Is MGM Grand in Las Vegas Already a Historic Venue?

I'm not sure how long a place has to exist to be "official". Seems legit to me.

 

Yes, by definition it is.

 

I would say it'd be hard to deny that it is a historic venue at this point, as strange as it seems to type that. In both volume and quality, the MGM has certainly hosted its share of significant fights and has built a legacy as a venue. I say that, not being much a fan of the NSAC, and much preferring MSG overall.

 

Yes it is

 

I’d say the Caesar’s Sports Pavilion is/was the most historic boxing venue in Las Vegas. (Does it still exist?)

But that’s only if you don’t count the temporary bleacher stadium known as Caesar’s Palace Outdoor Stadium that was used for big fights like Leonard-Hearns. That was not an actual structure and was basically set up in a parking lot and torn down after events to be resurrected for the next one.

The Thomas & Mack Center would be next as a lot of bigger events took place there before the MGM Grand built its arena. I’d have to see what all took place there to see how it compares to the MGM lineup.

The Mirage only held a couple of big fights, if I recall correctly. I’m not sure the Mandalay Bay did all that much. It was closer to a one-hit wonder.

And the old Silver Sliper and Bally’s ballrooms, while not home to really huge events (although I’m pretty sure Bally’s held some afternoon network-level championship fights; the Silver Slipper was a weekly series more on the club level but a lot of notable fighters saw action there earlier in their careers), are most historic than the Mirage simply because they were more prolific and better known to the boxing cognoscenti.

I’m hardly the expert on this but that’s kind of the way I see it.

But to answer the main question, yes, by now I think we can call the MGM arena historic.

 

The Sports Pavillion doesn't exist anymore and neither does the outdoor arena (temporary though it always was). Like you, I always think of those when I think of classic Vegas fights.

 

Is Dapper Dan’s in Harlem an historic venue?

(That’s where Mike Tyson beat up Mitch “Blood” Green in a street fight, fyi — or actually on the street in front of it.)

 

Really, it only takes one historic event in a place to make it a historic location.

 

True: Shelby, Montana, will live in infamy. And we still have Boyle’s Thirty Acres in Jersey in the history books.