Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. pose for the media during the final press conference held at the KA Theatre in MGM Grand, Las Vegas Nevada on Wednesday, 29 April 2015. PHOTO BY REM ZAMORA/INQUIRER / See more at FRAME
LAS VEGAS—Leonardo DiCaprio. Mark Wahlberg. Ronda Rousey. Sylvester Stallone. Denzel Washington.
Think of big names in Hollywood and in sports, and they’re likely to show up at MGM Grand’s Garden Arena when Manny Pacquiao tries to pin a first loss on Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their highly anticipated showdown on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
“There’ll be as many celebrities from Hollywood who will watch the fight as there are in the Academy Awards,” Bob Arum predicted.
The only thing that this boxing promoter is unsure about is whether he can name everyone on the celebrity list that he saw.
READ: The Pacquiao Files Celebrity Corner
“I’m gonna f**k up because I [might] leave some people out,” Arum told journalists on Wednesday after the final press conference for the fight that will unify the welterweight titles. “You cannot believe the [sheer number of] VIPs coming. I wish we had someone to tell you all of them. I wish we had the list. I was having lunch and they were blowing my mind with the names.
“Everybody is coming,” he repeated.
ALL SMILES Boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. hold the welterweight title belt they will fight for in Las Vegas on May 2 (May 3 in Manila). On Pacquiao’s left is his trainer Freddie Roach while Mayweather’s trainer and father Floyd Sr. is on the American boxer’s right. INQSnap this page. REM ZAMORA
HBO bought $3M
That might sound like a stretch, but there may be some basis to Arum’s claim. After all, HBO and Showtime have purchased tickets worth millions of dollars, some of which will be comped to celebrities associated with the giant networks.
“HBO bought from us about $3 million worth of tickets and they’re using some of those tickets to bring in celebrities,” Arum revealed. “And Showtime is doing the same thing with their own celebrities.”
And that’s not even counting the celebrities who’d be given tickets by the camps of the two fighters, and those who’d buy their own tickets to watch what many have described the most important bout in decades.
“Celebrities love boxing because they love to be seen,” Arum said. “And nowhere could you be seen better than in a boxing match,” he added.
Other celebrities associated with either boxer include Jeremy Renner, Kevin Hart, Robert Duvall, Justin Bieber, 50 Cent and Michelle Rodriguez. Most of these stars can be counted on to show up on fight night.
READ: CELEBRITY CORNER: WHO SUPPORTS WHOM?
And that’s not all, Arum said.
“There will be companies bringing in celebrities in groups of 20,” he said. “So you will be seeing 20 people sitting together like the ‘who’s who’ of Hollywood,” Arum added.
Originally posted as of 08:11 PM | Thursday, April 30, 2015
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