So who you think wins the fight?
No, I don’t mean the mega bout between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, I mean the fight to host the fight.
Will it be the NFL’s most powerful, most persuasive owner, Jerry Jones?
Or will it be MGM Grand Mirage CEO Jim Murren and his associates including boxing point man Richard Sturm?
Jones made his case public in an interview with ESPN Thursday.
You have to admit that Jones is right in saying that staging the March 13 bout in his sparkling, new Cowboys football playpen in Arlington would lift the match into super spectacle status not to mention possibly exceed the (San Antonio) Pernell Whitaker-Julio Cesar Chavez crowd of 60,000 as the most well attended fight ever in America.
“Here’s the thing — I know that Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao would love to be part of the most-attended modern fight in American history,” Jones said. “It would be quite a feather in their cap to be the substance behind that. We have the ability to make that happen. I have such respect for fighters and people who compete. Just think how it would feel for the greatest fight ever to draw the biggest crowd in modern America? That’s something you tell your grandchildren about.”
Now it’s up to the casino boys to respond in ongoing negotiations between the Mayweather and Pacquiao camps. Bob Arum has hinted the site deal could be a wrap sometime this weekend.
AP Photo
Despite Jones being ready to pony up $25 million of his own money, I still see Las Vegas as being like the fighter who enters the final round ahead on points.
(See DSource GMan’s article which labels this fight 50-50 as to who wins it, but he still leans to his kababyan.)
In other words, my guess is that Nevada can only lose by KO.
Pacman and Mayweather are more than comfortable in Vegas and they can avoid a huge hassle over selection of officials by relying on the reliable Nevada veterans.
Vegas also has a superior infrastructure, from more international air access to a much greater selection of hotel rooms.
You won’t see MGM Grand officials giving out press interviews but I’m sure they are in their throwing all the body blows they can muster.
Arum thinks going to Texas is a great idea which automatically makes his former charge Mayweather suspicious.
Texas is in the hunt, for sure, and you can dimiss Arum’s mention of Atlanta as a typical Arumesque canard.
if Jones loses out, it’s no biggie. He can turn his full attention back to his football team.
The question is can Las Vegas collectively stand to let this attraction go to Texas.
Stay tuned…
