Mayweather-Pacquiao: Tickets could fetch more than £60,000

  • Published
Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny PacquiaoImage source, AP
Image caption,

Mayweather-Pacquiao is one of the most anticipated fights of all time

Tickets for next week's fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio finally go on sale on Thursday, with some expected to cost £60,000 ($100,000) on the resale market.

The MGM Grand in Las Vegas has a capacity of 16,500 but only about 1,000 seats can be bought by the public.

The rest will go to the fighters, the casino, sponsors and promoters.

The cheapest ticket for the 2 May bout will cost £1,000 ($1,500), rising to around £5,000 ($7,500).

The MGM also announced the sale of thousands of closed circuit seats at its various properties at £100 ($150) apiece.

With nine days to the fight, the sale of tickets had become a key issue.

Reports claimed they had been unavailable because the two sides were arguing over who got what tickets and where they were located.

Joe Calzaghe's view:

"I don't think Mayweather was that impressive in his last two defences against Marcos Maidana. He made hard work of those fights. But you can't overlook a guy that's never lost. Mayweather is a fantastic fighter who always finds a way to win so he will be ready for this fight."

Click here to read more from the former undisputed world champion

MGM announced on Thursday that tickets would go on sale at 20:00 BST, with closed circuit seats sold three hours later.

Asked about the delay, Mayweather responded: "I don't worry about tickets, I worry about the guy in front of me. Manny Pacquiao that's my whole focus. Tickets is something I don't deal with."

American Mayweather has won all 47 of his fights, 26 by knockout, while Filipino Pacquiao has a record of 57 wins, five losses and two draws.

Image source, AP
Image caption,

Muhammad Ali was a three-time world heavyweight champion

Mayweather used Wednesday's conference call to defend his claim that he is a superior fighter to Muhammad Ali, regarded as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers in history.

"No disrespect to Muhammad Ali, but he did it in one division," said the 38-year-old Mayweather.

"There were some other fights he lost and he's still known as 'The Greatest' because that's what he put out there. It is what it is.

"He called himself 'The Greatest' and I call myself 'TBE' (The Best Ever). I'm pretty sure I'll get criticised for what I said, but I couldn't care less."

Related internet links

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.