Pacquiao-Clottey: Largest Boxing Crowd in U.S. Not Featuring an American (Prelude to Mayweather?)
March 19th, 2010
By Steve Lewis: As already announced, the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey bout was the third largest indoor crowd for a U.S. boxing event, tallying a total of 50,994 spectators at the opulent Cowboys Stadium.
It is however, the largest indoor crowd for a U.S. boxing event NOT featuring an American fighter. The largest U.S. crowd, with 63,350 spectators, was the 1978 rematch between Americans Muhammad Ali and Leon Spinks at the Louisiana Superdome, while coming in second, at 59,995, was the 1993 controversial draw between American whiz Pernell “Sweetpea” Whitaker and Mexican icon, Julio Cesar Chavez, held at the Alamodome.
It is too bad, given the backdrop, that only Pacquiao came to fight.
If the Pacquiao-Clottey fight was considered “boring,” and there are some fans out there that have characterized it as such, one can only imagine how things would have turned out if Pacquiao, the ever-moving whirlwind, were taken out of the equation and a counter-puncher or “defensive specialist” was inserted in his place instead. Sounds like the makings of “Must-See-TV.”
Perhaps Pacquiao-Clottey served as a preview of a potential Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather match-up? Of course, Mayweather would not be as stationary and would probably have his gears on reverse for the majority of the fight. At least you can expect more movement in that regard. And there would probably be more punches of the pitty-pat variety being thrown towards Pacquiao, which would be more than the occasional thunderous uppercuts thrown by Clottey.
As the Clottey fight demonstrated, you need some offense to score points and win rounds. Mayweather will need to throw some punches. And Pacquiao, as seen during the Miguel Cotto and Clottey fights, is willing to absorb punishment to get an opponent to engage with him. And if he was able to withstand firepower from both Cotto and Clottey, he should also be able to weather through a Mayweather patty-cake attack.
Pacquiao detractors will say, “If you can’t even put away a stationary target like Joshua Clottey, how are you even going to knock out a moving and shifting Floyd Mayweather?” Well, first of all, Clottey was not exactly opening himself up, and would not engage with Pacquiao. So if even bigger welterweights who have engaged a more aggressive Clottey cannot knock him out (and no one has), how is a smaller Pacquiao suppose to do that to a non-engaging shell? If you have to commend Clottey for something, he made it difficult for Pacquiao to land a clean shot! And Clottey must have had iron ribs, because he sure took his fair licks to the body and did not wilt.
Which leads us back to Pacquiao-Mayweather: If Mayweather is too busy defending from a buzzsaw attack, and Pacquiao can withstand the counter-punches from Mayweather, can Mayweather garner enough points to beat Pacquiao? Some judges favor the busier, forward-moving aggressor over the defensive back-peddler who throws single counter pecks at a time, even if those single pecks are landing.
The Pacquiao detractors will once again chime in with, “Well, it worked for Juan Manuel Marquez, and Mayweather is of an even higher caliber than Marquez.” That’s why Marquez has zero wins to show for. And before people start arguing over subjective scoring, let us not confuse the Pacquiao at 130 with the Pacquiao at above 130. More weapons, improved defense, improved footwork, improved everything. Most people call that “development of skills.” Mayweather and Paulie Malignaggi call it “PEDs.” A new Pacquiao was born after he left the super featherweight division, a division in which he won his first Fighter of the Year Award in 2006.
But will we even get to see Pacquiao-Mayweather later this fall, even assuming they get past the negotiations hurdle? Word has it that there is a rematch clause in the Mayweather-Shane Mosley deal. It is uncertain whether the clause can only be exercised by Mayweather, or if Mosley can exercise that option too. If both have that option, then a return match is very likely (unless the fighters allow the rematch to take place after the winner takes on Pacquiao).
If the Nevada State Athletic Commission wants to avoid another negotiations impasse, then they should institute new rules regarding Olympic-style testing. As Pacquiao already stated, he is willing to abide by the NSAC’s rules, whatever they may be. But what he will not do is give in to baseless demands made by a reluctant opponent, one who apparently was OK with a 14-day testing window, when his primary concern was that PEDs can conceivably be used and flushed out of the system within a couple of days before fight night. How does the 14-day testing window really address his concern, if it wasn’t mere pretext and posturing in the first place?
With the cost of conducting Olympic-style testing, don’t count on the NSAC adopting it any time soon.
48 Responses to “Pacquiao-Clottey: Largest Boxing Crowd in U.S. Not Featuring an American (Prelude to Mayweather?)”
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Just put Floyd and Moseley in the ring against Pacquiao,..2 for 1 one after the other for 24 rounds of boxing on the same night, 12rds for Moseley and 12 rds for Floyd for the finale’,…. I would still put my bet on the smaller guy.
airdukes..you just wasted your time trying to explain something that does not make sense! floyds and shanes live onlookers on may 1st will consist of billionare paul allen,mark cuban,multimillionare athletes, doctors,lawyers and businessmen ..that’s the reason why you and your friends cannot afford to go to this fight..just watch it the following week! atleast it will only cost you a monthly fee of HBO!!!
From a business perspective and practical reason, $131 tickets with 100k seating capacity will outsell $1200 tickets with 18K seating capacity. Floyd-Shane $1200 average ticket price seemed unreasonable. Considering today’s economic situation, boxing avid fans or casual fans would opt to buy tickets with reasonable prices. It’s a marketing text book scenario and Bob Arum knew how to target his customers. And that’s why Walmart outsell every high-end retailers and other competitors(sell at low prices at high volume). Unfortunately, GBP and Mayweather promotinal team must work double time and shed more promotional expenses to promote Floyd-Shane May 1 Fight. Tickets and ppvs sells are not the only factors to consider whether a project venture is a success or not. More promotional cost = lower bottom line. Therefore, Floyd’s fans you guys better step-up. Pacman’s fans (which are mostly RNs here in the US that make $90K – $100K)showed up in Dallas.
pinoydin…sinabinmo!
it could have been hilarious if it was floy fighting clottey, imagine clottey chraging in with his clam shell defense with floy backing out running around in the ring like a chicken. tha half full stadium would be empty halfway into the fight. hehehehe
i wish everyone will stop talking about this fight,it was a shocking fight and the undercard was awful
we, filipinos are giving life to boxing, is that what you are saying UncleBOBO na tanga pa?
unclebobo says:
March 19, 2010 at 8:36 pm
pacman’s fans consist mostly of filipino americans…duh!
To all Manny fans, I’ll add more to Manny accomplishments. Manny has held the most lineal title in boxing history. Manny has held 4 lineal titles, flyweight, featherweight, super featherweight, and light welterweight. Floyd has only 2.
From what I’ve heard lately, now the PPV is closing in on 900,000 total. From 700,000 to now 900,000, impressive considering Manny fought Clottey who is relatively unknown. If it was Floyd vs Clottey, maybe half as much. And the Cowboy’s stadium would be less than 25,000. If anyone of those chumps who are gonna shell out $1500 or whatever at the MGM grand to watch Floyd. I suggest they talk to Tiger Woods, who went to see Floyd fight Carlos Baldomir and left before the 10th round. If they want to spend $1500 only to fall asleep during the fight, they might as well stayed in the Bellagio’s hotel suites.
That’s the magic Manny Pacquiao is giving to boxing today. He has the talent, the power and the charisma to bring in a very large boxing fans just to see him fight. What more could you ask from Pacquiao this days? He knows how to show his skills in a more entertaining way. Show them one more great fight, its either Mosley or Mayweather. Just bring them on…..
Was is the point in saying that it was the third largest fight. The real point is that it was a lousy fight. Joshua Clottey hid behind his hands like a frightened girl at a horror movie.
The other two record breaking fights were also lousy. Chavez-Whittaker was a lousy fight. Chavez fought like he was being forced to go to Church on Sunday. Whittaker was too cowardly to create any real action.
Ali-Spinks was a joke. Ali was old, suffering from Alzheimer disease. Spinks was a frivolous nobody.
What makes a fight great is not the numbers of people that go see it, but the quality of the fight itself.
Mayweather vs clottey will draw about less than thousand ppv
pacman is pacman.let s accept that he rally is a big star right now,that many envied him.paulie and floyd share one heart against pacquiao.it reads..JEALOUS…It doesnt matter to pacman as he is humble despite his success.
bloopers,blunders and practical jokes..everything you’ve said explains who are….a sorry ass unemployed wannabe boxing fan…go back to the philippines and help out your uncle tito with his jeepney business..obviously, you can’t make it here in the red, white and blue country…
“How does the 14-day testing window really address his concern, if it wasn’t mere pretext and posturing in the first place?”
That also explains why he accepted the $10m overweight penalty. Team Paquiao can even make that $100m and floyd will still accept it.
People came in drove to watch a spectacle.
If you build it they will come. The emphasis has been PPV not live gate. Its good to see a little competition for Vegas, at least as long as capitalism is still in fashion.
yes, pacman – clottey boring fight,shame on clottey come on championship belt on the line ended up like a punching bag for pacman…
MAYWEATHER is undefeated he maybe a good fighter , but not a great fighter like PACMAN 1st time in history of boxing to win the 7x world champion different division….GOT THAT
to all new followers of boxing…
Lmao, you haters saying that Floyd needed Oscar 2 sell all those PPV buys… Well if so where were all those PPV sells when Oscar fought Pacquiao? Hmmm? The guy can barely speak english that’s why he will never reach really Big PPV#’s n America! I’m a white guy, I speak english, I only understand english and a little spanish. I want to here the winner of a fight give a post fight interview that I can understand, not bits of the language. I’m not a racist but I am a realist. I’m just saying what a whole bunch of americans are already thinking!
@ anonymous………. Floyd couldn’t destroy pac in 4 rounds. you sound dumb! you need to stop posting on this site with lame ass comments like that. lol
I THINK UNCLE BOBO SHUT UP NOW- HE’S REALLY BOBO!
The crowd was damn near impressive. New stadium or not. People complain about the fight being “boring,” but hey, it wasn’t Manny’s fault.
5000 a ticket for pacman – YES!
1200 bucks for a ticket for mayweather, who would idiot to buy such a ticket, unclebobo and anonymous i guess!
uncle your bobo! I live in cali i make million bro!
You say that pacman has improved his defence? Are you kidding? If clottey had of thrown 15 more punches per round against pacquiao, he would have won. Every time he threw a combo at pacquiao, he landed and scored. Pacquiao throws wild combinations with no strategy, and no thought of being counter punched in return. Floyd will out smart him, wear him down with his defensive movement, and counter punch pacman’s socks off. I’ll put my house on it..
@Who Dat?
Nobody is arguing that Floyd and Mosley are going to outsell Manny and Joshua in PPV. Do you think people actually think Floyd and Shane are going to sell LESS? As far as the stadium sales, I remember Mayweather struggling to fill up the MGM against JMM, so I wouldn’t be so quick to assure yourself he could do 50k or more in a stadium.
…ryan
julio valiente!!, you stupid lol. Floyd has a brittle body lol, too funny. Find me one source who deny Floyd is one of the most disciplined and fittest boxers ever. You funny dude lol.
bloopers, blunders and practical jokes..look it up on the march 12 edition of usa today..average price of pac/clottey $131.00..don’t be mad because you missed out on this offer..you should of ate some rice and bagoong for 3 months so you could of saved that much, with below your mw salary…
While the Floyd Mayweather groupies might be mouthing off about their unbeaten fighter one thing remains certain in the minds of the boxing pundits ; Manny Pacquiao was the best boxer of 2009 and the best fighter of the last decade. For the second year running Pacquiao was named as best boxer and Freddie Roach, his coach, as best trainer of the year by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). It was Pacquiao’s third award in four years and Roach’s fourth since 2003. It came on the back of victories over light welterweight Ricky Hatton and welterweight Miguel Cotto and established the Philippine boxer as pound for pound the best fighter in the world. That record of three awards now places him alongside the legendary Muhammad Ali and Evander Holyfield in a class of their own. In addition Pacquiao was also honored as the fighter of the decade by the BWAA
@anonymous
floyd fan…blah…blah…same as floyd…blah…blah…same as a dog that all bark and doesn’t bite!floyd bring it on!
UNCLEBOBO YOU’RE BOBO!
maywheater vs clotey cant even sell 50% of the mgm grand
pacman’s fans consist mostly of filipino americans…duh!
ANONYMOUS IS AN MMA FAN NOT A BOXING FAN – HES AN IDIOT!
This is what boxing needs right now. cheap seats so everyone can experience watching a boxing match live. The boxing matches in Las Vegas has turned into an elite form on entertainment. Only the rich can afford to watch it.
each ticket had an average price of $131.00 while mosley’s and mayweather will average about $1200.00
Wow, 50994 spectators, largest indoor crowd of the U.S.!!! They did not even made HBO 24/7 for this fight!!! I’ll say when Pacquiao vs Mayweather ever happen,,, crowd will be shouting for Manny even Mayweather is American!!!! Manny Pacquiao is not idolized by only by Filipino, but he is idolized by the whole world!!!!
mayweather??? too much excuses!!!!
fmjr will be beat by the old man and he will say he was cheated unless that id shane doesnt come to fight,
mayweather can’t even fill up a bucket!
If I am a doctor, I will not apply to be the attending physician on the “Random blood testing”, even they pay me a million. If something happens to any of these fighters, I will be in prison and that million will be gone in seconds perhaps including anything I own. I will be the ex-doctor of Jocko!
ANother pacnut hugger writing a useless article, all garbage as Floyd will destroy the pac fool in 4 rounds.
Alot of people try to make things difficult. I’m easy. Pac is no doubt a great fighter. Shane and Floyd is great fighters. I love them all. I am biased toward P. Williams being able to destroy all three. But thats my opinion and opinions are like a@@holes, we all have one. So when guys see me on here crapping on Floyd or Pac, they be confused, and wonder who I like then. I like them all, but I don’t mind trick myself into believing things that are simply untrue because the media try to force certain opinions down our throat. Pac, Floyd, Shane all great fighters. But I believe Paul Williams would beat Pac, Shane and a toss up with Floyd(only because Floyd defense, not his half a@@ offense he likes to give)
@Andre00
What is your problem? This article is well-written, very objective and unbiased. Unlike other in-your-face anti-Pacquiao writers here who are so into their idol Floyd Jr who majority of boxing fans find boring.
Props to you, Steve Lewis!
Actually America doesn’t give two cents about Jordan. America is in love with the money generated by Jordan. Lets not forget, Jordan cheated on his wife, habitual gambler and one of the worst top aids/decision makers for a NBA franchise. America loved Tiger until he got caught cheating(which is nobody’s business) but the money stopped flowing, and so did the unconditional love. America loves it money, the minute you do something unflattering they will tolerate you. Check a few sites from time to time on black gossip, and see what an a@@hole Jordan really is by average Joe’s who ran up on dude and got treated like crap by Jordan, even some famous personalities in the music business.
this blood testing is going to drain mosley theyre saing that thers going to be at least 20 blood tests before the fight and one right after the fight this can’t be good for floyd eather this is not good for any atlhete
Who cares!!! Who cares about the crowd!! Who cares about the ppv numbers!! Wat does that do me as a fan?? Just fight n let the boxer get their money
Big ups to Pac and Clottey. That is a major accomplishment. Especially with both men not being from the states. However, I’m sure if Floyd and Shane would have decided to take their show to New Orleans or somewhere, there is no doubt they could do the same, if not better, being that both fighters are accomplished, famous, and Hall of Fame fighters. But dollars is everything, the money Floyd and Shane will generate for Vegas itself, the expensive pricing of the limited seating available at the MGM, and the total PPV sales, in the end Floyd Shane finacially makes investors far more happier and satisfied. Alot of people attended Pac fight, but dirt cheap tickets it takes more of them discount tickets to equal to the price of some of the cheaper MGM tickets, so in the end Floyd Shane generates more revenue overall. If it don’t make dollars it don’t make cents(sense)