by David P. Greisman
Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s last fight obliterated box office records. That’s no surprise, given that Mayweather’s last fight was a highly anticipated and long awaited collision with Manny Pacquiao. His other recent bouts have also been big box office hits — including the Pacquiao fight, he holds five of the top six of Nevada’s largest grossing boxing gates and has nine spots within the Top 20.
Mayweather’s next fight isn’t akin to the Pacquiao bout. He faces Andre Berto, a brave and entertaining former welterweight titleholder but not anyone who is assumed as posing much of a threat. The bout has been maligned, but it is also being marketed on the announcement that it will be Mayweather’s final fight before he retires, and the presumption that people will believe that to be true.
With 11 days to go until Mayweather-Berto, tickets are still available, and Mayweather Promotions executive Leonard Ellerbe wouldn’t even delve into how many (or how few) are left.
“We still have tickets on sale at the MGM now,” Ellerbe said on a Sept. 1 media conference call featuring Berto. “Tickets are prices at 150, 300, 500, 750, 1,000 and 1,500.”
Those are the same ticket pricing levels that were initially announced, indicating that there are at least some available at all levels. Tickets went on sale on Aug. 7.
All of which raised the question: Approximately how many tickets are left? One reporter asked, and Ellerbe demurred.
“I haven’t read my report today,” Ellerbe said. “I don’t see why that would be any concern about how many tickets are sold.”
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