By Michael Marley
Bubbly Bob Arum, jetting Thursday from the Italian Riviera back to Las Vegas, said Wednesday the Antonio Margarito-Manny Pacquiao fight to be held Nov. 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Tx., will draw more than 70,000 paying fans.
Some cynics might think that the North Texas area might not be as receptive as it turned out to be on March 13, when 51,000 showed up at the sparkling football playpen which houses Jerry Jones' NFL Cowboys team to watch Pacman trying to entice Johsua Clottey into an actual fight.
And some may think that genial host Jones might not have the same enthusiasm as he did when he forked over $7 million for Clottey-Pacman, especially since the November date is in the middle of football season.
Nay, nay, sayeth Arum, who is hoping for the official OK on Margarito's boxing license application on Friday.
“If anything, Jerry is even more enthusiastic. Look, we got a huge crowd with Clottey, a fighter nobody in North Texas knew anything about. Now we've got a Mexican fighter in an area with a big Mexican population. I think we can get north of 70,000 fans.
“Having this fight during football season also opens up all the marketing and other channels Jerry uses for the Cowboys, they will all be helping us with the promotion.”
Las Vegan Arum said he feels “bad” that the gambling city will not host a Pacqiauo bout this calendar year, mainly due to the Margarito licensing issues.
“I do feel bad, that is where I live. Las Vegas lives off gaming and a big Manny fight would have been a good financial injection for everyone. There's nothing like a big fight in Vegas but, at the same, I couldn't be more excited about going back to Jerry and to his stadium.”
Michael Marley is the national boxing examiner for examiner.com. To read more stories by Michael Marley, Click Here .
