Golden Boy Promotions announced this morning that they would hold a media call this afternoon to announce a “special fight announcement.” Immediate fan speculation was that the rumored fight between Danny Garcia (26-0) and Lucas Matthysse (34-2) would be added to the Floyd Mayweather (44-0) vs. Canelo Alvarez (42-0-1) card in the number two slot.
That did turn out to be the case as Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer announced that the two men would meet in a bout that could easily be one of the biggest fights of the year on its own. Garcia is the number two ranked junior welterweight (140 lbs) in the world, trailing only Matthysse, making this a legitimate number one vs. number two bout.
Mayweather is the number one ranked welterweight (147) and number two ranked junior middleweight (154) in the world to Canelo’s number one ranking at 154. So we have a pair of great fights set for the top of the card.
It was also made clear that Matthysse vs. Garcia would be the most expensive card ever put in the number two slot of a card.
There are also very strong rumors that the number three slot on the PPV will be filled by a bout between third ranked junior middleweight Austin Trout (26-1) and fourth ranked Erislandy Lara (18-1-2).
This is a mega event and is worth your money top-to-bottom, something that Golden Boy stressed is a new priority.
In addition to the news about the undercard, it was announced on the call that the card will top the all time Las Vegas gate record. The old record was just under $18.5million for Mayweather’s bout with Oscar De La Hoya. Schaefer stated that this card was already over $18.6mil and was expected to top out around $19.5mil.
In addition they are trying to open up more closed circuit seats as they’ve already sold out of the existing seats.
It’s a major event, drawing major interest because of the massive main event. But, to the credit of Golden Boy and Mayweather — who appears to have been a part of paying for the Matthysse/Garcia bout — they are pushing to give fans a great event top to bottom.
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