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How Mayweather goes, so goes Vegas…

Vegas is in the boxing biz, yes, but more so in the Floyd Mayweather Jr. business. His last bout, he made it rain, as the city which sells itself as a den of joyful sin was buzz-y and packed and raking in fistfuls of green.

You recall…Many of you asked me if you’d even be able to watch Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao on closed circuit, let alone live at the arena.

Indeed, the hypemasters at Top Rank Promotions and Mayweather Promotions and Showtime and HBO stoked the flames of interest with massive skill.

This time, different deal…

Sales on hotel rooms and packages which include tickets at the MGM to see Mayweather-Andre Berto have been popping up for weeks now.

OK, is this one, billed as Floyd’s adios fight – which nobody actually seems to believe – a dog?

I mean, will nobody be in the arena? Will you be able to hear a mouse relieving himself as Floyd tries to go to 49-0? Well, of course not…

But I reached out to a guy with a vested interest in how this promotion does, one Mr. X, who has been a ticket broker in Las Vegas for the last 16 years.

A couple days ago, he told me, when I asked how ticket sales are going, “Besides MGM buying tickets, they haven’t sold anything. This thing is a joke.”

Ouch…not a gutbuster, then. OK, maybe for anti-Floyd types who don’t care for his bragging and enjoy seeing such a tepid response to his scrap vs. Berto.

“I don’t know how many MGM bought,” Mr. X continued, “but regardless, there will not be any ramification. If Floyd fights again – and I think he will – and it’s a good opponent, the public will buy the pay-per-view and tickets. Four out of the six fights on his Showtime deal have been s–t tickets [meaning sales haven’t been gangbusters]. He is just under the microscope more now.”

X is in the loop there; does he think Floyd vs. Someone will open up that MGM arena being built for next year? Maybe Floyd vs. Manny II? “Not many other options,” said X. “[WBA middleweight titleholder Gennady] Golovkin would sell good.”

X said he thinks, as of a couple days ago, that between 6 and 7,000 tickets at MGM have been sold, “most purchased by MGM.” MGM does not make that information public and, when asked about sales, or lack thereof, on a conference call, Mayweather exec Leonard Ellerbe was defensive, wondering why the question was being asked. It should go without saying, if brisk ticket sales are used as evidence of interest in a bout, and as a selling point, then it is fair game for the opposite situation to be examined…

So, anyway, Mr. X, did you KNOW this would happen, that people would view the Mayweather-Berto fight with a shrug-ish anticipation? “I didn’t buy a single ticket for the fight and brokers that did are dead in the water.”

“This fight is an example of bad promotion and overpriced tickets,” X continued.

And we are on Friday, the day before the bout…Are tix now moving, later in the game? “No, it’s getting worse,” X told me. “They released really good risers two days ago and there was zero movement; they are just sitting there. It’s a bad week for Mayweather, minus his guarantee.”

Woodsy guarantees excellent movement on his Twitter.