Thursday, Sept. 26, 2002 | 9:21 a.m.
Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4084.
The numbers are in and the Sept. 14 fight at Mandalay Bay between Oscar De La Hoya and Fernando Vargas drew a live gate of $8,871,300, making it No. 7 on the list of greatest revenue-producing fights in the history of the State of Nevada.
Excluding fight cards that featured heavyweights in the main event, De La Hoya vs. Vargas is No. 2.
Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Marc Ratner finished compiling the receipts Wednesday and was happy not only with the results but with the overall success of the De La Hoya-Vargas card.
"I'm very pleased," he said. "It's a huge windfall for the state.
"And the card itself turned out great, especially considering how contentious it could have been. Everyone was very cooperative."
Based simply on taxes on the gross gate and broadcast receipts, the State of Nevada received approximately $400,000. There were 10,984 tickets sold for a fight won by De La Hoya by 11th-round TKO.
Here is the revised list for the top 10 revenue-producing fights in Nevada history:
Not ready for retirement is Livingstone Bramble. Despite being 42 years old, Bramble said this week "I still have a couple of fights left in me." A former World Boxing Association lightweight champion who twice defeated Ray Mancini (in 1984 and '85) before losing his title to Edwin Rosario (in '86), Bramble would like to complete his career by taking on fellow Las Vegan James Crayton. "If I could get Crayton to take the fight, that would be ideal," Bramble said, having had personal difficulties with Crayton in recent years. ... The WBA has denied a request by Kirk Johnson for an immediate rematch with its heavyweight champion, John Ruiz. Johnson lost their July 27 fight at Mandalay Bay by 10th-round disqualification for repeated low blows.
A proposed Ruiz vs. Roy Jones Jr. fight remains up in the air, but would go Dec. 7 if it can be signed. ... The yet-to-be rescheduled Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Jose Luis Castillo lightweight title fight could go Dec. 7 if Ruiz vs. Jones doesn't fall into place. ... Diego Corrales priced himself out of an Oct. 4 fight in Las Vegas, asking for $100,000 when only $25,000 was being offered. Promoter Bob Arum was irate when Corrales, a former junior lightweight world champion who is just out of jail, balked at the fee. ... Junior welterweight Terronn Millett was awarded $595,000 in a federal civil rights lawsuit resolved Tuesday in St. Louis. Millett claimed he was racially profiled when his car was stopped in May of 1999 by a Berkeley Police Dept. officer, and that the officer not only arrested him illegally but used excessive force in causing an injury to Mill ett's hand.
Derek Jefferson won last Saturday's main event at the Stratosphere by taking a split decision over Sedreck Fields in a 10-round heavyweight bout, but it was not a popular verdict. Scored 96-94 (twice) for Jefferson and 96-94 for Fields, many in the crowd thought otherwise and voiced their displeasure. "I wasn't at the fight but I'm going to have the film of it sent to me," said Marc Ratner of the NSAC. "I understand it was very close and there was some controversy." Ratner has no recourse but to uphold the decision, but he wants to see the tape to evaluate his judges' performances. ... While promoter Dan Goossen had been orchestrating Tim Witherspoon's comeback, he shifted gears after Lou Savarese (43-4) took a TKO-5 win over Witherspoon (55-12-1) last Sunday in Friant, Calif., in a battle of aging heavyweights. With Goossen already -- fancifully? -- talki ng about matching Savarese, 36, with the likes of one of the Klitschko brothers, Witherspoon, 44, drops from the picture.
archive
