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If you want a snapshot of American boxing, go to John Mass's little memorabilia shop in the Magic Mile, a ribbon of 170 canopied establishments wrapped around the Planet Hollywood hotel and casino complex in the heart of Las Vegas. The casino owners and their friends, numbered among them Sylvester Stalllone, are clinging to uncertain ambitions for their investment of $11m in Saturday night's fight between Joe Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins - and, if you visit Mr Mass's shop, you will know why.
As I write, the promotion is getting ready to take a bath. The co-promoters, Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, are so embarrassed they've already given back $2m of the site fee, scared that Planet Hollywood will walk away from boxing after this.
Barely half the 19,000 tickets for the fight venue, the nearby Thomas and Mack Center, had moved three days before the big event. They're still talking a good fight, long-term commitment etc. Don't blink; these are hard-headed pragmatists. Boxing is fighting for its credibility here. They're going to paper this one. You will see more freeloaders at the Thomas and Mack on Saturday night than outside a downtown soup kitchen.
If Joe's south Wales army of 10,000 or more turn up, they might claw something back; never has an invasion of thousands of boxing fans from the valleys been so keenly anticipated.
As I write, the promotion is getting ready to take a bath. The co-promoters, Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, are so embarrassed they've already given back $2m of the site fee, scared that Planet Hollywood will walk away from boxing after this.
Barely half the 19,000 tickets for the fight venue, the nearby Thomas and Mack Center, had moved three days before the big event. They're still talking a good fight, long-term commitment etc. Don't blink; these are hard-headed pragmatists. Boxing is fighting for its credibility here. They're going to paper this one. You will see more freeloaders at the Thomas and Mack on Saturday night than outside a downtown soup kitchen.
If Joe's south Wales army of 10,000 or more turn up, they might claw something back; never has an invasion of thousands of boxing fans from the valleys been so keenly anticipated.
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