Canelo vs Lopez: Golden Boy Claim Sellout, But Tickets Still Available For Purchase

During today's weigh-in event for the Canelo vs Lopez Showtime card tomorrow at the MGM Grand, Golden Boy announced that the fight had sold out, which came as something of a surprise, given that nobody expected both of this weekend's major fights to sell out.

And it is a surprise. It's also not true, despite Richard Schaefer's press release quote:

"We are extremely proud of our efforts to showcase the superstar talents of Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez on Mexican Independence Day weekend and the fans have responded by making it a sellout. This quadruple-header is just another example of Golden Boy Promotions' efforts to bring the best and most exciting shows to our dedicated and loyal boxing audience. It is going to be a loud and raucous crowd in the arena Saturday night and one of these 'Knockout Kings' might receive a $100,000 bonus for their performance too. I guarantee you it will be an electrifying night."

Let me start here by saying that I think Golden Boy Promotions has done a fantastic job with this event overall. I hate that they're running against the Chavez Jr vs Martinez card, but they did have the date first, and Mexican Independence weekend is a time when every major promoter wants to run a card, especially if you have a Mexican superstar fighter like Canelo Alvarez to offer.

Though overshadowed by the Top Rank bill (or the main event anyway), Golden Boy has promoted this card very well. They put together a solid undercard with fights that really should provide a very enjoyable night of action.

But you can go on Ticketmaster right now and buy a ticket for this show. That's a fact. I just tried it myself after hearing that it was possible. As for the Chavez Jr vs Martinez sellout at the Thomas & Mack, I tried them, too. No dice. You can't buy a ticket for that show.

I don't really understand what their angle is here. They had poor Jimmy Lennon Jr on the stage announcing this sell out idea as if it were actually true. So not only are they destroying their own credibility -- which they probably don't really care about, since more people will just lap up the press release than read this -- but they had Lennon out there lying to the audience, too.

I'm not doing a Michael Moore finger wag here. I'm not upset. I just don't get what they think they gain by lying about the fight being sold out. They haven't even filled it up with comps yet.

Golden Boy had to know for a fact that they were going to lose big in ticket sales to the Top Rank card, which has a main event that has become a big fight because people actually want to see it. It's nothing against Canelo vs Lopez -- Canelo's a star and Lopez is a likeable fighter, and I think it's going to be a good fight. It's nothing against the card, which I think is well-constructed.

Nobody expected them to pack the MGM in the first place. All they've done now is draw attention to the fact that they aren't sold out. In other words, they've made this a much bigger deal than it really is, or should have been.