For the cable company, the high-purchase results bring some good news. In recent days, the press focused attention on the Saturday arrest of chairman-CEO Chris Albrecht outside the Las Vegas venue where the event was held. He was charged with assault and battery.

On Wednesday, Albrecht issued a statement saying he agreed to step down as chairman-CEO of HBO at the request of Time Warner.