Columnist Ron Kantowski: Promoters: Big fights aren’t going anywhere

Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2002 | 9:52 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's insider notes column appears Tuesday and his Page One column appears Thursday. He can be reached at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

Las Vegas prides itself in being the "Boxing Capital of the World" and it will remain as such. No matter how many unfounded yarns the columnists Back East spin about our casinos threatening to bail out on the fight industry because it refused to license Mike Tyson to fight Lennox Lewis in a proposed April 6 bonanza at the MGM Grand, boxing as we know it around here is not going anywhere.

That's because the "Capital" in the description has very little to do with the city where a certain activity or industry is centered, as per definition 3 in Webster's New World Dictionary. It's definition 6 of the word -- wealth, in whatever form, used or capable of being used to produce more wealth -- that guarantees boxing will still be around Las Vegas long after the cows quit on their stools.

"The casinos out here haven't hosted fights with the idea of being known as 'The Boxing Capital of the World,' " said Las Vegas resident and fight promoter Dan Goossen. "They do it (stage fights) because it makes good business sense."

That's one unanimous decision that can't be disputed.

Some reports had the impact of the Lewis-Tyson fight on a sluggish Las Vegas economy going as high as $100 million. That's a king-sized shot in the arm that not even Marcus Welby could imagine, much less Bob Arum, the noted fight promoter from Las Vegas.

"The amount of money (to be made by the fight) is greatly exaggerated," Arum said from New York, professing firsthand knowledge of a major fight's profit margins.

"The casino industry demonstrated they did not want this fellow to fight here; that they didn't need the adverse reaction from people all over the world. They acquitted themselves quite well, the commissioners acquitted themselves quite well."

As for the skeptics who expected the Nevada State Athletic Commission to rubber stamp Tyson's license application under perceived pressure from the Strip movers and shakers, Arum said he hopes they finally learned that's not the way business is done here anymore.

"Back East, these fellows still think the casinos are mob-owned. Maybe now they'll think differently and realize that Las Vegas and Nevada has become a modern place where people ... do not sell out."

Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority spokesman Rob Powers also said it was wrong to look at the ill-fated fight as some sort of magic elixir.

"As far as the economic impact issue, we are and have been in recovery mode since Sept. 11," Powers said in reference to the terrorist attacks, which have Americans clutching their discretionary dollars as if they were Buffalo nickels. "This decision does not affect the recovery process at all."

On the contrary, by not licensing Tyson, Las Vegas may have more to gain from a public relations standpoint than it has to lose from a one-off windfall. This wasn't a lucrative long-standing event, such as the National Finals Rodeo, NASCAR or COMDEX saying goodbye. It was one fight that didn't even exist until last week.

Found money, if you will.

Now it's lost money, too.

But at least our integrity isn't bankrupt.

"Anyone who saw that hearing had to come away with the impression it was a fair and open hearing and in that respect, that's all that anyone can ask (of a regulatory board)," Powers said.

Added Goossen: "This was not a ruling against Mike Tyson, it was a ruling for having rules and regulations. The Nevada commissioners, I was proud of 'em today. From my standpoint, nobody in our industry who has the ability to mete out punishment has really stepped forward. This is something our industry needed.

"We've got to start policing ourselves, and this is the start of it. It's very important that other commissions, regulatory bodies and anybody connected to boxing as a regulatory body observe the Nevada commission."

That's not to say the Lewis-Tyson fight won't happen somewhere else, be it New York, London, Tokyo, or perhaps even some faraway island, where they tell time with sundials instead of Rolex watches.

But Arum and Goossen said when it comes to big fights, Las Vegas will continue to have the right of first refusal.

"The casinos buy a lot of tickets (for their high-rollers) and there's a tremendous amount of hotel rooms," Arum said about the attraction to holding major fights amid the bright lights. "It's the same reason the big conventions find Las Vegas attractive."

Added Goossen: "It goes back to the glitz and glamour. Las Vegas and big fights go hand in hand. It's like when you walk into Yankee Stadium as compared to some of these modern (baseball) stadiums. There's something about Yankee Stadium that puts chills down your spine."

But getting back to the heart of the matter, there's also something about Las Vegas that puts dollars in your pocket, if you're a fighter or a fight promoter.

"If it didn't make financial sense (to hold big fights in Las Vegas), then tradition would go out the window," Goossen says.

In other words, there's no need to throw back the sash just yet.

No matter what those guys Back East would have you believe.