By Edward Chaykovsky
There is no need for panic, says Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe.
On Wednesday, a war of words broke out between Ellerbe and Bob Arum, the CEO of Top Rank - over the share of tickets for the upcoming mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, which takes place on May 2nd from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Arum, who promotes Manny Pacquiao, was furious during a recent interview with Yahoo Sports - because his company had yet to receive their share of the fight tickets.
“They (the MGM) are going around saying, ‘The fight, the fight, blah, blah, blah,’ but they got nothing,” Arum told Yahoo Sports. “They have no contract. Nothing. We haven’t even seen a draft. What is happening now is absolutely intolerable. For the MGM to think that everything is resolved and so forth, when nobody has even discussed terms, is the most insane thing ever.”
Last April, Arum and the MGM had a falling out during the fight week for Pacquiao's rematch with Timothy Bradley. Arum publicly blasted the venue, and MGM officials, because he felt the entire property was loaded with signage to promote Mayweather’s first fight with Marcos Maidana, which took place a few weeks later.
Ellerbe, speaking with the Las Vegas Review Journal, says Arum is angry over a non-issue. He believes the veteran promoter is angry because Top Rank is not the lead promoter of the May event.
“The tickets were physically just delivered to the MGM today,” Ellerbe told the Review-Journal. “Bob’s going to get his tickets and his hotel rooms. That’s all been specified in the contract as to how many tickets and rooms Top Rank and Pacquiao gets, how many tickets and rooms Floyd gets and how many tickets the MGM gets. Bob knows that.”
“The fight’s not in jeopardy. We have a separate deal with the venue which we’ve negotiated, and everything with the site is separate from the contract the fighters signed. Everyone knows what everyone’s supposed to get. We’re talking tickets and hotel rooms. I don’t understand what (Arum’s) sense of urgency is. He’ll get his tickets and his rooms.”
“The bottom line is Bob is upset because he can’t have his way. If he has a problem with the MGM, that’s his business. But the facts are that Floyd demanded this fight be in Las Vegas, and he demanded the fight be at the MGM and their side agreed to it.”
“My responsibility is to make sure we get the best deal possible, not just for Floyd but for both fighters and for the event. (Arum) needs to work with us and get this done.”