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Last
update: 1/19/2012
Read more by
Ryan Burton
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| Ellerbe Brushes off Arum's Idea For an Outdoor Venue
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By Ryan Burton
On Wednesday, BoxingScene.com conducted an interview with Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe (The full video interview is available in our video archive). Floyd Mayweather's right hand man touched on a variety of subjects including Bob Arum's recent demands of holding a potential Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao clash towards the end of May so that a temporary outdoor stadium could be constructed to house the event. Arum has speculated that an outdoor arena could bring anywhere from $40 to 60 million dollars in additional revenue.
Ellerbe feels that Arum is just putting another obstacle in the way of the fight. He feels that there is plenty of time to promote the fight and that the fight has already promoted itself. He also said that an outdoor arena in a dirt lot isn't necessary when the MGM Arena is already built and ready to host the fight in a more intimate, fan friendly atmosphere.
"This is ridiculous, another ridiculous excuse, that we would need more time to promote the fight. How much damn time do you need? This fight has been talked about for 2 years now," stated Ellerbe.
The Mayweather Promotions CEO doesn't see how an outdoor arena could generate as much revenue as Arum has speculated. Even though Las Vegas traditionally has good weather in May, it remains to be seen if fans would be willing to pay top dollar for upper level seating in an outdoor arena built on a vacant lot.
"He (Arum) has said that this temporary stadium would generate $60 million, so if you do the math on that, that would be saying that the average ticket price for fans would be $1500 a ticket for some bleacher seats, I repeat for some bleacher seats, out in the middle of a dusty parking lot with temporary bathrooms. And this is the funny part, the farthest seat would be 100 yards away, the length of a football field," A smiling Ellerbe would tell BoxingScene.com
Another factor is the time needed to construct the temporary stadium. Delays are common in the construction industry and it is also unknown how long it would take to get blueprints drawn up for the stadium and to have them approved by the city. Ellerbe said that they can't take those chances with Mayweather having been ordered to turn himself in on June 1st.
"We don't have no wiggle room on our date. May 5th is our date and it is what it is. So imagine the likelihood of this temporary venue that Mr. Arum is talking about not being ready. So that would mean that we would have to move the date. Oh by the way, Mr. Mayweather has to surrender on June 1st, so therefore we couldn't do a fight. Imagine that," Ellerbe explained.
Throughout Wednesday's press conference, both Ellerbe and Mayweather stated numerous times that their sole focus is on making a mega-fight with Manny Pacquiao on May 5th. Ellerbe said that the biggest obstacle (random drug testing) has been agreed to by Pacquiao and that the other key issues could be ironed out very quickly.
Send questions or comments to ringsidewriter@gmail.com Follow Ryan on Twitter @ringsidewriter and tune in to The Boxing Lab, Boxingscene's official audio on Tuesdays. The show is hosted by Ernie Gabion, Luis Sandoval and Ryan BurtonTags: Manny Pacquiao  , Floyd Mayweather Jr. , Mayweather-Pacquiao , Mayweather vs Pacquiao , Bob Arum |
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comment by check hook, on 01-20-2012 |
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It costs money to build a temp stadium. Someone tell me how much, i don't know? At least $10m i would have thought?? It also takes time. No guarantee it would be done by late May like Bob suggests, and then you have no fight. You also can't charge the same premium for tickets as you can at MGM Gr... |
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comment by check hook, on 01-20-2012 |
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Freom Yahoo:
[url]http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news;_ylt=AlFCVXyuZ.6zWTsWkSm4zaeUxLYF?slug=ki-iole_mayweather_pacquiao_011912[/url]
"Top Rank president Todd duBoef, in New York on business, said Koncz phoned Arum immediately to inform him of the conversation. DuBoef said that Top Rank and Pa... |
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comment by check hook, on 01-20-2012 |
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This stadium excuse is just another unicorn from Manny and Bob. :nonono: |
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comment by check hook, on 01-20-2012 |
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[QUOTE=Furn]In australia we watch Aussie rules on a field that is over 200 yards long and 170 yards wide in a stadium that holds over 100k where the back seats are 70+ yards from the field and maybe 80-90 yards high and you can still kinda see what's going on up the far end.
Being at the back... |
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comment by check hook, on 01-20-2012 |
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[QUOTE=Deevel916]Arum will soon fold and give in. There's too much pressure on him and he's running out of excuses. He will be lambasted throughout the media if he doesnt make this fight happen on May 5th.
I think that Bob promised Bradley a fight with Pac, and also is using a possible remat... |
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