This was made possible when CBS/Showtime top executive Les Moonves got the parties to hammer out a deal to allow the public to buy tickets to watch the fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 2.
In a conference call, Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum said that he met with Moonves and Mayweather’s adviser Al Haymon to make sure a working agreement was reached.
“We resolved all of the issues and now we’re waiting for the paperwork,” Arum said. “I said on the call that if what we agreed upon is in the paperwork we receive, we will sign it and the tickets will be released.”
Moonves was credited for the resolution of the issues preventing the long-delayed Mayweather-Pacquiao fight from happening.
Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who sought Pacquiao’s endorsement in the last election, may have also had a hand in the resolution of the ticket issues with MGM Grand, as he was reported earlier to have phoned MGM Grand’s Bill Hornbuckle for assistance.
There are reports that tickets will be out as early as Wednesday afternoon but Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe said he isn’t sure about it saying that he is doing everything to get them on sale by Thursday.
“I’m doing everything I can to get the tickets on sale [Thursday],” Ellerbe told Yahoo Sports.
Arum, who was getting impatient over the delay on the release of tickets in the past few days, told ESPN that “the sides had finally worked out their differences.”
“I want to apologize to the public for this dragging out for the length of time that it has,” Arum said. “At least we were able to sort it out,” he added.
With the final irresolution of the venue and ticket issues, the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight dubbed “The Fight of the Century,” everyone can now look forward to an exciting and enjoyable fight.
