When heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali fought Cleveland Williams in 1966 at the new Houston Astrodome— the world's first domed stadium known as "The Eighth Wonder of the World" —Bob Arum was the promoter.
Forty-four years later, the second coming of "The Eighth Wonder of the World," the innovative, immense, state-of-the art, $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium, will host its first prizefight Saturday night between WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and Ghanaian challenger Joshua Clottey.
Guess who's promoting this one?
Top Rank chairman Arum, 78, but going strong and eager to see his most prized fighter, pound-for-pound champ Pacquiao, christen the house that Jerry Jones built outside of Dallas in Arlington.
A sellout crowd of 45,000 is expected for the fight, which will be televised on HBO pay-per-view (9 ET). Arum, who lives in Las Vegas, the mecca of boxing, says it can only help to have some of boxing's biggest events outside of Las Vegas.
"You can't be a major sport if all of your big events are in one city where people have to come from all over to attend the event," Arum says. "The Super Bowl wouldn't be as big, in my opinion, if it was held in the same city every year."
Jones, the owner of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys and the stadium, says he's thrilled to host this fight, even after a proposed Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight, also at his stadium, fell through.
"It was more about just getting a fight done," Jones said in a conference call with news reporters this week. "I am glad I went through it, because it made me ready for the Pacquiao-Clottey fight.
"It was like, 'put me in coach, I'm hot.' Somehow and some way we wanted to have Manny fighting here, and here it is."
Jones, a self-described big boxing fan going back to the Ali days, says he has invited all current and former Cowboys to the fight and expects many to be there.
According to StubHub, this is the most affordable fight among the ticket broker's highest-grossing boxing events. The average ticket price for this fight is $131, compared to Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya ($1,892) and Pacquiao-De La Hoya ($1,081), both in Vegas.
Pacquiao, meanwhile, says his first visit to Dallas has been memorable.
"It's an honor to fight there this week," says the Filipino superstar, who says he's not a big football fan but described Jones as "a nice guy."
An open workout Tuesday in Dallas attracted between 1,500 and 2,000 fans. "I will do my best to give a good fight and make people happy," he said.
Regarding his status if he wins the congressional seat he's seeking in the Philippines in May, Pacquiao said, "I'm not saying if I win the election it will be my last fight. I'm going to decide (after the election).
"After this fight, I'm going back to the Philippines to start campaigning. I have to work hard to win the election."
As for Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs), the Ghanaian known for his toughness and defensive abilities, Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) said, "I don't want to predict the fight, because nobody knows what's going to happen, but we've studied hard for the strategy. We're ready."
Source: usatoday.com
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