LAS VEGAS ? Bob Arum?s eyes danced with delight as he discussed the possibility of 2012 Olympic middleweight gold medalist Ryoto Murata of Japan meeting silver medalist Esquiva Falcao of Brazil next year in Sao Paulo.
Sao Paulo has the largest population of Japanese people in any city outside of Japan, with the most recent figures showing a population of more than 325,000.
Arum has promoted boxing for 50 years, and few have hyped a fight, or a potential fight, better or with more vigor than Arum.
This time is no different. Murata, who is 7-0 with five knockouts in his fledgling professional career, will fight Gunnar Jackson on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center in another step on the development path toward what Arum is convinced will be stardom.
?The kid can fight, no doubt about it,? Arum said. ?He can punch. He can really [expletive] punch.?
If another match with Falcao ever occurs, it will be, to use Arum?s word, huge.
Murata is already 2-0 against Falcao, having beaten him 14-13 in the gold medal match at the London Olympics after having trounced him 24-11 in the semifinals of the World Amateur Championships in 2011.
Murata, 29, only speaks a small amount of English. But as an interpreter was translating a question about facing Falcao as a pro, Murata beamed.
?Any time,? he said in perfect English. ?Any place.?
It?s increasingly apparent that Murata has a chance to be special as a professional. He?s ranked fifth by the IBF, WBC and WBO and 14th by the WBA.
He?s got a very quick, very accurate right hand, boxes well and has a good body attack. He fights tall and uses his range well.
But perhaps his best trait is his unflappable nature. Boxing is, and has been for years, very popular in Japan, but until Murata won gold in London in 2012, no Japanese boxer had accomplished the feat since 1964 and none had won a medal of any kind since 1968.
All the hoopla and hype that comes with fighting in Las Vegas, long regarded as the boxing capital of the world, is lost on Murata given the expectations placed on him by his countrymen during his amateur career.
?There was a lot of pressure in the Olympics,? he said.
Fighting Jackson in Las Vegas or going to Brazil to take on a longtime rival in his homeland is no issue for Murata after what he was able to accomplish in London.
Falcao has come on quickly after a relatively slow start and was impressive in his last two outings, Arum said.
The plan for Murata was to fight for a world title by his 10th bout, although Arum admits that may not happen.
It shouldn?t have much of an impact on making the fight with Falcao in Sao Paulo, though.
?We?re stepping up [Murata?s] competition now and this guy [Jackson] he?s fighting is no joke,? Arum said. ?He?s no [Gennady] Golovkin, but he?s a good, strong fighter. If Murata wins, then we?ll move ahead. Ten fights might be optimistic at this point [to win a world title], but we?ll get him a couple of more fights and by 12, 14 fights, something like that, he should be ready.
?He?s a good fighter and he?s smart. I think we have something with this kid. With both of them, to be honest.?
Arum said he thought a Murata-Falcao fight in Brazil could draw upward of 30,000 fans.
And that, once again, brought up one of his favorite words.
?It?ll be [expletive] huge,? Arum said of a Murata-Falcao bout in Sao Paulo, held shortly before the 2016 Olympics begin in Rio de Janeiro. ?You watch. It?s going to be huge.?
