I would say "amazingly enough ..." but I'm a Brit myself and, hence, less amazed (and more embarrassed) to relate that there's more than a grain of truth to this legend, although the story has already been subject to some exaggeration, as tends to happen.
First off, the British invasion comprised something in the region of 20,000-25,000 of my countrymen (and women), not 40,000.
Secondly, the MGM Grand wasn't actually drunk dry. Only its main warehouse was, so reserves had to be brought in -- not from the local 7-Eleven, but from an on-site auxiliary warehouse.
According to the helpful beverage manager we spoke with, on an average Saturday night, the MGM Grand goes though approximately 500 cases of beer, which in itself is a mammoth amount (compare to Bellagio, which empties 50-60 cases on an average weekend day or Paris, where the figure's about 100 cases -- see QoD 10/28/2007).
On Saturday Dec. 8, 2007, however, the MGM Grand's clientele drank its way through no less than 4,000 cases of beer, and that's bearing in mind that some bars, for the first time in Vegas' history (that we know of), were actually closed down due to the unruliness of the Brits (so we heard -- although it may actually have been a result of the beer hiatus). If it was due to unruliness, no doubt it was this same element that booed the U.S. national anthem at the fight (which was won by Mayweather, who knocked out Hatton in the 10th). Shame on them.
As England's Daily Telegraph newspaper put it in the following day's headline, "Vegas will not miss boorish British boxing fans." Indeed.
