Location, location, location! When it comes to boxing, it's all about the location, at least, that's what you might believe if you've been keeping up with the current status of negotiations for the highly-anticipated clash between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Who would have thought that the venue would be the final roadblock to finalizing a deal for the biggest fight of the decade?
When Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer pulled out of a planned visit to Texas to meet with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, it was thought that Cowboys Stadium was out of the running to land Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. Not so, says Arum. Apparently, the elaborate pitch for the new $1.2 billion state-of-the-art stadium proceeded as planned without representatives from the Mayweather camp. "He [Jerry Jones] made a fantastic offer to us. He has already indicated that he's going to increase it and it will be by far the biggest site fee ever," Arum would tell Ronnie Nathanielsz of PhilBoxing.com in a recent interview. "There are two places in the running. At least we've eliminated all the nonsense. It's between the MGM Grand or Dallas."
At least we've now eliminated Los Angeles, New Orleans, Atlanta, Miami, the Congo, Dubai and a ton of other places that were all eager to stage the mega-event. It's either Dallas, Texas or Las Vegas, Nevada and it will likely come down to a bidding war between the two venues before a final decision is rendered. That being said, something tells me that no matter the offer that Jerry Jones makes, MGM Grand will be ready to match it. After being home to some of the biggest fights in recent boxing history (Mayweather vs. De La Hoya, Trinidad vs. De La Hoya, Holyfield vs. Tyson and Leonard vs. Hagler all come to mind), it's highly unlikely that they're going to let this one get away.
"They [MGM Grand] will come up with a very good offer and that will determine what we're going to do," Arum added, hinting that MGM Grand will have an opportunity to match any offer made by Jerry Jones. What that offer turns out to be remains to be seen, however, it was recently revealed that the Staples Center offered a whopping $20 million, which was considered to be "too low" according to Arum. I have a feeling that Jerry Jones is merely driving up the bid and the final price that MGM Grand will have to pay.
There are so many reasons why this fight should not be in Las Vegas, and yet, there are so many reasons why it will be. Both Schaefer and Arum simply do far too much business in the city to jeopardize their future business for this one event. Staging this fight anyplace else could have long-term effects on their relationship with the same casinos that provide them their generous site fees for fights like Mayweather vs. Marquez, Pacquiao vs. Diaz or Pacquiao vs. Marquez. Everything might be bigger in Texas, but what happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas and sources tell me that's exactly where this fight will be. If I were you, I'd book my rooms now before those prices start going up too.
[ Follow Ben Thompson on Twitter @fighthype ]