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he June 9 fight between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley has generated a ton of debate, heated discussions, controversy, and opinion in the boxing world. There was concern going into the fight that it wasn't going to perform at the gate as well as recent Pacquiao fights, and while it sold less tickets, the gate figures have turned out to be about average for a Manny Pacquiao fight.
Pacquiao vs Bradley sold 13,229 tickets (925 comps and 2,070 unsold seats) at the MGM Grand in Vegas, generating a total gate figure of $8,963,180. It's a nice figure, but without question disappointing for a Manny Pacquiao fight, and his lowest Nevada figure in a while.
In November 2011, Pacquiao's third fight with Juan Manuel Marquez posted a gate of $11,648,300, with 15,948 tickets sold to the event. Last month's fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Miguel Cotto sold less tickets than Pacquiao-Marquez III, coming in at 14,612, but did a higher gate, at $12,000,150. Those two fights are now Nos. 9 and 10 all-time on the Nevada live gate chart.
Obviously, Pacquiao-Bradley just wasn't the sort of fight that could challenge the recent stellar numbers for big event bouts in Vegas. But I don't think they're a true disappointment, either.
The gate for Pacquiao-Bradley is about where the gates in 2009 were for Pacquiao's fights against Ricky Hatton ($8,832,950) and Miguel Cotto ($8,847,550), actually a bit higher with less tickets sold, due to heavier prices now. Last year's Pacquiao vs Mosley fight did a gate of $8,882,600.
Maybe you can say it was a different world in 2009, and it was, kind of, in that back then, this level of return at the gate was more impressive for Manny. But this is really on par with Manny's post-Oscar Nevada gates. The Marquez fight was an exception, a standout.
This fight also easily outpaced Pacquiao's pair of fights at Cowboys Stadium in 2010, where the money just isn't what it is in Vegas, despite far more tickets sold to those fights. Pacquiao vs Margarito did about $5.4 million at the gate, while Pacquiao vs Clottey came in at $6,359,985. If you ever wonder why promoters stick with Nevada for these "event" fights, that's why. 30-40,000 tickets at Cowboys Stadium isn't as good as 12,000 tickets at the MGM Grand can be.
The commission also says that Pacquiao-Bradley generated an additional $249,000 in closed circuit sales.
Does this mean a rematch is more or less likely? Right before the fight, there was a report that ticket sales had been sluggish, so this isn't a surprise. After the bout, talk was cooled a bit, because nobody's sure if this fight can be sold as a rematch. Do too many people think they already got a definitive winner, only to be told the other guy won?
And whatever someone who reads a site like this and talks about it here might think, the conspiracy talk really is something your general mass of people will discuss, and actually believe in. It doesn't matter if it's true -- it's out there, and people take it seriously. If they think the fight was "fixed," then why would they pay to see another one? There are still a lot of questions about a rematch, but I tend to assume it will happen.