The Golden Boy continues to have the golden touch.
Oscar De La Hoya’s welterweight showdown with pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao on Dec. 6 sold out almost instantly after tickets went on sale Wednesday.
Organizers announced that all of the approximately 16,000 tickets to “The Dream Match” at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas (HBO PPV) sold out for a gate of almost $17 million.
The total makes De La Hoya-Pacquiao the second-biggest gate in boxing history, surpassed only by the $18,419,200 worth of tickets sold for De La Hoya’s fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 5, 2007.
The total surpasses the $16,860,300 generated by the 1999 heavyweight championship rematch in Las Vegas between Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield, promoters said.
It means De La Hoya will be a part of four of the top 10 gates in Nevada history; his bouts with Felix Trinidad and Bernard Hopkins are also in the top 10.
“This is just a reflection of the overwhelming interest in this mega-event and we are extremely delighted that tickets sales were so swift,” Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer said. “The matchup is one of the best in boxing and will be one of the bigge
