It's Offical, Dallas out hosting Pac/Floyd Megafight but LA comes a knocking

Discussion in 'World Boxing Forum' started by koji91488, Dec 10, 2009.


  1. koji91488

    koji91488 New Member Full Member

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    Oct 31, 2009
    Cowboys stadium will not hold the Pacquaio/Mayweather fight!

    Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/news/story?id=4729058

    For unspecified reasons, Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, is out of the running to host the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather super fight, Top Rank's Bob Arum told ESPN.com on Wednesday.
    Arum, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, who will co-promote the nearly finalized fight, and HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg were supposed to meet with Cowboys officials at the stadium on Wednesday for a tour of the facility and to talk with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones about a site fee for the fight.
    However, Arum said he received a call from Schaefer on Tuesday night canceling the trip.
    "Richard called me last night and said he won't go to Texas," Arum said. "And I told him to call Ross and tell him. And then I called Ross and said, 'You don't want me to go if he's not going. If Jerry Jones offers me money for the fight what is Pacquiao going to do? Go in the ring alone?' Schaefer just said, 'I'm not going to Texas. I'm not going to do the fight in Texas. I'm not going to waste my time.' That's the explanation."
    Arum said he asked why and Schaefer's response was, "'The fight is March 13 and there isn't enough time to do a fight at an outdoor stadium.' It's bizarre, but that's what he said. I reminded him [that the stadium has a retractable roof]. He said it doesn't matter. I am not going to theorize. I'm just telling you what happened."
    The Cowboys declined to comment when reached by ESPNDallas.com on Wednesday.
    Arum, who turned 78 on Tuesday, was having a dinner party for his birthday at his Las Vegas home and was planning to leave at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.
    "I was planning to get up early and then the bombshell happened," Arum said. "Richard called and that's where we are. He may have a real good reason why he wouldn't consider Dallas. The reason he gave me, frankly, makes no sense. Maybe he has another reason that he didn't articulate it to me. But we had airline tickets booked and the three of us planned to rendezvous in Dallas and then go out to the stadium."
    Jones is interested in bringing big events to his new stadium -- which could seat as many as 100,000 for a fight -- and landing Pacquiao-Mayweather was one he had in mind.
    Greenburg, who was in his office in New York when reached Wednesday, had no comment. The fight will be televised on HBO PPV.
    Schaefer wouldn't address the reasons he called off the trip to Texas, telling ESPN.com, "This is a fight our side wants and we are working very hard to finalize it. The next time you hear from us is when we have a signed deal or the negotiations have fallen apart. I want to get a deal done and once a deal is done then we will be available for comments. Until then, there is no comment from our side."
    There has been interest from other venues, including the Superdome in New Orleans, although Las Vegas, specifically the MGM Grand, is believed to be the front-runner to host what many believe will be the richest fight in boxing history. The MGM, which has a close relationship with Golden Boy and Top Rank, has hosted several Pacquiao and Mayweather bouts, including their most recent fights -- Mayweather's shutout decision of Juan Manuel Marquez on Sept. 19 and Pacquiao's 12th-round knockout of Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14.
    The Miami Dolphins are also interested in hosting the fight at Land Shark Stadium, going so far as to send out e-mails to their season-ticket holders to gauge their interest in buying tickets for the event.

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    Source: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-pacquiao-mayweather10-2009dec10,0,1928322.story

    Staples Center has made a guaranteed $20-million offer to host the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. mega-fight that has been tentatively agreed on by the boxers to be fought March 13.

    "This is the biggest boxing event ever, and we're prepared to step up in a big way," said Dan Beckerman, chief financial officer for AEG, which runs Staples Center.

    Pacquiao and Mayweather have not officially agreed to the fight, but their promoters are already looking to secure a site for the lucrative bout that is the talk of the boxing community.

    Beckerman said his pitch to Mayweather's promoter Richard Schaefer and Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum is to "activate the entire LA Live campus" in downtown Los Angeles on fight week.

    The new JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels would serve as media headquarters, a fan-fest would be staged at Nokia Plaza, a large closed-circuit audience could watch the bout at Nokia Theatre and 20,000 would fill Staples Center, Beckerman said.

    "We know there's interest in this fight across the world, but we're very interested and honored to make the most impressive offer possible," Beckerman said. "It's our biggest guarantee ever, and we hope it wins the day. We wanted to push as far and as hard as we could."

    Schaefer, chief executive of Golden Boy Promotions, which counts AEG as a partner, declined to immediately comment on any site deals. He canceled a planned trip to tour Dallas Cowboys Stadium, which has been considered as a possible fight site, on Wednesday.

    Schaefer declined to say the Dallas site deal was dead. "I don't need to tour any facilities. I'm a numbers guy. Numbers transmit over the fax machine as well as they do in person, and I've yet to see any numbers from them. I'm told things are bigger in Texas, but Staples has stepped up and presented us the numbers. Money talks," he said.

    However, one of the barriers to staging the bout in California, promoters say, is the state taxes required from the boxers -- payments not required in Nevada and Texas. "That's certainly a factor in the overall economics, and one thing we'd have to overcome," Beckerman said.

    Staples has at least won the right to stage another fight of interest, the fourth fight between featherweights Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez, on May 22, Beckerman said.

    The trilogy had two fights at AEG's Home Depot Center, with Marquez and Huntington Park's Vazquez splitting the pair.

    "That's a great L.A. fight and the fourth installment appropriately needs to step up to the bigger venue," Beckerman said.


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    There was also rumor going around that the Georgia Dome might be a possibility. As for Texas, Me and a couple of friends shouted out "****!" when we read this.

    Why?

    We are in the military and stationed down in Texas about a 4 hour drive to Dallas.I'm hoping Georgia gets considered, so I can chill with my pops when fight come around.:D
     
  2. kingofcali

    kingofcali Member Full Member

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    Dec 9, 2009
    It'll be Vegas mate. Nobody can match their $$$$$
     
  3. DobyZhee

    DobyZhee Loyal Member

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    Mar 5, 2006
    F*CK....

    NOOOOOOO!!!!

    would be nice for the casual fan to witness the greatest fight of the century in person.

    F you floyd and schaeffer.
     
  4. It'll be at MGM. No doubt about it.
     
  5. DobyZhee

    DobyZhee Loyal Member

    46,330
    13,931
    Mar 5, 2006
    f*ck the MGM and F*ck Las Vegas. and f*ck that fake ass temporary outdoor venue that they're gonna have ready March 13th. Weather is still gonna be cold as f*ck in Vegas by that time.:twisted::twisted::twisted:

    I'll take the staples arena...I think that's a fair neutral court. :|:-:)bbb
     
  6. IPitydaFo0l

    IPitydaFo0l ATG in the making Full Member

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    Nov 16, 2008
    It'll likely be at the MGM as usual and I look forward to the Vegas trip. It would have been nice to change it up a bit though so it's a little disappointing.
     
  7. haha. ill be watchin on tv so makes no difference.:good
     
  8. ToneLoneLostboy

    ToneLoneLostboy Active Member Full Member

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    May 9, 2008
    This is BULL****!!!! Mayweather and Golden Boy could give a **** about the fans...plus they have more control of the outcome(decision) if it's in Vegas.
     
  9. fatcity

    fatcity Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Feb 26, 2005
    You acn't blame Arum for this.He has a greater sense of boxing history and realizes this should be at a huge venue.This is Golden Boys cozy relationship with the MGM and The Staples Centre.:dead
     
  10. retriever

    retriever Boxing Addict Full Member

    6,057
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    Jan 20, 2006
    from boxing with scene
    -------------------------

    Asked why he thought Schaefer would do that, Arum replied "its something only he can answer. But something is fishy."

    Arum said "I am not going to allow my fighter (Pacquiao) to be deprived of revenue because of some nonsense that Schaefer has schemed up. I don’t think Mayweather is a part of this. Maybe there’s some side deal or something like that. It smells. At least go there and give the man (Jones) some respect. Isn’t that logical? "

    He also revealed that Schaefer had sent him a new draft of a contract which says "the site of the fight shall be the MGM Grand unless Golden Boy decides otherwise. Are they crazy? Even if the fight went away how would you sign that contract? Why should Golden Boy and MGM Grand be mentioned as the site."

    Arum said "I understand that the Dallas deal is $10 million better. That’s $5 million for Manny." He ended our conversation by saying "that’s where we stand today."
     
  11. AceNguyen

    AceNguyen Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Dec 7, 2008
    Nobody cared where the fight was going to be before the fight was made, but now that Dallas is out everybody's acting like its the end of the world. Who cares?
     
  12. ToneLoneLostboy

    ToneLoneLostboy Active Member Full Member

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    May 9, 2008
    I care because I could have BEEN THERE to experience HISTORY. FK VEGAS:bart
     
  13. Uncle Oden

    Uncle Oden Respect Guzman banned

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    Feb 7, 2009
    thank God this fight will be kept out of the rednecks hands. Not only is Dallas the most boring big city in America but they have one of the most corrupt commissions in the US
     
  14. MAG1965

    MAG1965 Loyal Member banned

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    Dec 1, 2008
    I know Dallas was ruled out quickly- why did they even mention it? It will not be Los Angeles either obviously. They want a venue where the fans can talk about it and gamble and come to town and bring money in. In Dallas or Los Angeles they would come in and watch the fight and leave town. Vegas is where it will be. I just do not think they should have made it sound like other places were options.
     
  15. EpsilonAxis

    EpsilonAxis HNIC Full Member

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    Jul 24, 2004
    I think this fight NEEDS to be in a ****ing stadium.