Arum happy over modest ticket sales, PPV buys

Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley Jr. during the official weigh in at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Pacquiao weighed in at 145.5lbs while Bradley tipped the scales at 146.5lbs. In the middle is four-time division world champion Roberto Duran. PHOTO BY REM ZAMORA

LAS VEGAS—Top Rank chief Bob Arum said Friday that about 2,000 tickets are still up for sale a day before Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley Jr. collide in the final chapter of their trilogy Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at MGM Grand here.

But Arum said he expects a lion’s share of those tickets to be gobbled up by weekend walk-in fans before the start of the pay-per-view card at 6 p.m. Pacific time.

But even if the rubber match between Pacquiao and Bradley doesn’t draw enough people to sell out the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Arum won’t mind. It wasn’t an easy promotion, even for an organization that just celebrated 50 years of producing fight cards.

For one, Pacquiao is coming off a long layoff that followed a lackadaisical duel with undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr, which fell way short of the “Fight of the Century” hype. Pacquiao lost that match due to an injured shoulder.

Pacquiao also took a hit in his popularity after his comments on same-sex marriage.

That’s why Arum has set modest financial targets for this promotions.

“Whether [it’s a] sold out or 90 or 95% percent, we’re very happy with how the tickets went,” Arum told INQUIRER.net. Arum is also eyeing pay-per-view buys of 700,000, a far cry from the 4.4 million buys the Mayweather duel generated.

Arum is left to count whatever small victories Top Rank lands promotion-wise and one of them is the turnout at Friday’s weigh-in at MGM Grand.

“I think it’s very good [the reception]. The weigh-in was very good. People were well behaved,” Arum said.