UK fans avoid latest Floyd Mayweather ‘robbery’ with O2 Arena nearly empty for boxing legend’s exhibition bout with Aaron Chalmers
Floyd Mayweather’s UK debut didn’t garner interest as fight fans dismissed his latest exhibition fight in London.
The American boxing legend faced Geordie Shore star Aaron Chalmers on Saturday night at the 20,000-seat O2 Arena in London, but the massive venue was largely empty.
Richard Pelham / The Sun
Mayweather took on the reality TV star in London on Saturday night
Richard Pelham / The Sun
But there wasn’t much appetite from British fight fans to see it
Mayweather easily won all eight rounds, but no winner was declared at the end of the fight as it was an exhibition.
At the height of his powers, Mayweather amassed an all-time 50-0 record, defeating fighting legends Manny Pacquiao, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Oscar De La Hoya and winning world titles in five different weight classes.
Since retiring from professional boxing in 2017, the 46-year-old has earned millions in exhibition bouts against inexperienced opponents like Logan Paul and Deji.
After completing eight rounds with YouTuber Paul in 2021, Mayweather bragged about the “legalized bank robbery” he just pulled during his post-fight press conference.
He said: “Who is really the smartest in boxing? If you don’t want to see me, there are no exhibitions, don’t watch.
“When it comes to legalized bank robberies, I’m the best. I don’t care if you write good stories. I don’t care if you write bad stories. At the end of the day, I will always have the last laugh.”
But despite this event being his first fight in the UK, Mayweather failed to garner interest.
It is understood that the organizers were desperate to sell £5 tickets that day but still barely sold any as the entire top tier at The O2 was shut down.
Zeus network
British fans decided to skip Mayweather’s latest exhibition
Mayweather claimed the tickets went on sale too late.
He said in his post-fight press conference, “We did it in a month – not even four weeks.
“I think the tickets should have gone on sale much faster.
“My new team is still learning. I have to take my hat off to them, it’s not their fault.
“Only if we fight in the US, tickets will be available as soon as we announce the fight.
“Here we announced the fight and the tickets didn’t go on sale until a week or two later.”
Ahead of fight night, boxing promoter Eddie Hearn predicted Mayweather’s final event would be a disaster as no one would show up or buy the pay-per-view, which was streamed on Zeus TV and was priced at £30.
He said: “Someone rented the O2 and thought they’re going to sell out the O2 with Floyd Mayweather and they’re going to make a couple hundred thousand purchases on pay-per-view.
“Either it’s going to be canceled or somebody’s going to do their absolute slob, or people aren’t going to get paid. One of the three.”
Mayweather was planning more exhibition bouts in 2023 and former UFC champion Jose Aldo was touted as a potential opponent.
After the lackluster London event, Mayweather may decide he’s had enough of traveling the world to do battle with people unable to share the ring with him.