was a bit of a letdown to be honest.
Got there at 3pm dead on and it was complete and utter chaos with no possible chance of seeing floyd due to this tiny area outside the gym being surrounded by about 750 people including those standing on walls on every possible side of the road and even the bridge up top was completely jam packed with people wanting to get a look.
By the time floyd entered the gym the masses started queueing on the door and it became an absoloute brawl to get inside. Several times over i found myself being pushed and shoved against our will and it was becoming completely ridiculous as people were trying every possible way to get to the front of this very tiny doorway.
By 3.45pm we were just about to hightail it out of there when after a few carefully planned phonecalls we managed to get in touch with a mate who works at TKO (rival gym in west ham) and he instructed us to meet him at the back entrance which we did.
Couldnt help but feel sorry for all those who turned up before us and were still out the front queueing to get in but they didnt end up missing a hell of a lot inside.
Once we got into a gym with no less than 70-80 people crowded around the room we had to make do with peaking through to see floyd on the pads and that was indeed the highlight of the workout as it peetered out once we got there to floyd working the bags and at that point because of the temperature inside the gym we decided it wasnt worth waiting another hour odd to get pictures signed.
Pros - Great publicity for a really hardworking gym that as brought through more boxers than any other gym in britain and has trained the very best.
Seeing the kids right at the front was great to see. Canning Town is very much a working class area and there isnt a hell of a lot of money about. Seeing the worlds greatest sportstar do what his best at will stick with them for years to come
Cons - The whole thing just wasnt organised properly at all. There was no barriers, no security and no queues which would of ensured safety for all involved. One fella ended up passing out amongst the chaos and had to be taken back inside and can only hope he is ok.
Team Mayweather were flogging memorabilia such as posters and foam hands and many people bought them under the pretense they`d be able to get them signed. Ive heard that a few hardcores stayed till about 6 when floyd finally exited and the man was humble enough to sign a few but for the other hundreds that had to be somewhere it was not fair.
Peacock, Sky sports and steve bunce led everybody to believe at some point they would get to see floyd workout via a rotation policy that allowed 40 in 40 out every 15minutes or so. Can assure you that never happened and those that were lucky enough to get in got to watch the whole 2hours while those unfortunate enough not to have beat the queues or had friends in the know how had to spend 3hours outside under complete false pretences.
Well.
I got there at 1pm, no one was allowed in then, onyl memebers and people associated with the gym were getting in. Was aorund 75 people there when i got there at 1pm.
Also as someone said above, around 2pm the gym were selling pictures (5 pound a pic) and gave out these foam hands. I borught 2 pictures, hoping i could get them signed and the gym were selling themfor that reason. The gym knowingly ripped us off (explained below).
Around 3pm, there was at least 400-500 people there, i was clsoe to the doors, but not close enough. SOme people were being let in at that point but must have been only 10 people.
Floyd Mayweather did not arrive until around 4:10pm. At this point alot more people had arrived, Floyd went in through the side and got mobbed as you may seen in some pics. Roger decided to come in through the front, the area was packed, could barely breath. Surprised no one got seriously injured. He got in and as he did alot of people pushed to get in, probably another 10 made it inside. Alot of people kept forcing and they shut the doors and a window got broke, so they put the shutters down on the door. My pictures got completely messed up and bent.
Some people left after this, not alot though, i stayed as i had that hope in my mind i could still get in lol. Like 5:30pm, people in the gym started to say how it was never ment to be an open workout. (so ripped us off selling the pics, making us think otherwise)
Around 6:45pm, Floyd came out on the balcony signed some stuff then came down to the side and signed some more stuff. Left really soon after.
Overall, very badly organised. Around 20 people got let in, the rest of the people in the gym as you see, were associates and members of the gym. Should have found out where Marquez was at, and hunted down his signature instead lol.
I would of gone but didn't find out till like 3 hours before so couldn't, on the news it looked mental though... that gym was too small they should of done it in a larger place or something, I am glad I didn't go to be fair because it would have been a waste of money getting down to London.
Obviously none of it is Maywweather's fault himself, he just agreed to it and turned up to train and that I doubt he organized any of it, the organizers are to blame for picking such a small place and planning it so badly, it should have been more secured and organized, as somebody said though they might have not expected such a turnout.
Wolfey did you travel all the way from Chicago to London to see it? I would feel bad for you if you did and missed it.
Hopefully there will be another opportunity in the future with better planning (there would be this time), and I could go.
I keep reading "they would not let people in"
Where exactly are these people that didnt get in suppose to fit?
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/75/fullj.b9f834ff502479f1ace6e05e9f8484f0/b9f834ff502479f1ace6e05e9f8484f0-getty-boxing-eng-us-mayweather-training.jpg
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/13/fullj.a5015639c8cb6fd95028c8f7e22ec6a1/a5015639c8cb6fd95028c8f7e22ec6a1-getty-boxing-eng-us-mayweather-training.jpg
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/08/fullj.793da5dda00805bf3fa610e73b80a9b6/793da5dda00805bf3fa610e73b80a9b6-getty-boxing-eng-us-mayweather-training.jpg
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/8d/fullj.fe604b16846d2a4f2c3c8296c01a85d1/fe604b16846d2a4f2c3c8296c01a85d1-getty-boxing-eng-us-mayweather-training.jpg
Yeah he came out and signed around 20-30 autographs. But there was too many guys for him to sign them all.
The place was seriously packed. I had a word with the trainers at the gym and they admitted that they werent prepared for the huge turnout.
Still, i got a pic taken with Akash Bhatia. lol :)
Hes the next British featherweight Champion!
Yeah i could see they werent prepare for that sort of turnout, I think they underestimate Mayweather's popularity.
Bhatia is a bright prospect and i cant wait to see him develop into a world class fighter, I heard there was loads of former/active boxer that came to see him.
Cheers mate, I think they must have been shocked at how many people actually turned up at the gym, Another thing is everything about london is overcrowded but i bet it must have been nice just to see him come out and sign a few autograph.
Yeah he came out and signed around 20-30 autographs. But there was too many guys for him to sign them all.
The place was seriously packed. I had a word with the trainers at the gym and they admitted that they werent prepared for the huge turnout.
Still, i got a pic taken with Akash Bhatia. lol :)
Hes the next British featherweight Champion!
Yo Ray, what the thread starter said was completely true. I got to the Peacocks at 2.30pm and there must have been a couple hundred people outside. It was so packed.
Floyd came late, but what happened was when Roger Mayweather came through the front entrance of the gym, the guys at the front starting pushing. There was all sorts of pushing and couple of guys managed to get through. The whole thing was badly organised by the peacocks gym. They locked the front door because it got broken from all the pushing.
This was around 3pm-3.30pm. So we all waited outside. When it hit like 5-6pm people started going home because it was clear that no one was allowed in and the guys in the gym told us that they werent letting no one in to see the workout.
Us loyal fans however stayed untill around 6.30pm were Floyd came outside of the balcony and gave his little speach. He made us sing' theres only ONE Mayweather!' lol
Then he was kind enough to come down and sign autographs, but his team were hurrying him along. By around 6pm there must have been around 100 people waiting for him.
SkySports and Steve Bunce really led people on. I was extremelly frusturated by the end of it.
But i was happy that i saw him, even though i didnt get an autograph.
And the guys at the Peacock Gym said it was first come first serve. They never told us this neither.
And the guys at the gym also said that they werent prepared for all the numbers that came.
Cheers mate, I think they must have been shocked at how many people actually turned up at the gym, Another thing is everything about london is overcrowded but i bet it must have been nice just to see him come out and sign a few autograph.
So what really happened??? I was at work so couldnt make it..
Yo Ray, what the thread starter said was completely true. I got to the Peacocks at 2.30pm and there must have been a couple hundred people outside. It was so packed.
Floyd came late, but what happened was when Roger Mayweather came through the front entrance of the gym, the guys at the front starting pushing. There was all sorts of pushing and couple of guys managed to get through. The whole thing was badly organised by the peacocks gym. They locked the front door because it got broken from all the pushing.
This was around 3pm-3.30pm. So we all waited outside. When it hit like 5-6pm people started going home because it was clear that no one was allowed in and the guys in the gym told us that they werent letting no one in to see the workout.
Us loyal fans however stayed untill around 6.30pm were Floyd came outside of the balcony and gave his little speach. He made us sing' theres only ONE Mayweather!' lol
Then he was kind enough to come down and sign autographs, but his team were hurrying him along. By around 6pm there must have been around 100 people waiting for him.
SkySports and Steve Bunce really led people on. I was extremelly frusturated by the end of it.
But i was happy that i saw him, even though i didnt get an autograph.
And the guys at the Peacock Gym said it was first come first serve. They never told us this neither.
And the guys at the gym also said that they werent prepared for all the numbers that came.
This is clearly a complete lie. I was there and what they are saying does not add up at all. Plus, the people that agree are all alts with like 40 posts between them. Naive cunts.
So what really happened??? I was at work so couldnt make it..
This is clearly a complete lie. I was there and what they are saying does not add up at all. Plus, the people that agree are all alts with like 40 posts between them. Naive cunts.
lol you was there? Then what really happened
Oh man it was a mess!! like they were very unprepared, they have to do a better job!!
I dont think they were prepared for that type of turnout, Am pretty sure if they knew so many people would turn up at a little gym they would have find a bigger space.