The Mayweather-Pacquiao ticket saga, after rumbling on since the fight was announced, came to an end inside a minute yesterday when all of the public allocation were snapped up within seconds.
Top Rank boss Bob Arum has spoken to CNN regarding the cost of tickets to the mega-fight, which as of Friday afternoon (BST) are currently re-selling on Stub-Hub for in excess of $128,000. Serious, serious money.
He said; “The 1% have so much money that they don’t know how to spend it. Whether it’s yachts, paintings or tickets to a fight, the money means nothing to them. We’ve never seen anything like this in all of boxing, and I don’t think, for any sporting event”
Its sad to think that many of those in the crowd will simply be rich, powerful and/or famous, while at the same time not being “real” boxing fans. This is the same at nearly every big Vegas fight mind you, but for an event as big and as historical as this, the bad taste it leaves is all the more bitter for many. And one man, more than any other has been in control of this.
Of his own fighter’s allocation Arum said;
“There was a craze for tickets and under our agreement with Mayweather promotions we felt that we were being denied our fair share from the standpoint of number and location. It was very important to Manny. He has friends and family like you wouldn’t believe. They account for 800/900 tickets themselves.”
Social media was full of people trying to get tickets and although I’ve today encountered one person online who claims to have one (via Spencer Fearon’s travel package) it’s extremely unlikely it is actually going to be inside the venue. It’s more than likely one of the many $150 CCTV tickets that are available to watch the fight inside one of the MGM’s various premises.
Either way, next week in Vegas is going to be something special wherever you happen to end up watching the fight. Whether the contest itself lives up to expectation or not, it’s a HUGE event to be a part of…..in whatever capacity.
Twitter @Undilutedpoison
