The audience is not interested in watching Mayweather fight
According to the schedule, the side matches, warming up for the main event start at 8pm London time. But with the stands empty, the matches were rescheduled for 30 minutes to allow more fans to be present at the O2 Arena. Regular fare ranges from $170 to $1,200. After that, the organizers lowered the ticket price but did not welcome many more spectators.
The live reporting of the event also only started at 20:15, half an hour later than expected. Fifteen minutes later, the first match between Sammy-Jo Luxton and Hayley Heather began. If you don't go to the O2 Arena to watch it live, fans will have to pay $30 to watch the event on The Zeus Network streaming service.
The main match between Mayweather and Chalmers is scheduled to start at 22:30. But the two boxers only showed up around 22:35, and Mayweather's first fight in the UK only started at 22:50.
British newspaper Sunsport said that the O2 Arena's 20,000-seat stand still has many empty seats, especially in the lower classes, sitting further away from the stands. Mayweather tried to appeal to England fans, including wearing Union Jack shorts and blue gloves with red trim to match, but to no avail.
On social networks, many people are surprised by the images recording the sparse O2 Arena scene during the match of Mayweather - one of the greatest boxers of all time. "Mayweather fight in front of about 25 spectators in London. Worst thing I've ever seen in sports," one fan wrote on Twitter. "This Mayweather fight is trash," wrote another.
Mayweather's rival Aaron Chalmers is a former professional MMA fighter and reality TV star. Initially, "Lonely and defeated" wanted to fight with Liam Harrison, but the former Muay World Champion withdrew at the last minute due to injury.
As reported by Sunsport, Mayweather spent most of the opening round "grinning" at his opponent rather than boxing. American boxers carefully calculated before striking and competing a bit too hesitantly compared to the likes of the crowd. He was just more comfortable dancing with the girls holding signs at the break between rounds.
Mayweather dominated for eight rounds, two minutes each. But when there was no knockout victory, the referee raised the hands of both fighters at the end of the fight to signal a draw.
Chalmers was pleased to have accomplished his goal of hitting eight rounds with Mayweather. The 35-year-old former MMA fighter thanked Mayweather for helping his name to a higher status and looks forward to continuing to fight with famous fighters in the future.
Meanwhile, Mayweather expressed his admiration for his opponent by saying: "Chalmers is as strong as a nail. What Chalmers has to do is keep working hard and believe in his skills, because he's the one. tough opponent. I came to England to entertain people. We had fun for eight rounds and I am very happy to fight in England. If the fans want, I will return to England."
According to Totalsportal, Mayweather pocketed $40 million from fighting, sponsorships, pay-per-view and television bonuses, while Chalmers earned the most $2.5 million.
Mayweather is one of the best boxers of all time having won five different weight classes. He also participated in four of the five most expensive fights in history, with Oscar De La Hoya, Canelo Alvarez, Manny Pacquiao and Conor McGregor respectively. Particularly against Pacquiao, Mayweather is said to have pocketed 300 million USD.
Announced to suspend his gloves since 2015, Mayweather broke the rules again in August 2017 to fight McGregor and hit the 50-fight winning mark in his professional career. Before that, he won a bronze medal in featherweight at the 1996 Olympics, three Golden Gloves titles and won the national amateur boxing championship in amateur competition.
