Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. have finally come to terms on what could be the biggest boxing match of all time, and now they’ve set a date to meet before the bout.
The pair, who took it upon themselves to personally make sure the fight made it through some hitches in the negotiations, have agreed to meet on March 11 for a press conference in Los Angeles. The event will only be open to the media, with no public allowed inside.
It looked many times in the last few months as if the mega fight would never come together. Though Pacquiao and Mayweather seemed more determined than ever to push past their difference and agree on terms for a fight, there were still several speed bumps and some bickering between the camps.
It got so bad at points that many fans gave up hope that the fight, five years in the making, would ever happen.
But the fighters started meeting in person to work out their differences, and in February signed a contract for a May 2 fight.
As ESPN noted, the stretched out negotiations left little time for preparation, meaning there will only be one press conference before fight week.
“With the deal coming together later than usual for a major May pay-per-view and the fight having attracted gobs of attention for years before it was even made, organizers did not feel it was necessary to launch a cross-country media tour to promote the bout, opting instead for the one media event in Los Angeles and one more news conference in Las Vegas a few days before the fight.”
Fans who want to catch some of the action between Mayweather and Pacquiao might have a better chance getting their hands on a media pass and attending the fight itself. Tickets are expected to reach astronomical levels, with Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum saying he’s never in his career seen demand so high — not even for the three blockbuster fights between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. I mean maybe it’s the fact that the ‘one precent’ has so much money, that money doesn’t really mean anything,” Arum said in an ESPN interview.
“I’ve been offered for top ringside seats $100,000 a seat, I mean that seems to me to be crazy.”
Even those watching at home will have to pay. Arum predicted that tickets for the Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight will have the highest pay-per-view price ever.
