‘Fight of the Century’ lead-up engulfed in chaos
Media conference call ends before it even starts
It is a sign of the mayhem threatening to engulf the “Fight of the Century” that a scheduled conference call with Manny Pacquiao had to be abandoned on Monday night even before the first question could be asked.
As the feverish hype around the Filipino’s May 2 bout with Floyd Mayweather escalated to unmanageable levels, promoter Bob Arum, having clearly acquiesced to this latest circus under sufferance, described the debacle as “ridiculous.”
Pacquiao, trying to field questions from hundreds of journalists over a single line from his gym in Hollywood, had uttered all of three words before the 83-year-old jumped in by shouting: “Oh, f---! Let’s reorganize.”
As the $250-million US showpiece nears, the preamble is already on the verge of pandemonium.
Not a single paper ticket for the fight has yet been issued — U.S. aggregator TiqIQ is listing prices of up $67,710 for a ringside seat — and there remains a possibility there will be no public sale at all, such is the clamour among celebrities, sports stars and promoters’ associates to see and be seen at the MGM Grand on May 2.
Already, organizers have taken the unprecedented step of charging fans $10 a head just for the privilege of watching the weigh-in. They sought to justify the move by citing fears unfettered access could lead to a dangerous crush.
These would seem to be well founded, given how Monday night’s media event disintegrated under the weight of its own absurdity.
The more revealing response, however, came from Arum himself. When contacted afterwards by hordes of disgruntled U.S. journalists, he said the PR statement “was the PC way of doing it.”
Every hallmark of the hoopla so far reflects the classic Arum touches: brash, strident, utterly unapologetic.
Considering the MayweatherPacquiao duel has been almost a decade in the making — and has arguably come five years too late — it is being staged with a heavy dose of brinkmanship.
Promoters have said that fewer than 1,000 tickets would be sold at face value, but a succession of deadlines has passed and there is a growing chance that there will be none.
Tickets are displayed on TiqIQ for an average of almost $1,500, more than triple the next most lucrative fight the company has ever dealt with and 14 per cent more than the average for this year’s Super Bowl.
If a public sale is scrapped, this will mean every last ticket has been bought and divided up between the MGM Grand and promoters.
The tickets will then trickle down to become the exclusive preserve of the fighters’ camps, television networks, Hollywood actors, friends and brokers, increasing the likelihood of many fetching exorbitant sums on the secondary market.
Usually, the tickets would be distributed around 10 weeks before a fight.
As it stands, more than 50,000 ticketless boxing fans are expected to descend upon Nevada next week.
The recipe for chaos from such an extraordinary bounty is selfevident. The sham of Pacquiao’s telecommunications breakdown was a far from happy portent.