If Floyd Mayweather finds a way to not fight Manny Pacquiao, he will be labeled a gutless duck. It might be unfair given that he’s a future Hall Of Famer with a perfect 41-0 pro record but that will be the overwhelming public perception.
If Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons, trailing badly in all polls, loses in the Republican primary Tuesday to former federal judge Brian Sandoval, then Gibbons will also be labeled a duck, a political lame duck.
But there’s good news for all you fight fans, Pacbackers and Flomos alike, who want to see the Super Fight take place on Nov. 13.
And that is this.
If I learned nothing living five years in Reno and three in Las Vegas, it’s that in the great state of Nevada, the casinos run the state and the state does not run the casinos.
Makes sense doesn’t it with “gaming” (what a euphemism) being Nevada’s most lucrative and thus most powerful industry?MGM Grand Hotel Casino in glittery Las Vegas
Speaking of governors, when the Nevada Resort Association, a small consortium of the casinos, identifies a candidate for the state’s highest post, you can bet that this person will wind up in the Governor’s Mansion in Carson City sooner rather than later.
“If Jerry Jones wanted Mayweather-Pacquiao, maybe he could outbid the MGM Grand group,” one Nevada boxing man said to me on Monday, “but I kind of doubt it. For the Cowboys owner, running his NFL team and his stadium are his priorities while, in Nevada, the business of business is gambling. And the business of gambling has as it lifeblood getting the high, medium and low rollers to the blackjack tables and the slot machines.
“Nevada wants this Mayweather-Pacquiao like New York/New Jersey lusted after a Super Bowl. They got their Super Bowl and Nevada will land this fight.”
Thumbs up for Mayweather fight in Las Vegas Nov. 13, says Manny Pacquiao, will Mayweather come to terms?
The Nevada boxing commission holds a public hearing Wednesday afternoon regarding drug testing changes.
You think that’s a little clue that the most powerful forces in the state want the Floyd-Manny fight?
The current NSAC commissioners, all of whom are wealthy or influential people in either Reno or Las Vegas, are Raymond “Skip” Avensino Jr., Bill D. Brady, Chairperson Pat Lundvall, newest appointee Francisco Aguilar and T.J. Day.
Speakers at the drug testing hearing will be Las Vegas Dr. Robert Voy, long associated with amateur and pro boxing, and Travis Tygart from the United States Anti Doping Agency.
Nevada is on the move, trying to bring Mayweather-Pacquiao to the historic Fight Capital.
I wouldn’t bet against them.
Remember, Marley’s Law: Casinos run Nevada, not the other way around.
