Floyd Mayweather is a divisive man with a troubled past but Las Vegas will still cheer him on against Conor McGregor
The boxer is considered a hero by many in his adopted city, despite his history of domestic violence and well documented problems with the US Internal Revenue Service
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After driving 20 minutes away from the Strip, a journey which included a couple of wrong turns and a long detour around a tired-looking business park, we eventually found it. Tucked away ignominiously under a bridge, directly opposite a gas station and adjacent to a boarded up motel, The Girl Collection would be easy to miss if it was not for the large neon sign bearing its name. Mayweather’s branding is kept to a minimum: four small ‘The Money Team’ posters line its four walls.
Mayweather is exceptionally proud of his gentlemen’s club, explaining in a recent appearance on national television that he purchased it because “I know that breasts, vaginas, music and alcohol will never go out of style.” So proud, in fact, that last week he promised he would spend every night this week here, ahead of his fight with Conor McGregor on Saturday.
“Come hang out with me at Girl Collection and ask me anything you want,” he told his fans on Twitter. “That’s right … I’m partying the entire week before my fight all the way through to next Monday.”
But for now, the place is deserted, despite Mayweather’s promise to be here for 9pm. There are just two cars in the car park, possibly belonging to staff members (one of whom told me earlier that they were anticipating “easily the best week since opening”) plus two bouncers stood outside, so large that perhaps even McGregor would think twice before insulting them.
Mayweather, 40-years-old and now less than 72 hours out from the most important evening of his career, eventually arrives at 4am. A video of him sat in a booth appears on Twitter the next day, the dance floor behind him suspiciously empty. Mayweather may be partying the entire week before his fight — but it appears his fans aren’t partying with him.
It’s tempting to leave things there. With the scene of Mayweather more or less alone in his strip club in the early hours of the morning, reaffirming what most people already think of him. That he is ruthlessly individualistic, increasingly detached from reality and more interested in money than boxing.
That may be true in Los Angeles, Toronto, New York and London, where he was vociferously booed while promoting this weekend’s fight alongside McGregor. It is no doubt true in plenty of other places as well. He will never be a popular man, owing to both his attitude towards money but principally towards women: in one 10-year stretch he was accused of assaulting five women on at least seven different occasions, including a 2010 incident resulting in a 90-day prison sentence.
But, in Vegas, he is revered by all different kinds of people, and feted as a hometown hero despite hailing from over 2000 miles away, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Why?
At the root of his popularity is his money. “Everyone here respects Floyd because he’s so rich,” a street vendor called Darrelle tells me. He is wandering up and down the Strip selling counterfeit Mayweather vs McGregor t-shirts, which are $20 cheaper than the official ones for sale in the foyer of the MGM Grand. They're selling quickly.
“You see his big The Money Team van parked up outside the MGM and it makes me respect him even more, in my opinion he’s the best because you can’t argue with the dollars he’s made. Argue about fighting if you want, but you can’t argue with the dollars.”
The casinos love Mayweather too. For the obvious reasons — a professional gambler placed a $500,000 wager on Wednesday at the MGM Grand while a $1 million bet was made on Thursday at William Hill — but also because of his fierce loyalty to MGM Resorts International. Mayweather had the option to fight McGregor at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas or even at Madison Square Garden in New York, but he refused to break with tradition.
And then there is also a sense that Mayweather simply gets this city, the furore over slow ticket sales being a prime example. While the world’s media panic over supposed rows of embarrassingly empty seats, in Vegas the atmosphere is calm. “Even Mayweather-Pacquiao didn't sell out in seconds,” Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, tells us on Thursday morning.
“What you've got to understand is that I don't see what people are making a deal about. I haven't checked in the past day; I'm sure we're probably close.”
In fact, the remaining tickets are still selling steadily at ludicrous prices. Ken Solky, the founder of Las Vegas Tickets and Mayweather's ticket broker for over a decade, explains that it’s likely only a handful of genuine tickets remain on the open market. “Those other tickets — like the block the MGM will release to its players — is money that’s already in the bank, so I think they do have that live-gate record right now,” he says. “I would believe there’s more than $70 million in the box office as we speak.”
One of those tickets has just been sold to a British boxing fan who has travelled all the way from Leeds and now stands in Solky’s shop waiting to pick it up. When I ask him how much he pays, he looks almost sheepish. “£2000,” is the reply. “And to be honest it’s a s*** seat.”
Sluggish ticket sales have made for an entertaining story for those who claim to have no interest in Mayweather vs McGregor, and who claim it is ultimately bad for boxing. But Mayweather was pulling the strings all along. The fight will sell out — and it will likely break all existing pay-per-view records, too. In the true spirit of Vegas, Mayweather gambled and won.
Las Vegas is known as Sin City for good reason and so perhaps it is fitting that their adopted hero is a man with his fair share of sins. Ultimately however, those sins take second place to Mayweather’s revered bank balance and ability to guarantee a show. For as long as Mayweather keeps delivering, this city will continue to adore him, imperfections and all.