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By TIM DAHLBERG, AP
The first ticket has yet to be sold, but the richest fight in boxing history is getting richer by the day.
New estimates show Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s payoff for fighting Manny Pacquiao could easily be $180 million, up substantially from earlier predictions of $120 million. Pacquiao gets the short end of the purse, but even that is expected to be well over $100 million by the time everything is tallied up.
The money is staggering, though not exactly unexpected. Five years of waiting seem to have only piqued the public's demand for the one fight even casual fans of the sport want to see.
"For whatever it's worth, the buildup over these years has certainly enhanced the fight," promoter Bob Arum. "Everybody knows about it now, even people who don't follow boxing. Plus we have a good economy, unlike in 2009 when people were out of work and didn't have the money to spend."
Fans will certainly have to pay a price to see the May 2 welterweight title bout, especially those lucky enough to score a ticket inside the MGM Grand arena itself. Ticket prices there range from $1,500 in the upper deck to $7,500 at ringside - and only a small percentage of the tickets will actually be put on public sale.
Arum said Tuesday the gate at the MGM alone will be more than $72 million, obliterating the previous live gate record of $20 million in Nevada set by Mayweather's 2013 fight with Canelo Alvarez. Though the MGM will provide some tickets for its biggest gamblers, Arum said even the celebrities who can normally get free tickets to sit ringside will have to pay full fare for the fight - if they can get their hands on tickets at all.
By GRAHAM DUNBAR
Before even agreeing on a kickoff date for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, FIFA has begun the search for a host in 2026.
FIFA put expected bidders Canada, Mexico and the United States on notice Friday by setting May 2017 as a target to elect the host of a tournament which follows 32 years after the U.S. staged the event.
"Thirty-two years is a long time," Jeffrey Webb, the president of the North American region, told The Associated Press. "I believe it is CONCACAF's time."
The timetable was approved by the FIFA executive committee a day after the same group decided the final in 2022 will be played on Dec. 18 - Qatar's national day. Though FIFA wants a 28-day tournament in the Gulf emirate's cooler months, a decision on opening day in 2022 was left undone.
Still, with Qatar's controversial hosting finally being accepted as inevitable, FIFA's focus quickly turned to where its lucrative World Cup circus will go next.
"We think it should be played in June-July 2026," said FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke, referring to the furor at breaking World Cup tradition to play at the end of the year in Qatar.
Valcke also promised rigorous scrutiny of bidders after a slew of allegations implicated candidates in the 2018-2022 contest.
"These regulations will reach the level of transparency from the first minute of the process to the decision," FIFA's top administrator said.
The process should begin several days after bid regulations are approved on May 30. FIFA's 209 member federations will choose the host at their 2017 congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sierra McGehee, Linda Hesles and Sophie Gomez were recognized before the Board of Trustees on Tuesday at the De Luna Center for making the District 29-AAAAAA All-Academic Volleyball Team.