By STEVE CARP, LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Jerry Jones' first venture into boxing appeared to be a success, as an announced crowd of 50,994 watched Manny Pacquiao defeat Joshua Clottey on Saturday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Jones, the owner and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys, said to expect more fight cards at his $1.6 billion stadium that opened last year.
"There's no question (boxing) creates incremental interest that wouldn't be there otherwise," Jones said. "I want to do everything I can to create visibility for the stadium, and fights like this help do that."
Jones said he can compete with Nevada for the biggest fights because of his venue and the fact Texas doesn't have a state income tax. He had made a serious offer to host the proposed Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight but lost out to the MGM Grand. And though that fight didn't materialize, Jones said he thinks boxing is the right vehicle to drive traffic to Cowboys Stadium.
"It's about numbers," he said. "Where we have the upper hand is it's possible to have 100,000 for the great fights. The locale of Dallas also plays well, and not having an income tax (in Texas) is in our favor.
"We also have the Dallas Cowboys brand, which is big across the country and also in Mexico. We have a lot of great fight fans in Mexico who I believe would want to come to Cowboys Stadium to see boxing."
Jones said he thinks fights like the one he staged Saturday can be good for Las Vegas, even though the MGM Grand lost out on millions of dollars in potential revenue and Nevada missed out on several hundred thousand dollars in taxes with the fight going to Texas.
"Here's how it helps Las Vegas," Jones said. "By having a fight like this here (in Cowboys Stadium), it creates more visibility and interest in fighting. So when Las Vegas hosts a fight, that interest transfers over. These fights lift all boats."
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, who promoted Pacquiao-Clottey, said he plans to do more business with Jones.
"It's our intention to bring more fights to Cowboys Stadium," Arum said. "The fans are fantastic, and Jerry is a great promoter and a great partner.
"Look, I love Las Vegas. I live in Las Vegas. But you can't be a major sport if all your big events are held in one place. I don't think the Super Bowl would be as big if it were held in the same city every year."
■ BUSY TIMES -- Too bad for the Legislature the recent tax hike it imposed on tickets from 4 percent to 6 percent isn't retroactive to March 1. The next few weeks are going to be busy, with Don King returning to Treasure Island on March 26 to promote the IBF cruiserweight title fight between Steve Cunningham and Matt Godfrey and the IBF junior middleweight title fight between Cory Spinks and Cornelius Bundrage.
Golden Boy will promote a card at the Hard Rock Hotel on March 27 with two title fights: Marcos Maidana vs. Victor Cayo for Maidana's interim WBA super lightweight title, and Ali Funeka vs. Joan Guzman for the vacant IBF lightweight championship.
April also is shaping up to be busy. Golden Boy will host a card featuring junior middleweight Erislandy Lara at the Hard Rock on April 2, the night before the light heavyweight showdown between Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. at Mandalay Bay.
Top Rank is planning an April 10 card at the Hard Rock, and the Evander Holyfield-Frans Botha heavyweight fight is at the Thomas & Mack Center on the same night.
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.
Source: lvrj.com
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