Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Mayweather-Maidana rematch leads to another fan stampede at MGM Grand

Mayweather-Maidana 2

Steve Marcus

An injured man is taken away on a gurney after a disturbance following the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Marcos Maidana fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014.

Updated Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014 | 12:06 a.m.

Fan Stampede Following Fight

An injured man is taken away on a gurney after a fan stampede following the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Marcos Maidana fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014. Launch slideshow »

Mayweather-Maidana II Main Event

Marcos Maidana, left, of Argentina and WBC/WBA welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. of the U.S. square off during their title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014. Launch slideshow »

Mayweather-Maidana II Undercards

Boxer John Molina Jr. of the U.S. connects on Humberto Soto of Mexico during a junior welterweight bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014. Launch slideshow »

Another Floyd Mayweather title fight, another fan stampede at the MGM Grand.

Shortly after Mayweather’s unanimous decision victory over Marcos “Chino” Maidana on Saturday night, hundreds of fans flooded back into the MGM Grand Garden Arena after at least two disturbances near the arena entrance.

The fans streamed back into the arena about 9:20 p.m., as the crowd had largely emptied out of the venue. Hotel officials said initial reports of shots being fired and guns being drawn by fans were false, though fans did report that Metro officers did draw guns and rush toward the action as the scene intensified.

According to an MGM Grand spokesman who was in contact with Metro Police on the scene, the first incident was a fight that broke out at the Blizz yogurt shop, which sits near the arena entrance and exit. Fans then turned afield, racing back toward the arena, and the spokesman agreed that the scene looked like a reversal of a tide moving back to sea.

Many fans reportedly also fled the opposite direction, toward the casino, in the walkway of shops and restaurants known as the District at the MGM.

As the original stampede rolled toward the arena, another scuffle broke out at the entrance of the media center, which is assembled in a hotel ballroom abutting the entrance of the arena’s concourse. There was at least one injury on the scene, a man who was lifted onto a stretcher with a brace wrapped around his neck. According to the hotel spokesman, the man's injury or injuries are not yet known but were unrelated to either incident that led to the fans racing back toward the entrance.

This is the second such crush of fans to unfold after a Mayweather fight this year. On May 3, a stampede caused by a falling temporary wall at the Starbucks at the District food court led to a rush of fans that led to at least 50 injuries. Twenty-four injured fans were taken to Las Vegas-area hospitals, as American Medical Response delivered 20 ambulances to the MGM Grand, and MedicWest Ambulance of Las Vegas sent several more to the hotel.

There was no such extensive external response tonight, and the hotel had taken measures to lessen the mass of people leaving the venue by posting ushers at the bank of doors near the entrance leading out of the arena, and adding signs and additional staffing throughout the concourse to lead people out in an orderly fashion. It’s a plan that works — under most conditions. But as the hotel has learned, a Mayweather fight is always an atypical experience.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.

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