DALLAS – Promoter Bob Arum will travel and meet with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones Saturday about bringing the Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey fight to his $1.15 billion Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX on March 13 or 20.
Arum and other Top Rank officials will be Jones’ guests as his Cowboys host a first round playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles Saturday night.
This would be the first boxing event at the new stadium.
Originally Jones was interesting in buying the live gate for the Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. fight, making a $25 million bid, but the fight subsequently never materialized.
Arum, Chairman of Top Rank, Inc., was scheduled to fly from his Las Vegas, NV base to meet Jones last month along with Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer and HBO Sports President Ross Greenberg, however Schaefer (representing Floyd Mayweather, Jr.) pulled out the night before the trip and it and Jones’ efforts unraveled.
The MGM Grand in Las Vegas eventually earned the rights to host the fight but weeks of negotiating went by and after two days of mediation failed to solve an issue regarding drug testing, the entire fight collapsed.
Pacquiao, 50-3-2 (38 KO’s), from General Santos City, The Philippines, currently holds the World Boxing Organization’s welterweight (147 lbs.) title. He has held a record seven world titles in seven different weight divisions and has been considered pound for pound the best fighter in the world for the last three years and a first ballot Hall of Famer.
Pacquiao is scheduled to arrive back in America Monday to begin working out under his long- time trainer Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, CA.
Clottey, 35-3 (20 KO’s) from Accra, Ghana, may be the most dangerous fighter Pacquiao could have chosen to fight. He’s a natural welterweight (147 lbs.) Most recently he lost a spirited split decision to Miguel Cotto in June. He’s a true gatekeeper of the welterweight division.
Pacquiao, 30, is left-handed and 5’6. His reach is 65 inches. He started his career weighing 106 lbs. Clottey, almost 33, is right-handed, 5’8 and has a reach of 70 inches.
Cowboys Stadium is the largest domed stadium in the world. It just opened last summer. It has a retractable roof. It will host the 2011 Super Bowl and an upcoming NCAA Men’s College Basketball Final Four. It is the permanent home of the Dallas Cowboys Football Club and the Annual Cotton Bowl Classic.
