Fans in for unusual night on Sept. 17 at MGM and Staples Center

LOS ANGELES – The vast majority of people who watch the split-site broadcast of the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Victor Ortiz and Saul Alvarez-Alfonso Gomez fights on HBO Pay-per-view will do so at home. To them, the night won’t be terribly unusual .

The 30,000 or so who actually attend the fights – at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and Staples Center in Los Angeles – are in for something different.

Those is Vegas will see Alvarez-Gomez on the big screen and then Mayweather-Ortiz live. Those in L.A. will see Alvarez-Gomez live and then Mayweather-Ortiz -- as well as Erik Morales’ fight in Las Vegas -- on Staples Center’s new HD scoreboard.

Whatever you decide to do – watch at home, Vegas or L.A. – it’s going to be quite a night.

“No matter where you are, you can’t go wrong,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions.

Schaefer said the night should break down this way for the live shows (in Pacific Time):

Fans at both sites will watch the undercard bouts until 6 p.m., when the pay-per-view broadcast begins.

Unbeaten junior welterweight prospect Jessie Vargas (who has yet to secure an opponent) will open the televised portion of the broadcast, although Schaefer doesn’t know yet whether that fight will be seen on the Staples Center scoreboard.

However, fans in L.A. will definitely see Morales’ fight at around 6:45 p.m. on the big screen. The former three-division titleholder is expected to face either Anthony Crolla or Jorge Barrios.

Then, after the Morales fight (at around 7:30 p.m.), the fans in Las Vegas will see the Alvarez-Gomez fight on the big screen at the MGM Grand. And finally, after that fight is completed (at around 8:30 p.m.), the fans in L.A. will watch Mayweather-Ortiz on the Staple Center scoreboard.

And those in L.A. will receive a bonus: Four regional bands will perform at Staples Center after the Mayeather-Ortiz fight is over.

Schaefer is expecting business to boom that night.

“I think it will be the biggest pay-per-view promotion yet at Golden Boy. I don’t see another one coming close,” Schaefer said.

Why have two sites? Because Golden Boy can fill up two arenas (or come close) in one night.

The fight in Las Vegas, marking Mayweather’s return to the ring after a 16-month hiatus, probably will sell out quickly. And Alvarez has become a big attraction in Southern California. He drew a healthy 11,674 when he fought Matthew Hatton at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., in March. That number probably will be higher at Staples Center because of the added opportunity to see Mayweather-Ortiz and Morales on the big screen.

“(The two sites) will generate an extra pot of money,” Schaefer said. “It’s a way for us to afford to put this kind of event together.”

Plus, Schaefer said, sponsor Tecate is investing more than $800,000 in the Staples Center show to promote its beer. That includes all kinds of signage as well ticket discounts and giveaways.

“This is Tecate’s single most important market,” said Schaefer, referring to Southern California.