THE undercard of Floyd Mayweather vs Aaron Chalmers was delayed for half an hour at a virtually empty O2 Arena tonight.
That's after promoters struggled to sell tickets for Saturday's exhibition bout in London.
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Mayweather fought for the first time in the UK after retiring with a perfect 50-0 record.
Ex-Geordie Shore star and MMA fighter Chalmers stepped in after Mayweather's original opponent Liam Harrison pulled out.
And the lad from Newcastle put in an admirable performance over eight rounds despite Mayweather dominating from start to finish.
But punters were not left convinced by the quick-fire announcement.
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And plenty of tickets were still on sale for the event before it started, with thousands of seats in the 20,000-capacity arena available.
Some boxing fans were even offered 20 per cent discounts as promoters desperately attempted to offload tickets.
Yet that too did not tempt punters, with the O2 barely filled when the undercard was meant to start at 8pm.
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Even bars on the usually packed concourse and the entrance to the arena were virtually empty.
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And with so few bums on seats, kick-off was delayed until 8.30pm to allow more fans to drift in ahead of the main event.
Regular prices for tickets ranged from around £141.50 to £1,038,50.
But even a discount did little to convince fans it would be a worthwhile purchase.
Indeed, even the event livestream didn't start until 8.15pm, half an hour after it was meant to be up.
And it wasn't until 8.30pm when the first fight between Sammy-Jo Luxton and Hayley Heather started.
Punters had to pay £24.88 to watch the event on The Zeus Network.
The main fight between Mayweather and Chalmers was scheduled to begin at 10.30pm.
But the duo didn't emerge until around 10.35pm.
And the fight only got started at 10.50pm as Mayweather demonstrated more of the iconic skills that made him a boxing legend.
However, fans weren't left convinced by the competitive nature of the bout.
One said: "Floyd Mayweather is currently fighting in front of about 25 people in London. The worst thing I have ever witnessed in sport."
Another declared: "This Mayweather fight trash I’m going home."
One noted: "Watched the first round,I turned it off,how can ya watch two men sparring laughing at each other...and idiots payed 30 quid to watch this. I'd pay 30quid to turn it off."
Another laughed: "This is a farce let’s be honest Mayweather vs some guy off Geordie Shore dancing around in the ring."
One added: "6 two minute rounds. Absolute Robbery this."
Speaking in his post-fight press conference, Mayweather said: "We did this in one month - not even four weeks.
"I think the tickets should've went on sale a lot faster.
"My new team is still learning. I have got to take my hat off to them, it's not their fault.
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"It's just when we fight in the US, as soon as we announce the fight, tickets are on sale.
"Here, we announced the fight and the tickets didn't go on sale until a week or two weeks later."
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