You know the Mayweather-Pacquiao bout has been set for May 2nd. What you may not know are all of the details. Below you will find the ins and outs of the biggest fight since Ali first met Frazier back in ’71.
For starters the bout will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Forget about purchasing tickets. The vast majority of the 16,000 or so available seats (which will reportedly run between one and five thousand dollars apiece) will most likely never be up for sale to the public. Big fights mean big gamblers, wealthy fans and Hollywood stars. You get the idea.
Besides, the folks at the MGM Grand are looking to break the record they set in 2013 when Mayweather’s bout with Saul Canelo Alvarez brought in a gate of twenty million dollars. Word is they may try to earn about forty million dollars’ worth of tickets this time around. When Mayweather says “boxing is a business,” he means it.
Those of us who can’t get to Las Vegas the first weekend in May will most likely be able to see the fight via pay per view from anywhere between eighty-five to one hundred bucks here in the United States. Of course, the costs have yet to be announced, but it’s a very safe bet the fight will cost more than any other previous bout to air on pay per view. For the record, Mayweather-Alvarez brought in almost two and one half million television buys in 2013. Mayweather-Pacquiao is expected to surpass that number. Easily.
All of the money earned by this fight (which is predicted to be between three hundred and four hundred million dollars) will go to a lot of different people. It’s good to keep in mind that the MGM Grand, HBO and Showtime will all be getting a cut, as will cable companies and satellite providers. There’s also guys like Bob Arum, Freddie Roach, Al Haymon, Floyd Mayweather Sr. and a list of others who stand to make some very impressive coin.
That being said, it’s the fighters themselves who should see the most green when all is said and done. The revenue is being split 60/40 in Floyd’s favor, which is fair, since he is, in fact, the A-side here. With that in mind, both men stand to earn in the neighborhood of one hundred million dollars or more for thirty-six minutes’ worth of work (if, that is, the fight even ends up going the distance).
As for the bout itself, it will be for the WBA, WBC, WBO and lineal welterweight titles. It will be held at a maximum weight of 147 pounds and will go no longer than twelve full rounds. As the A-side in this battle between champions, Mayweather will enter the ring last and be announced last, as well.
Both fighters will be allowed to wear their eight ounce gloves of choice (Mayweather likes Grant while Pacquiao prefers Reyes). The bout will be announced live by both Michael Buffer and Jimmy Lennon Jr in order to appease both the HBO and Showtime camps who got together to see this fight happen (Buffer is HBOs guy, Lennon is Showtime’s).
CBS’ NFL personality James Brown will reportedly act as the pay per view host while Showtime and HBO will have their own respective players sprinkled into the mix. That means HBO figures Jim Lampley, Roy Jones Jr and Max Kellerman will be joining Showtime’s AL Bernstein and Jim Gray in the blow-by-blow/analyst/interviewer/reporter departments. What’s more, HBOs Harold Lederman and Showtime’s Steve Farhood will be acting as unofficial scorekeepers.
In the miscellaneous department, both Mayweather and Pacquiao will be subjected to drug testing by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and the United States Anti-Doping Agency. Word is there will be no nationwide press tour because, well, there’s no real reason to try to hype a fight with as much pre fight hype as this one has already. That being said, both sides will attend two press conferences together. As for the name of the fight – it doesn’t really have one. Mayweather-Pacquiao will apparently suffice. That will change if there’s a rematch, of course. Tellingly enough, however, a rematch clause wasn’t part of the contract for this particular bout.