By Keith Idec

The fight itself isn’t what most boxing fans wanted.

Canelo Alvarez-Liam Smith is well on its way, however, to becoming an unprecedented boxing event in the state of Texas. Oscar De La Hoya, whose company promotes Alvarez, said during a conference call this week that the September 17 card at the Dallas Cowboys’ home stadium headlined by the Alvarez-Smith 154-pound championship match is on pace to out-perform each of Manny Pacquiao’s two appearances at the venue in 2010.

“Ticket sales are going incredibly well,” De La Hoya said. “We’re outpacing the last two Manny Pacquiao fights that were held at AT&T Stadium. So Jerry Jones is extremely happy. The fans are happy. We’re happy. And I'm sure that Canelo and Liam Smith are going to be really happy when they see the turnout at the arena.”

De La Hoya estimated that the fight could draw a crowd of 60,000 to the enormous venue in Arlington, Texas. Full capacity for boxing at AT&T Stadium could exceed 100,000, depending upon how the building is scaled.

According to a report published by Sports Business Journal in 2010, Pacquiao’s win against Joshua Clottey in March 2010 attracted a paid crowd of 36,371 to the stadium. An additional 5,000 complimentary tickets were issued for Pacquiao-Clottey, which upped the attendance to 41,841, significantly short what originally was announced (50,994).

The announced attendance for Pacquiao’s victory over Antonio Margarito in November 2010 was 41,734.

“So I believe that it's not if he out-sells the Pacquiao fights at the AT&T arena,” De La Hoya said. “I think the question is going to be when he out-sells the Pacquiao ticket sales at the arena. I strongly believe that at the age of 26 years old, Canelo is a bigger star and a better fighter compared to any fighter out there today.”

Mexico’s Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) previously drew crowds of roughly 39,000 to San Antonio’s Alamodome for a win against Austin Trout in April 2013 and nearly 32,000 to Houston’s Minute Maid Park for a sensational knockout of James Kirkland in May 2015. Thus De La Hoya isn’t surprised his company’s most marketable star is doing such big business in Texas again as he prepares to challenge a British fighter mostly unknown among American fight fans.

“Well, the passing of the torch has already taken place,” De La Hoya said. “With Mayweather being retired and Pacquiao being retired, Canelo is the face of boxing now. He’s proven it with ticket sales. He’s proven it with pay-per-views, and he’s going to prove it once again by out-selling Manny Pacquiao at the AT&T arena. So I believe this is just the beginning for Canelo, and he has a long future ahead for himself. We can’t wait to be part of it.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.