By ALAN SNEL and CASSANDRA COUSINEAU
LVSportsBiz.com
The days leading up to the year’s biggest boxing match have featured low-key promotions and a drama-free press conference between middleweights Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
But then Friday afternoon rolled around in Las Vegas and T-Mobile Arena, which hosted a weigh-in for the two combatants who still have quite a bit of animosity for each other after last year’s controversial draw.
Thousands of fans backing Alvarez filled the seating made available for the weigh-in of the two fighters inside the arena that holds more than 20,000 for boxing. Many of these fans are Las Vegas visitors who filled rooms up and down the Strip, including the MGM Resorts International hotel-casinos within walking distance of the arena.
Several arena ushers told LVSportsBiz.com that Friday’s weigh-in crowd was the biggest they have seen for any boxing and UFC match in 2018.
The fans inside and outside the arena likely pushed 10,000 strong. And a Mexican partisan crowd of Alvarez fans in the madhouse arena sections — including many with flags — shouted in favor of Canelo (49-1-2, 34 KOs).
Meanwhile, the champion from Kazakhstan, Golovkin (38-0-1 34 KOs), appeared to soak it all in.
In fact, Golovkin entered the stage first, wearing an all-black Brand Jordan hooded sweatsuit. He looked composed, smiling, waving and then thanking fans for traveling from places literally around the world.
There was no face-to-face confrontation during the business-as-usual Canelo-GGG press conference earlier this week.
But things would change Friday afternoon around 3:30 p.m.
Canelo officially marked his weight at 159.4.
Golovkin checked in at 159.6 pounds — less than the 160-pound limit.
But then came the scuffle between both camps, as Canelo put his hands up and lurched toward Golovkin.
Alvarez later said, through his interpreter, “I got excited from seeing all the fans, they motivated me to do that right now and more than anything you’re going to see, I defeated him at the way in, now it’s time to defeat him on Saturday.”
Golovkin was unfazed and saw it very differently.
“I saw he is like a clown, he is like a showman, not a true guy,” Golovkin said from stage. “This is not a fight, this is not a regular fight, this is like special war.”
There will be a packed house when both fighters settle it in the ring Saturday.
The “sold out” message was displayed for the Saturday fight on digital marquee boards on the Strip, with secondary market ticker broker Stubhub showing two available tickets, one in the upper end and the other in the upper corner.
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There were also two tickets left on Stubhub at $500 each for a closed circuit party at the MGM Grand ballroom.
PPV was selling for $85, and it will interesting to see how many fans buy the deal.
After the split decision a year ago, a rematch set for May was postponed after Alvarez was suspended for six months after he failed two steroid tests. Alvarez blamed the drug test fails on tainted meat that he ate accidentally.
Don’t forget, there are also thousands of visitors on Las Vegas for Sunday’s South Point 400, the first NASCAR playoff race that will bring car race fans to Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
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Follow LVSportsBiz.com on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Contact LVSportsBiz.com founder/writer Alan Snel at asnel@LVASportsBiz.com. Follow Cassandra Cousineau on Instagram and Twitter at @TheSportsnista