Oscar De La Hoya anticipates a sold-out Saturday night at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn as he foresees a late surge in ticket sales for the Devin Haney-Ryan Garcia card, which he predicted on Thursday, April 18.
Ever since tickets became available for sale, fans and media alike have questioned the high prices, particularly considering that neither Haney nor Garcia have previously headlined a show at this venue. They have taken to social media, sharing seat maps that reveal large sections of unsold tickets, and pointing out that the DAZN Pay-Per-View main event may not be the highly anticipated mega fight that it was portrayed to be by all parties involved.
Garcia, clearly frustrated, expressed his discontent publicly by criticizing Golden Boy Promotions for choosing the Brooklyn Nets’ home arena for the fight. As a native of Victorville, California, he firmly believes that the event should have been held in Las Vegas or the Los Angeles area.
Golden Boy chose Brooklyn as the location for the highly anticipated fight between Haney and Garcia due to the availability of the venue on Saturday night. De La Hoya assures that this decision will not be regretted when the two rivals step into the ring for their 12-round battle for Haney’s WBC super lightweight title.
During the final press conference, De La Hoya confidently expressed that despite the circulating rumors, the fight is indeed attracting a lot of attention and generating significant interest. He emphasized that the tickets are in high demand, with only around 1,500 remaining. De La Hoya reassured the audience that the walk-up sales will ensure a sold-out event, urging everyone to secure their tickets promptly.
Promoters often tend to exaggerate ticket sales projections, but in a surprising turn, Eddie Hearn, Haney’s representative, supported his competitor’s prediction of a sold-out event. Hearn mentioned after the press conference that tickets for the Haney-Garcia match would have already been completely sold if consumers had more trust in Garcia’s ability to make it to the fight night without any unexpected setbacks.
When questioned about Garcia’s antics, Hearn expressed, “Well, you know, being a promoter, I don’t really despise it.”
Perhaps the only thing I dislike is the perception that some people doubted he would participate in the fight. This is why we are witnessing a late sell-out instead of an early sell-out.
By successfully pulling in an audience of over 16,000 people to the Chase Centre in San Francisco for his previous bout, a dominant 12-round victory over former WBA/WBC 140-pound champion Regis Prograis on December 9th, Haney solidified his status as a popular attraction in the United States. Just two fights prior, Garcia and another one of his rivals, Gervonta Davis, managed to fill the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to its maximum capacity of 20,842 attendees. This event generated a staggering $22.8 million in ticket sales, as Davis emerged victorious with a seventh-round knockout.
