Bob Arum, Pacquiao, Clottey and Jerry Jones Create a Boxing Frenzy

Friday, September 15^th , 1978 was a day I remember like it happened last week. I sat ringside for the re-match between Muhammad Ali and Leon Spinks in my home state of Louisiana. The fight was billed as the BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS and staged in the magnificent Superdome in New Orleans.  The place was packed. I don’t remember the numbers but would guess the audience was 70,000 strong. Celebrities were in attendance from around the world. It was typical  New Orleans.  Party time! This was 32 years ago. Boxing was flourishing all across the United States and other parts of the world. Fights were staged in venues in different cities across the United States. Boxing was the event to attend for all sports fans.

Saturday, March 13^th , 2010 we are seeing a resurgence of boxing into its old days of bringing the fights to the ‘real boxing fans’ in their hometowns. The new place to be is the $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

SUPERDOME

Thirty two years ago the Superdome helped sell tickets because of the venue. Now this stadium in north-east Texas is doing the same thing. Expected ticket sales are around 40,000. I expect that to build to 50,000+ because boxing is still a ‘walk-up crowd’.

Credit Bob Arum . Let’s face it. The 70+ year old promoter has been the premiere promoter when coming to doing something creative . Reaching out to Jerry Jones of Dallas Cowboys fame and arranging this fight with Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey will bring boxing back to its prominence in its earlier years. Fans that would not normally attend the big casino shows in Las Vegas are coming out of the woodworks. The ‘club promoters’ who assist in developing  young fighters today are all going to benefit from this promotion. We may start seeing national television looking for sites away from the casino atmosphere where ratings start with the energy of the  shows from solid fan bases. Just like the old days. This excites me incredibly.

Enter Jerry Jones . I can guarantee you that Jones will not do the first boxing show in his stadium and not make a mark. Expect the talented promoter,  Jones,  to deliver a spectacular show.  High definition televisions above the ring larger than life will be present with a sound system uncomparable to anything  ever seen entering a boxing arena.  NFL players, Cowboy cheerleaders, celebrities from all walks of life, and fight fans galore will enter this stadium Saturday night and talk about this event for years to come similar to the Ali-Spinks fight in New Orleans.

PAY PER VIEW

The fight alone will draw great pay per view numbers and may exceed Top Rank’s predictions. I heard one prediction of 700,000 buys. Miguel Cotto vs Manny Pacquiao drew approximately 1.25 million buys. I really believe that having the fight in the Dallas stadium alone will attract 300,000 to 500,000 additional buys. Crazy prediction, I know but you can feel the electricity. 

THE FIGHT

Can Clottey beat Pacquiao? Everything you read leads to ‘The Pacquiao Show’ and we can understand why. Manny delivered a fierce one sided beating to the great Oscar DelaHoya, walked through Ricky Hatton, and brutally destroyed Miguel Cotto. All three fights were dominant wins for the pound for pound king.  We can factually say that Oscar lost too much weight, Hatton was done after his knockout loss to Mayweather, and Cotto was battle worn after fighting Margarito and Clottey in exceptionally tough fights. Keep in mind that Hatton and Cotto were junior welterweights and Oscar was famished at welterweight.  Clottey is a full fledged welterweight and may come into this fight after the weigh in as heavy as 158 to 160 pounds and has a great chin. Can he be busy enough to beat Pacquiao? No, he won’t have the punch output and is not favored to win a decision due to Manny staying super busy in all his fights. Clottey is accurate, however, and sometimes that can make a huge difference in a fight especially with Clottey being the larger man. Can Clottey decision Pacquino? Probably not. Can he win by knockout? Yes , he can. Although Pacquino is the puncher in this fight and Freddie Roach predicts a knockout win for his man, don’t expect Clottey to lay down. This will be a very competitive fight and Clottey has the capabilities to win by knockout. Stranger things have happened.