One of the reasons why it will happen, despite Mayweather’s insistence that his Sept. 12 fight would be his last, is the impending grand opening of the new MGM-AEG Arena which is due to open in April next year.
The MGM Grand management may have thought that a blockbuster fight is needed to highlight the opening of the new arena.
Mayweather has been associated with MGM Grand for many years and it would be difficult for him to refuse an invitation from his MGM friends who have supported him in most of his major fights.
There is no event or attraction that could dwarf the gate sales record of the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight that was held at the old MGM Grand Garden Arena last May 2 other than the proposed Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch.
The “Fight of the Century” broke pay-per-view records in the US with 4.4 million buys surpassing the previous PPV record established by the Mayweather -Dela Hoya fight in 2007.
The new MGM arena will have a seating capacity of 20,000 and is being built along the Las Vegas Strip at the budgetary cost of $375 million.
MGM-AEG Arena broke ground in May 2014 and is set to open to the public on April 27, 2016.
In his article on pagsix.com, Richard Johnson said. “It’s already being negotiated,” a source told me. Pacquiao needs four months of rehab post-surgery, and three months to train. “The fight will be the first event at the under-construction MGM–AEG Arena set to open next year.” he added.
Another reason why Mayweather would likely go for a rematch is there seems to be no one else who could come near the record that he and Pacquiao had established in terms of revenue generation..
Even if the potential rematch would just generate half of the 4.4 million PPV buys, it would still be two or three times more than the PPV buys that will be generated with an opponent other than Pacquiao.