Columbus Boxing Examiner | Samuel Rossi
This afternoon, Top Rank's Bob Arum was set to join Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer and HBO's Ross Greenburg in Dallas to tour Cowboys Stadium - a leading contender to host the March 13 bout between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. However, multiple reports indicate that Arum and Schaefer decided not to visit the Texas venue. According to NY Boxing Examiner Michael Marley, Arum had stated that Schaefer cancelled the fight and expressed no interest in holding the fight in Cowboys Stadium.
Be sure to check out what Mr. Marley has to say here:
http://www.examiner.com/x-5699-NY-Boxing-Examiner~y2009m12d9-Fumble-Dallas-Cowboys-Mayweather-punts-on-fighting-Pacquiao-in-stadium.
Arum appeared stunned by the news that Golden Boy and Mayweather apparently had no desire to hold the contest in an outdoor stadium.
This most likely means that Vegas will be the winner in the Mayweather-Pacquiao sweepstakes with the MGM Grand standing as the leading contender.
While there are clear advantages to holding this epic bout in the world's fight capital, this columnist can't help but to imagine what may have been. An outdoor bout before 80,000 strong on American soil may have served as the lightening bolt needed to spark a frenzied, long-term interest for the sport of boxing. However, I do concede that Las Vegas - the land of infinite dreams and endless possiblities - is the most suitable site for such an epic bout. After all, at a time when so many of our biggest cities and arenas have placed the fight game on the backburner, Vegas has remained loyal to the fistic arts; even if it has only done so for its own fortune and gains. Still, I wish this fight could have been held on the stage it deserved - a stage like Cowboys Stadium.
Throughout this decade, I have long held that boxing was on the verge of a renaissance. A new "Golden Age" crammed with warriors and artisans set to re-ignite the torch last carried by pugs from nearly a half-century ago. Former claimants of that torch - the Marcianos, Peps, Robinsons, Basilios, Griffiths, and Alis - have been replaced with the Vasquezes, Williamses, Klitschkos, Pacquiaos, and Mayweathers of today's world. Though the sport and landscape have both vastly changed, believe me when I say that gladiators do remain in the sport.
I hope that sometime soon, these modern-day warriors are offered a proper stage on which to exhibit their beautiful craft.
Keep punching.
Source: Examiner.com
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