The MGM Grand in Las Vegas was able to hold off a last-minute push from Brooklyn’s Barclays Center to gain the rights to host the May 3 pay-per-view fight between Floyd Mayweather and Marcos Maidana.
The MGM Grand has hosted 11 Mayweather fights, including his last eight. The Las Vegas-based fighter is coming off a September 2013 decision over Canelo Alvarez, which set the boxing live gate record at over $20 million.
“We are so delighted that Floyd will be fighting at the MGM Grand Garden Arena for the 12th time,” said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions. “It is truly Floyd’s home away from home and as we always say, when Floyd fights at MGM Grand, it stands for ‘Mayweather gets money’ because of his ability to sell every seat in the house.”
Mayweather’s last five fights at the venue (Canelo, Guerrero, Cotto, Ortiz Mosley) have been reported as sellouts.
Tickets for the event go on sale this Saturday (March 8) and will be priced at $350-$1500 through www.mgmgrand.com and www.ticketmaster.com.
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Despite all the rumors about the Barclays Center being in the running, this was really no surprise. Mayweather gets a percentage of all the profits at the MGM during fight weekend, in addition to having his gym in Las Vegas. And let’s not forget, the city caters to him like no other athlete, as we saw in 2012 when the courts postponed his domestic violence jail sentence to allow him to fight Miguel Cotto.
For Barclays to pull Floyd away from Vegas, it would take lots of negotiation, money, and most importantly, time. There’s no way a move that big could be completed in such a short time frame. It it ever happens, we wouldn’t likely see it until May 2015, which would give everyone involved enough time to figure out how to get around New York’s hefty work tax on non-residents, and give the city time to manage the crowd issue that comes with a Mayweather fight.
I would love to see regular fans taking in a Mayweather fight at an affordable price ($350 for nosebleeds is just killer), but Mayweather’s massive upfront guarantee on his Showtime deal makes these prices necessary to recoup.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 