Story highlights
Promoter: Manny Pacquiao's has between 800 and 900 friends who want tickets to historic Las Vegas clash
Kenny Bayless named as referee in Mayweather-Pacquiao's bout, dubbed the "fight of the century"
Tickets will go on sale after an agreement on allocation was reached for the May 2 fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
In what Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, dubbed the “fight of the century,” disagreements have hampered the release of the tickets because of questions over how many tickets would be allocated to each fighter for the highly-anticipated Las Vegas event.
“There was a craze for tickets and under our agreement with Mayweather Promotions, we felt we were being deprived of our fair share of the tickets (from) the standpoint of number and location,” Arum told CNN.
“It was very, very important to my fighter Manny Pacquiao, to the Philippines people… Manny has friends and family like you can’t believe – that will be in account for 800 or 900 tickets themselves.”
The cheapest tickets for the bout are priced at $1,500 but demand for the fight is such that some seats could fetch as much as $11,000 on the secondary market.
Veteran referee named to fight
Kenny Bayless has been named as the referee of next month’s fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission said Bayless, who has officiated more than 100 title contests, would take charge of the most anticipated bout in recent boxing history at the MGM Grand.
The 64-year-old Nevada native, who has refereed five of Mayweather’s bouts and seven of Pacquiao’s, was described as “the best referee out there” by Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach.
And Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Robert Bennett said: “Kenny knows the pressure, stress and responsibility.
“He’s efficient and effective, and has proven to be successful over a number of years working in Las Vegas and other parts of the world. He’s one of the best referees in the world.”
The commission also confirmed that three American judges – Dave Moretti and Burt Clements of Nevada and Glenn Feldman of Connecticut – had been appointed for the fight.
Read: Mayweather-Pacquiao timeline
“I think we have the best judges, and Kenny Bayless is the best referee out there,” Roach said. “I think he’s going to give us a fair fight.”
Highly anticipated fight
The welterweight world title fight is likely to smash all revenue records and become the richest bout in the sport’s history, eclipsing the pay-per-view record of 2.4 million viewers for Mayweather’s fight against Oscar De La Hoya in 2007.
Speaking when the bout was confirmed in February, Pacquiao said: “I am very happy that Floyd Mayweather and I can give the fans the fight they have wanted for so many years.
“They have waited long enough, and they deserve it.”
Read: Once in a generation fight finally here
Mayweather and Pacquiao have been considered the best pound-for-pound boxers of their generation but a host of issues – including differences over drug testing protocols as well as revenue splits and broadcaster conflicts – have stopped the two from meeting in the ring.
Both are coming to the end of their careers and have established interests elsewhere. According to Forbes, Mayweather, 38, is the highest paid athlete in world sport.
Pacquiao, who is 36, has run for political office in his native Philippines.