Listen Now:
“Las Vegas Metro spokesman Larry Hadfiel: (With traffic) Plan in advance, because decisions on where you’re going will not be made while you’re sitting there in traffic”
Laila Ali: “There have been times I’ve wanted to reach out to him and have a conversation with him, because I see a little boy even though he’s a grown man. I see a broken person. I know when you have money and you have ‘power’ and you have all these yes people around you, sometimes you don’t have that person to pull you aside and give it to you straight.
So every once in awhile, I’m just like, ‘You know what? I need to reach out to Floyd and I need to have a conversation with him.’ Because I don’t hate him. I dislike the way that he acts. I dislike the way that he treats people. And obviously, I’m definitely not down with this beating on women because that’s very cowardly. But…he needs somebody to reach out to him and guide him.”
Laila Ali then released this statement: I don’t like my words being twisted or taken out of context, so let me make something clear…Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is one of the best boxers in the game, and no one can diminish his professional accomplishments. As a pioneer in boxing and humanitarian, my father Muhammad Ali is The Greatest Of All Time and he set the bar high for ALL boxers to follow. Just because I proudly proclaim that my dad is The Greatest, in no way does that mean I am dissing Floyd. I don’t allow anyone to dictate to me how I feel about myself, so I am certainly not going to try tell someone else how confident they should or shouldn’t be. The Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch is one of the biggest events boxing has seen in years. This fight has re-energized our fans and gotten millions of people around the world excited again about boxing. Instead of being an unnecessary distraction to these two fighters, let’s kill the “spin cycle” and misquotes now. Put the spotlight back where it belongs….on tomorrow’s history-making fight in Vegas. Laila Ali
Nigel Collins, ESPN.com boxing: I’ve never bought into the opinion that Mayweather would easily outbox Pacquiao. I thought it was a 50-50 fight when the match was first talked about years ago and I still think it’s a 50-50 fight today. If, however, Pacquiao is as aggressive as Marcos Maidana was in his first fight with Mayweather, I can see Manny prevailing a competitive contest. He’s much faster than Maidana and significantly more accurate with his punches, which would allow him to outwork Floyd and win a close decision.
Teddy Atlas, ESPN boxing analyst: Pacquiao by controversial decision.
Lou DiBella: “It’s the biggest fight I’ve ever seen in my whole life.I remember as a kid, Ali-Frazier, hearing how big of an event that was. I was around a lot of big fights, but the enormity of this blows my mind.”
Michael Bernam, In Demand: “We fully anticipate that his will be our highest-grossing boxing event ever. We could possibly reach our highest buy number as well, although that is much less of a certainty.”
Matt Baird, DISH Network “The response we have seen to the Mayweather versus Pacquiao fight has been tremendous, and we expect this fight to be DISH’s most popular pay-per-view fight to date.”
Manny Pacquiao: “(I was) thanking him for the fans that the fight will happen. I think, I believe that the fight must happen because the fans deserve it.”
Floyd Mayweather: “I’ve dedicated myself to the sport of boxing for over 20 years, and I’m ready,”
Todd Grisham, ESPN Friday Night Fights: Anyone expecting an exciting, toe-to-toe thriller on Saturday night is delusional. Yes, Pacquiao can certainly deliver that type of fight but Mayweather has never, and will never. Look back at his 47 wins. They mostly look the same. He pretty much just picks his spots, employs incredible defense and wins on points in less than spine-tingling performance. Same thing happens here. Mayweather by decision.
Jonathan Coachman, ESPN Radio: There is a reason Floyd Mayweather is undefeated despite all of the out of the ring troubles. My heart is very different than my head here. I believe this fight will go the distance and Mayweather will win a unanimous decision. Floyd just doesn’t knock people out.
Jim Ross, Former WWE Announcer: “Mayweather wins. Pacquaio should be really happy he’s getting this fight. Trying to be a politician, he’s a singer, and maybe it is that he’s compensating for the skills he’s lost in the ring.”
Jon Taffer, ‘Bar Rescue’: “They are both incredible champions and it’s going to be an epic fight! If I had to choose, I would pick Floyd Mayweather. He’s a no BS kind of guy just like me.”
Ross Greenburg, Former Head of HBO Sports: “There’s going to be a lot of people who are disappointed with their seat location,” he said. “We used to have a thing — if we get you in the building be happy, But it’s tough to tell Denzel Washington that, or Jay Z and Beyonce.” (Bloomberg)
Vanessa Doleshal: “There has been extreme fallout, Hotels are dropping rates dramatically. They thought the demand was going to be more than what it was.”
Glen Lerham, Stubhub: “No individual ticket for any event has ever sold for more,”
Cameron Papp, Stubhub: People are watching the market trying to figure out how to buy the cheapest ticket. They’re listing it at that price to see if they will win the lottery,” Papp said. “I’m 99 percent sure they won’t get that price.”
Anonymous Ticket Broker: “It’s an embarrassment. We lost a significant amount of money”
Gene Kilroy, Ali’s former business Manager: “If Ali was fighting today, they’d be delivering his money in a Brinks truck because of closed-circuit TV. That’s where the money is today,” “The media is 80 percent larger today,” said Kilroy,(LVRJ)
Jason Simbal, Cantor Gambling: “I’m expecting 50 to 60 percent of what the Super Bow does,” said , vice president of risk management at Cantor Gaming, as he stood in the middle of a busy sports book operation within The Venetian. “The Super Bowl does about $200 million to $220 million per year for the past couple of years, this will be about half that, 60 percent of that number.”
Jim Lampley “There’s a delicate tension that goes with this production,” Lampley said. “Everyone knows these are two networks with conflicting business interests.” (NY Daily News)
