There wasn't quite the usual
buzz for a Manny Pacquiao fight this past weekend in Las Vegas. There were patches of
empty seats inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena and tickets could be had for less
than face value on the secondary market, rare for a Pacquiao fight in the 702.
Is it time to take Pacquiao back out on the road like back in 2010 when he
performed twice at Cowboys Stadium, fighting in front of over 60,000 fans that
year?
Arum answered, “We did real
well. The gate, you wouldn't do a gate like this at any place, anywhere. The
gate was over $9 million. That's pretty Goddamn good and it was without pulling
tickets and giving them away. We don't do that. So I think that was very, very
good.”
According to the veteran
promoter, the problem is that, unlike a Juan Manuel Marquez or Shane Mosley,
Timothy Bradley was a relative unknown to the casual fan. “Tim didn't bring a fan base,
doesn't have a fan base. Maybe he will now. And that was the difference.”
He also pointed out, “Also,
there's another difference we didn't realize, because there was the EDC (the
Electric Daisy Carnival. No wonder why I saw bunch of people wearing fluorescent
leg warmers and tights), so Las Vegas prides itself on rooms being so cheap. Well,
rooms were going at the MGM Grand and the Cosmopolitan for over $500 a night
because they have pyramid pricing. So that killed a lot of who would've come in
for the fight.”
