Mayweather-Hatton megafight could use a bigger venue

Rafael

By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
(Archive)

Updated: November 30, 2007

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Floyd Mayweather's showdown with Ricky Hatton on Dec. 8 could approach 1.5 million buys.

Mayweather-Hatton one hot fight

When pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather defends the welterweight championship against junior welterweight champ Ricky Hatton next Saturday night (HBO PPV, 9 ET), it will be the second consecutive fight with Mayweather that is a sellout at the 16,000-seat MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The other was Mayweather's May 5 revenue record-breaking win against Oscar De La Hoya, whose Golden Boy Promotions is also putting on next week's show. That fight was the richest overall in boxing history.

While Mayweather-Hatton won't topple the box office records of Mayweather-De La Hoya, the fight is still on track to be the second-biggest grossing fight of the year and could give Mayweather (38-0, 24 KOs) back-to-back 1 million-plus pay-per-view events, which even De La Hoya, the all-time PPV king, has never done.

De La Hoya said Thursday during a conference call with reporters that Mayweather-Hatton was tracking at about 60 percent of what his fight with Mayweather did on pay-per-view, which means it could approach 1.5 million buys.

"It's an indication that Floyd Mayweather is again in a big event that a lot of people are waiting to see," De La Hoya said. "We sold out [the MGM] in a half hour, another indication that people are anxiously awaiting the fight. We are close to 18,000 seats on closed circuit in Las Vegas alone, which is incredible. This locomotive is gaining steam and going full force."

Undefeated
TV lineup for the "Undefeated" HBO PPV on Saturday night (9 ET) from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas:

• Welterweights: Floyd Mayweather Jr. (38-0, 24 KOs) vs. Ricky Hatton (43-0, 31 KOs), 12 rounds, for Mayweather's title

• Super middleweights: Jeff Lacy (22-1, 17 KOs) vs. Peter Manfredo Jr. (28-4, 13 KOs), 10 rounds

• Junior featherweights: Daniel Ponce De Leon (33-1, 30 KOs) vs. Eduardo Escobedo (20-2, 14 KOs), 12 rounds, for Ponce De Leon's title

• Lightweights: Edner Cherry (22-5-2, 10 KOs) vs. Wes Ferguson (17-2-1, 5 KOs), rematch, 10 rounds

-- Dan Rafael

Hatton, with his incredible popularity in England, will have thousands of fans once again crossing the Atlantic to see him fight or just to be part of what should be a wild scene. In England, Hatton said there were as many as 33,000 on a waiting list for tickets. The fighter camps were only allowed to buy about 4,000 apiece.

It all begs the question: Couldn't one of the biggest fights of the year, and one of the biggest matches in British boxing history, have been in a stadium with a far greater capacity than the MGM Grand?

"It could well have been done, but I mean obviously there's other people that make the decisions," said Hatton (43-0, 31 KOs), who drew nearly 10,000 to his fight against Jose Luis Castillo at Las Vegas' Thomas & Mack Center in June. "I just tend to get on with the fight. But there's no doubt if you were to put it in a big stadium, an open stadium -- I mean there's a waiting list of 33,000."

De La Hoya said the possibility of a larger venue was considered but that nothing beats the atmosphere of a big fight at a venue like the MGM, which has hosted so many major bouts since it opened in 1993.

"You could easily put this event in a bigger stadium where you hold, 25, 30, even 40,000 people," De La Hoya said. "But I believe that when you're a fighter, when you're a world-class fighter, you want to fight on that big stage. You want to fight in that big Las Vegas arena like the MGM. And I believe this is Ricky Hatton's perfect opportunity to be on that stage and shine. There's no fighter that would want to miss that opportunity because it's a stage where when you fight on that stage, you know you've made it.

"So, in fairness to the fighters, we wanted to make it there at the MGM. But at the same time, we know that you're going to have more than 10,000 Brits coming and it was a difficult decision."

Tropical tripleheader

Promoter Dan Goossen told ESPN.com that he plans to bring his Feb. 2 HBO tripleheader, headlined by welterweight titlist Paul Williams' first defense against an opponent to be named (who will fill in for the injured Kermit Cintron), to the Caribbean island of St. Lucia.

With backing from the government, Goossen put on a successful "ShoBox" card there Nov. 16 and the government is interested in another show, he said.

Before the site is official, however, HBO and Goossen have to work out how they will pay for the added production costs of doing a card there.

The card will also feature heavyweight prospect Cristobal Arreola. Goossen wants to step up Arreola's competition and made a deal with Main Events for Calvin Brock, who was approved by HBO. However, Brock didn't accept because of an injury. Goossen said he is talking to reps for David Tua.

Also on the card: super middleweight prospect Andre Ward, the 2004 U.S. Olympic gold medalist who won on Nov. 16 in St. Lucia. Ward would be taking a gigantic step up if a deal is finalized with Top 10 contender Allan Green, which appears likely.

Trinidad-Jones undercard

Mike Mollo

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Mike Mollo is set to step back into the ring and take on fellow Kevin McBride-conqueror Andrew Golota.

Promoter Don King hasn't made the entire undercard for the Felix Trinidad-Roy Jones fight at New York's Madison Square Garden on Jan. 19 (HBO PPV) official yet, but one match is set. Heavyweight Andrew Golota (40-6-1, 33 KOs) will face Mike Mollo (19-1, 12 KOs), who is taking a big step up in competition, in a 12-rounder pitting the Chicago-based fighters.

Since suffering his only defeat, a fourth-round TKO to DaVarryl Williamson in May 2006, Mollo, 27, has won four in a row, including a two-round knockout of Kevin McBride and an impressive second-round blowout of Art Binkowski on Oct. 13. After that bout, he called out for a fight with Golota, 39, the mercurial former four-time title challenger who is coming off his own knockout win of McBride on Oct. 6.

"It's every fighter's dream to fight at Madison Square Garden," Mollo said. "Just the history of it: Jake LaMotta, Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson. I've never been to the Garden, but I have tons of family in New York, so I'm sure I'll have plenty of support."

Sam Collona, Golota's trainer, is familiar with Mollo because he was in his corner for some fights early in his career and they both worked out of the Windy City Gym.

"I've known Mollo for years and I consider his trainer, Mike Garcia, to be a good friend of mine," Collona said, "but they understand this is business. Mollo can be very dangerous for two or three rounds because he comes out fast and is a big puncher. I'm sure he'll come out fast for this fight too, but we'll have something for him. Andrew still brings a lot to the table and plenty of people think he beat (John) Ruiz and (Chris) Byrd."

Other bouts in the works for the card include junior middleweight titlist Cory Spinks making a mandatory defense against Verno Phillips and ex-welterweight titlist Luis Collazo returning from February hand surgery to face Venezuela's Nelson Linares in a title eliminator that would put the winner in position to become Miguel Cotto's mandatory challenger.
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QUICK HITS

• Promoter Lou DiBella told ESPN.com that junior middleweight prospect Ronald Hearns, son of Tommy Hearns, will move from the Jan. 8 Showtime card, headlined by Paulie Malignaggi's first junior welterweight title defense against Herman Ngoudjo, to the Feb. 16 HBO PPV undercard of the Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor rematch. To replace Hearns on Jan. 5, DiBella made a deal with Seminole Warriors Boxing and is putting former light heavyweight champ Glen Johnson on the card. No opponent has been named, but Showtime will air highlights of the fight. The reason for the move: Showtime wants Johnson in position for a possible April match with light heavyweight titlist Chad Dawson.

Gomez

• HBO has bumped back the date for the welterweight bout between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Alfonso Gomez from March 29 to April 26 because of other obligations. Chavez promoter Bob Arum said he was miffed by the move, but ultimately accepted it. Of course, for the fight to move forward, Chavez must defeat Ray Sanchez on Saturday night (Top Rank PPV, 9 ET). If that happens, Arum said he'll give Chavez one more fight in late January. Gomez won't take an interim bout because he's recovering from a hand injury suffered in his win against Ben Tackie last month. Arum also said that if he can't convince junior welterweight titlist Ricardo Torres to defend against hot prospect Victor Ortiz on the undercard, he's open to making a rematch between Torres and Kendall Holt, whom Torres stopped in the 11th round of a controversial fight Sept. 1 in Torres' native Colombia.

Guerrero

• Featherweight titlist Robert Guerrero (21-1-1, 14 KOs) could defend his title against Jason Litzau (23-01, 19 KOs) in a match of exciting 24-year-olds. Guerrero promoter Dan Goossen and Litzau promoter Kathy Duva of Main Events have been talking and both sides are eager to put it together. But to do so, they need a television outlet. "I've spoken to Kathy, but we know you have to find a spot on television and there are not too many open spots right now," Goossen told ESPN.com. "But it's a fight the networks should like. Litzau is always in a good fight and Guerrero has a good style." Goossen said he's approached Showtime, but it is booked until May. He said he will also talk to HBO.

Diaz

• Golden Boy, the only bidder, won the purse bid for lightweight titlist Juan Diaz's mandatory defense against interim beltholder Michael Katsidis this week with a surprisingly generous $1.5 million offer. Don King, Diaz's promoter, did not participate. If the fight happens, Diaz gets 80 percent of the bid ($1.2 million) with Golden Boy's Katsidis receiving the remaining 20 percent ($300,000). HBO has set aside Feb. 9 for the attractive match, but it won't necessarily happen. King's contract with Diaz, which expires at the end of March, according to Diaz manager Willie Savannah, contains language that can prevent Diaz from fighting for another promoter under a purse bid without his permission. If the fight happens, it means King will have extracted money from Diaz, Golden Boy or both, or perhaps a contract extension from Diaz. Whatever HBO's main event turns out to be, rising welterweight star Andre Berto (20-0, 17 KOs), 2006 ESPN.com prospect of the year, likely will face Richard Gutierrez (21-1, 13 KOs) in the co-feature.

Anthony Peterson

• The brothers Peterson, 23-year-old junior welterweight Lamont (23-0, 11 KOs) and 22-year-old lightweight Anthony (25-0, 18 KOs), two of boxing's rising contenders, will kick off the 2008 season of Showtime's "ShoBox" when they face opponents to be named in 12-round bouts Jan. 4 at the Hard Rock in Biloxi, Miss., promoter Brian Young told ESPN.com.

Campbell

• Lightweight contender Nate Campbell put his legal issues behind him this week when the Hillsborough County (Fla.) State Attorney's office dropped charges of armed burglary, false imprisonment, witness tampering and domestic battery. Campbell, 35, of Tampa, was arrested Sept. 27 after being accused of punching and choking his former girlfriend before brandishing a gun. "I've said from the beginning that there are two sides to every story, and I'm just glad to have this officially behind me and can now focus all my energy on winning the world title," Campbell said in a statement. Campbell (31-5-1, 25 KOs) is one of the mandatory challengers for unified titlist Juan Diaz.

Cunningham

• Cruiserweight titlist Steve "USS" Cunningham is preparing for life after boxing. He announced this week that he and his wife, Elizabeth, purchased Lucky's Pizza in West Philadelphia and changed the name to USS Cunningham Pizza. "This is a great opportunity to invest in the community," Cunningham said. "I have said all along that I love this city and this area and this is a way I can not only show that but also begin to set up a life after boxing, but by no means does this mean I am close to ending my career." Cunningham makes his first defense against mandatory challenger Marco Huck (19-0, 14 KOs) Dec. 29 in Huck's hometown of Bielefeld, Germany. Cunningham (20-1, 10 KOs) will head to Europe for his third consecutive fight. He's 1-1 in Poland in two consecutive title bouts.

Martinez

• Main Events has released prospect Raul Martinez (20-0, 13 KOs) from his promotional contract. Martinez, 25, of San Antonio, had been fighting at bantamweight and is moving down to flyweight, a division where it is difficult to secure TV dates. According to Main Events, the company and manager Lou Mesorano weren't on the same page about the kinds of opponents he should fight.

Darchinyan

• A purse bid for the junior bantamweight eliminator between Australia's Vic Darchinyan, a former flyweight titleholder, and Z Gorres of the Philippines was avoided when the sides reached an agreement. The fight will take place Feb. 2 in the Philippines. The winner earns a mandatory shot at beltholder Dmitri Kirilov.

Powell

• Junior middleweights Sechew Powell (21-1, 12 KOs) and Terrance Cauthen (32-3, 9 KOs) meet Wednesday in Hollywood, Fla., in an elimination bout for the right to eventually challenge titleholder Cory Spinks. Also on the card: former junior welterweight beltholder Juan Urango (18-1-1, 14 KOs). The entire can be seen live at www.GoFightLive.TV

Quotable

Graham

"Floyd's got himself a bad reputation of being a nasty person. And he is disrespectful to people all of the time, but that's what Floyd's like. I don't think Floyd is as nasty as he pretends. I think if me and Floyd sat down after this fight is over and talk boxing and talk about different things, I think we probably (would) get on together. But I don't think at this moment in time we're going to get along." -- Trainer Billy Graham, on Floyd Mayweather Jr., who will face Graham's fighter, Ricky Hatton, next Saturday night for the welterweight championship.

Quotable

Roger Mayweather

"He won six world championships and never lost. Right to this day, if he quit, he'll go down in history as the greatest fighter ever put on them f------- gloves." -- Colorful trainer Roger Mayweather, on nephew Floyd Mayweather Jr., the pound-for-pound king who defends the welterweight title next Saturday against Ricky Hatton.