By Matt Stolow, Examiner.com
DALLAS, TEXAS - After emphatically taking care of "Sugar" Shane Mosley Saturday night, what does the future hold for Floyd Mayweather and for that matter Cowboys Stadium and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in the Dallas and Arlington area?The fight everyone wants to see is still Mayweather and Filipino Manny Pacquiao.
How many more tuneup fights can these guys take?
Nobody wants to revisit why the fight talks collapsed last January but for the sake of argument, Mayweather wants Pacquiao to submit to more strenuous blood-testing than either Nevada or Texas currently require.
As far as I can tell Mayweather only wants to fight in Nevada, not Texas although that is not more financially advantageous to him on the surface, which obviously goes against his moniker of "Money" and how he claims to like to make it.
"I haven't spoken to the Cowboys or Top Rank since Mayweather beat Mosley Saturday night," said event management/marketing expert Lester Bedford, who brought Jerry Jones and Cowboys Stadium together with Bob Arum and Top Rank for the Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey fight last March. "But you have to believe they would be very interested in Mayweather vs Pacquiao, anytime. Both were impressive in their last fights, so the value of the fight between them is still intact."
With or without the Cowboys interest, it appears from all reports that Pacquiao won't be available to fight until November.
"I believe it's pretty much been determined Pacquiao wouldn't be available to fight again until November, due to his running for Congress," said Bedford. "I assume that could possibly change if he doesn't win the election.
"Whenever it is, you have to believe Cowboys Stadium will be a front runner, as long as they can matchup a TV date with stadium availability. Having it there would be in the best interest of boxing and the fans. With over 100,000 seats, Cowboy Stadium can provide so many more fans an opportunity to attend the live gate event. Whereas in Las Vegas, it only holds 16,500 and those tickets will end up in the hands of sponsors, casino VIP's and ticket brokers. The average fan won't get a smell of a ticket."
Bedford, a Fort Worth native, has now marketed the three largest attended boxing events in the United States over the past thirty years, including Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Pernell Whitaker at the Alamodome in San Antonio (1993, 62,000), Oscar De La Hoya vs Patrick Charpentier at the Sun Bowl in El Paso (1998, 47,000) and just this past March 13 -- Pacquiao vs Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas (51,000). So he knows a big fight when he sees one.
"Without question, Mayweather vs. Pacquiao would be the highest grossing boxing event in history, no matter where it is," said Bedford. "But if the event ends up in Cowboys Stadium, it will do over 80,000 and possibly up to 100,000 fans, which would break all attendance records for an indoor boxing event. So the event would be huge anywhere, but over-the-top special at Cowboys Stadium. It would be a great day for boxing and the fans if it ends up there. But some people have selfish reasons for doing things that aren't in the best interest of the sport or its fans, so we could see it in a smaller venue like the MGM. That would be a shame."
Source: examiner.com
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