Deal paves way for Pacquiao v Mayweather tickets to go on sale

Tickets for the richest fight in boxing history, between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, can finally go on sale this week after the two sides reached a deal.

Promoter Bob Arum told American sports broadcaster ESPN that a bitter dispute between Pacquiao's camp, Mayweather Promotions and the MGM Grand Hotel venue had finally been settled.

"I want to apologize for this dragging out for the length of time it has," Arum told ESPN. "At least we were able to sort it out."

The dispute had been preventing the release of tickets for inside the Grand Garden arena and to watch the fight on closed-circuit television.

Last month, Leonard Ellerbe, chief executive of Mayweather Promotions, said tickets would be priced between $1,500 and $7,500. Very few tickets are expected to be available to the public with the majority of seats in the Grand Garden arena being reserved for organizers, sponsors and friends and family of the two camps.

Tickets are supposed to go to Pacquiao and Mayweather's camps, HBO, MGM Grand and Showtime.

The ticket fiasco is just that latest issue of contention in the build up to the fight which is expected to generate a record $400 million in revenue.

The sides also argued over drug testing, who would come out last to the ring for the fight, who would sponsor the fight and how much to charge for the pay-per-view which is expected to be offered around $100.
Source: AFP