Last week "The Golden Boy" Oscar de la Hoya and the "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather completed an 11-city media tour—which included stops in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Chicago, Detroit, Miami, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles—to promote their May 5 "The World Awaits" super fight at the MGM in Las Vegas and live on HBO Pay-Per-View. The nine-day tour brought out a horde of worldwide media outlets and thousands of sports fan s in every city.


"I have never seen anything like it," said Richard Schaefer, Chief Executive Officer of Golden Boy Promotions, the promotional company which is spearheading the historic bout.  "Every city was packed with fans and covered by the media, giving us a true indication of the magnitude and significance of this fight."  


Cumulative results include more than 150 television cameras, 200 still photographers, more than 200 print writers, radio and web-based outlets.  In addition, tour stops attracted over 20,000 animated fans, including extremely large turnouts in Washington, DC, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles.


Opening the tour to the public, each leg attracted droves of excited fans, as well as local sports stars and dignitaries, enthusiastically caught up in being part of the action.   Engulfed in the warm receptions from each city, both fighters worked at feverish paces to greet their fans, take photos, and sign autographs, often times taking nearly an hour out of the fast paced tour to complete each request. 


"The turnout was tremendous and a good indication that big time boxing is still alive and people are excited about May 5," said the Golden Boy, Oscar De La Hoya.  "It was hard not to take the time to meet and greet the fans who, from what I understand, began arriving hours before we got there to be a part of this historic tour." 


"It was great to see so many fans and members of the media come out to see us in each city and cover each event," said Mayweather.  "They have a lot to look forward to on May 5 and they will not be disappointed."   


Immediately following the tour, both champions journeyed to their respective training camps—De La Hoya to Puerto Rico and Floyd Mayweather to Las Vegas—as they continue preparation for their mega-fight. T he De La Hoya vs. Mayweather pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, has a suggested retail price of $54.95, will be distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View and will be available to more than 61 million pay-per-view homes and in 176 countries around the world. The telecast will be available in HD-TV. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For your daily De La Hoya vs. Mayweather fight week updates visit www.hbo.com.


On Sunday, Apr. 15 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT, HBO will premiere the all-access prime time series "De La Hoya/Mayweather 24/7."  The four-part series with unprecedented access will chronicle the fighters' preparations for the May 5 mega-fight in Las Vegas and provide viewers with a compelling look at two extraordinary champions.