Pacquaio vs. Mayweather Preview

It’s the fight everyone has been waiting for. It’s a fight that is supposed to break every known record possible. It’s a fight that features the two best pound for pound fighters in boxing squaring off against one another in the primes of their careers. It’s Manny “Pac Man”Pacquiao vs. Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather Jr. March 13th. The fight has been verbally agreed upon by both sides. Fightnews confirmed the fight taking place as they spoke to Pacquiao’s lawyer Jeng Gacal earlier today.

Negotiations went better than expected from media observers as it didn’t take long for Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer (Golden Boy represents Mayweather) and Top Rank CEO Bob Arum who represents Pacquiao to agree in principal to a deal. Once the deal was agreed upon here in the United States, Arum flew to Manila to discuss the details of the deal with Manny. According to those within the Pacquaio camp, the Pacman is content with the deal and all that needs to be done is put the signatures on the contracts, work out some minor details, and figure out a location.

This brings to a point of interest. Over the next four months, we are going to have time to debate the ins and outs of this fight. We’ll be able to discuss what Pacquaio needs to do to penetrate the defense of Floyd, can Floyd hurt Manny, and salivate over what is sure to be the most riveting HBO 24/7 series in history. Trust me this is not just a boxing match folks, it is going to be a huge event.
What I want to touch on is the location of the fight. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wants it to be at the billion dollar facility that is Cowboys Stadium which fits over 100,000 people. Representatives from the SuperDome in New Orleans have made some overtures about wanting the fight to take place in the Big Easy. The MGM Grand Garden is always a front runner as it has held its fair share of Pacquaio fights including his win over Miguel Cotto less than a month ago. There has even been talk of erecting a 30,000 seat makeshift arena across from the Wynn in Las Vegas.

Having the fight in Dallas at the new Cowboys Stadium would be very interesting. It would be nostalgic in many ways as the greatest boxers ever have fought outdoors. Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, the great Muhammad Ali, and Julio Cesar Chavez all fought outdoors. Those names are synonymous with boxing royalty. Yankee Stadium was home to some of the sport’s biggest fights back in the 30s and 40s including two Joe Louis vs. Max Schemeling blockbuster fights. Big boxing in football or baseball stadiums is nothing uncommon. To some it would almost seem appropriate for this fight to take place inside Cowboys Stadium. Would it sell out? Many would believe so. This would symbolize something special for the sport of boxing to have over 100,000 inside this billion dollar facility to enjoy perhaps the biggest fight of all time.

New Orleans and the Superdome is certainly an enticing venue for a fight of this magnitude. After all, the Superdome does have a brief history of holding a big fight as it held the second Roberto Duran/Sugar Ray Leonard fight in 1980.With everything that has happened with Hurricane Katrina and the poor economy everywhere, a Pacquaio/Mayweather Jr. clash would certainly add a substantial amount of revenue to the city.

As great as Dallas and New Orleans sound as locations for Mayweather/Pacquaio, this fight needs to take place in the Fighting Capital of the World, Las Vegas. Boxing and Las Vegas is a match made in fighting heaven. When it comes to a big fight be it boxing or mma, there is no place on the planet that has energy or a buzz like the bright lights of Las Vegas Nevada. The entire strip breathes rich boxing and now mma tradition. You can be a great fighter, but you aren’t fully complete as a prize fighter unless you’ve headlined in Vegas. It’s just that simple.

I know there are two locations being mentioned in Las Vegas. The first is the MGM Grand Garden which held the biggest grossing boxing event in history with De La Hoya/Mayweather, and an outdoor 30,000 seat arena across from the Wynn. Either choice would be great. The MGM Grand Garden Arena is a terrific arena that has been home to big events in boxing and mma. It has been the home to many terrific fighters having their names on the marquee. You can’t go wrong with the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

An outdoor 30,000 seat arena across from the Wynn would be quite a venue as it would take us back to the glory days of the 1980s in boxing when Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, and Marvin Hagler all waged war against one another in the outdoor arena of Las Vegas. The view would be breathtaking and one can only imagine the energy and excitement from an outdoor crowd in Las Vegas.
No matter where it takes place, the bottom line is this fight needs to happen in Las Vegas. Everyone knows it is going to be the highest grossing boxing event in the history of the sport.

Mayweather/Pacquaio is going to smash records left and right. I can only imagine what the energy is going to be like up and down the strip. The atmosphere is something all to itself. There is just something about Las Vegas and big fights. They go hand and hand. When I think of a big fight, location is Las Vegas. The gambling that will be done coupled with all the pomp and circumstance as the Las Vegas is your backdrop….it doesn’t get much better than that.

By Ray Flores