Mayweather-Pacquiao: UK Reacts to Sky Sports Box Office Announcement

Sky Sports announced on Tuesday it will broadcast the long-awaited bout between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao to fight fans in the United Kingdom and Ireland on May 2.

The so-called “Fight of the Century” will be available at a pay-per-view price of £19.95 in the UK and €24.95 in Ireland.

A pay-per-view price has yet to be confirmed by Showtime or HBO—the joint broadcasters of the event in the United States—but the price is expected to be in the region of $90-100, according to ESPN’s Dan Rafael.

Sky’s asking price is marginally higher than the rate for their most recent Box Office boxing events, with Tony Bellew’s points win over Nathan Cleverly costing viewers £16.95 last November.

Sky Sports were heavily criticised for making that grudge match a Box Office event, but fans were much more willing to part with the same amount for Carl Froch’s second knockout of George Groves on May 31, 2014.

The Wembley Stadium showdown proved to be the highest-grossing fight in British history, according to MailOnline, yet Sky have been the subject of criticism for upping their standard Box Office price for Mayweather-Pacquiao.

"

@SkySportsBoxing don't care cause I won't be paying for it anyway ROBBERY

— Brian Shortall (@Shorto12) March 24, 2015"

"

@mattylawless @jaythomas1979 @MailSport gone up a 5iver i see

— Wayne orme (@ormytweet76) March 24, 2015"

"

@NextBigFight £19.95! And they wonder why people will stream it!

— Callum Shaw (@Callum_shaw) March 24, 2015"

"

#MayweatherPacquiao is the most expensive fight in UK pay-per-view history. Is £19.95 reasonable? RT -Yes / FAV - No pic.twitter.com/Q9aXK6iEGk

— BreatheSport (@BreatheSport) March 24, 2015"

"

@guardian_sport Roughly translated that means Sky have won the rights to roll everybody for an extra £20 PPV fee.Brilliant!!

— LFC (@ComingUpTheHill) March 24, 2015"

However, figureheads in the UK and Ireland boxing scene were all too willing to defend the cost administered by Sky, with super middleweight Paul Smith and trainer Dave Coldwell among those weighing in.

"

Don't get the shock,did anyone seriously think that @FloydMayweather v @MannyPacquiao was NOT going to be PPV?! #MayweatherPacquiao #boxing

— Dave Coldwell (@davidcoldwell) March 24, 2015"

"

People moaning about £20 PPV for #MayweatherPacquiao 🙈 Other option would've been just as expensive or more. Also, USA PPV is $100. Bargain

— Paul Smith Jnr (@PaulSmithJnr) March 24, 2015"

"

Sky to charge €25 for Mayweather v Pacquiao duel. Boxing fans in the US will have to shell $90 http://t.co/J8qBWOPIvJ pic.twitter.com/9mXp2Rd7gy

— SportsJOE.ie (@SportsJOEdotie) March 24, 2015"

"

Sky Sports to show #MayweatherPacquiao on PPV at a very reasonable £19.95. http://t.co/Lv0sQ9krNL pic.twitter.com/C6lR9VAJHQ

— Next Big Fight (@NextBigFight) March 24, 2015"

Because of their financial strength, Sky were always the favourites to land the broadcasting rights in the UK and Ireland.

However, in recent years, fight fans have been more accustomed to watching the megastars on BoxNation, a UK subscription channel dedicated solely to boxing.

BBC, ITV and BT Sport were all rumoured to be interested in hosting Mayweather-Pacquiao, according to Boxing News, but a serious bidding war failed to materialise.