CNN talks Boxing - On Just how Big a Deal Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather Jr is! By Johnny Benz (Dec 22, 2009) Doghouse Boxing
Everyone is talking about the mega event that is slated for March 13th on HBO Pay-Per-View, the Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight. And why not? It's truly an event of epic proportions. It seems that aside from the Olympic style steroid drug testing that is being stipulated in the contract, that most of this past week's discussion has been focused on what venue the fight will be held at. Basically the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas or the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Nevada.
On late Monday Oscar De La Hoya who's company Golden Boy Promotions is handing the negotiations for Mayweather Jr's side made it substantially clear through ESPN that although a final signed deal for a venue to hold the Pacquiao vs Mayweather Jr. clash has not been finalized, it does appear that the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, will be playing host venue to the event.
The venue for this clash has been one hot topic that has been discussed and debated by fans and media outlets everywhere.
Just to highlight what I am saying, here is an excerpt from CNN's Sports Illustrated contributor Rich O'Brien in regards to all the hoopla the venue battle has created. O'Brien states: "The fact that fans and the media were even paying attention to the site selection for a sports event that isn't the Olympics shows just how big a deal Pacquiao-Mayweather is. And that, of course, is precisely why it was never going anywhere other than Las Vegas ... despite the Texas-sized dreams of Jerry Jones, the glitz promised by L.A., or the gumbo ladled out by James Carville. Vegas knows how to do megafights, from the tax structure to the MGM's arena-and-closed-circuit network that can total 50,000 seats, to the availability of accomodations and all the rest of what happens and stays in Vegas.
This bout is going to break all PPV records no matter where it ends up and, when all is said and done, boxing is going to thrive or suffer based on whether the bout itself lives up to expectations, not on whether or not it was held in a really big ol' stadium." - End of quoted material from CNN's Sports Illustrated contributor / writer, Rich O'Brien.
