By Brett Okamoto, Las Vegas Sun
There will be no mega-fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 13.
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones announced Sunday that Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, would host a welterweight fight between Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey on March 13.
The stadium, which was built in 2009 and regularly holds about 80,000, will be configured to hold 40,000 fans for the event.
Jones, who had made a $25 million offer to host the fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather, jumped at a second opportunity to bring boxing to the stadium.
"I have wanted to bring a major boxing event to North Texas for many years," Jones said in a statement. "Manny defending his title against Joshua Clottey is not just a great fight, it's a great event. We're going to promote this like it was the Super Bowl."
Arum, who represents Pacquiao, said he was excited to work alongside the Dallas Cowboys owner.
"Jerry Jones knows exactly how big and important this event is, which is why it was so easy to put this deal together," Arum said in a statement. "We are ready to roll up our sleeves and promote Manny's debut as the world welterweight champion. Manny Pacquiao is the lone star of boxing."
The news initially left the MGM Grand without a fight, as originally the date had been requested by Golden Boy Promotions for the mega-fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather. On Sunday, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com that Mayweather would face an undetermined opponent on the same date.
It will be Pacquiao's first fight as welterweight champion, a title he claimed when he defeated Miguel Cotto by TKO in the 12th round of their championship fight in November. With the win Pacquiao made boxing history, as he became the first fighter ever to win a world title in seven different weight classes.
When talks between Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KO) and Mayweather (40-0, 25 KO) began to fall through over a disagreement in drug-testing methods, Arum had mentioned Paulie Malignaggi and Yuri Foreman as potential replacements for Mayweather.
Eventually, however, the Pacquiao camp settled on the Ghanaian fighter, Clottey (35-3, 21 KO).
"I wanted an action fight ̵ I don't want Manny in a boring fight," said Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer since 2001. "With Paulie it would be a blowout. Yuri Foreman is a good fighter, but he's boring. I wanted Manny in an action fight and that's what we got with Clottey."
Clottey lost his last fight by split decision to Cotto on June 13, 2009, at Madison Square Garden.
Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or brett.okamoto@lasvegassun.com. Also follow him on twitter: LVSunFighting.
Source: lasvegassun.com
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