KUALA LUMPUR: Boxing fans began flooding bars along Changkat Bukit Bintang from as early as 8am in anticipation of the Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao bout.
As many as 11 bars in the popular nightlife street have opened especially for the bout between the American and the Filipino congressman, all making additional purchases from Astro, as the HBO channel that airs the bout isn't normally on their commercial package.
Front Page Sports Bar owner Gunasegaran Shanmugam, whose two-floor outlet was packed to its brim, said the promotions for the special opening had been done since three days ago.
"We saw that there were a lot of people interested in the bout and many customers were asking about it, so we began promoting it and the response has been tremendous," said Gunasegaran.
While Filipino fans were out in large numbers, many other foreign tourists were also eager to watch the bout, the richest bout in history worth over US$600 million.
Gunasegaran said the turnout of fans was mainly because of the hugely popular Pacquiao.
"I don't think most of them are absolute boxing fans. But Pacquiao has a big following. It because of him that most of them have turned up," he said.