De La Hoya-Mayweather bout headed for Las Vegas

The MGM Grand in Las Vegas beat out Staples Center and will play host to the May 5 boxing match between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr., officials announced Wednesday.

Representatives of MGM and De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions declined to disclose terms of the deal, but Golden Boy Chief Executive Richard Schaefer said MGM’s ability to charge $350 to $2,000 for nearly 16,000 tickets that will begin being sold next month eased De La Hoya’s decision to fight outside his hometown.

“We saw a $4-million to $5-million difference between going to MGM and Staples,” Schaefer said.

“Oscar still wants to find a way to fight at Staples Center again, but it was difficult for this fight to go anywhere else but Las Vegas.”

Six-time world champion De La Hoya (38-4, 30 knockouts) will earn more than $25 million for the 154-pound fight against four-time world champion Mayweather Jr. (37-0, 24 KOs), who will earn between $10 million and $12 million.