Saturday, Aug. 12, 2006 | 7:30 a.m.
Feb. 2, 1965: Construction begins
Aug. 5, 1966: Caesars Palace opens at 6 p.m. The facility has 680 guest rooms, 25,000 square feet in the Colosseum Complex, 980 seats in the Circus Maximus Showroom
Sept. 11, 1966: First convention group meets - National Milk Producers (Western Region)
Oct. 25, 1969: First boxing event - USA vs. USSR amateur boxing
March 20, 1974: 16-story tower with 361 guest rooms is built adjoining original tower at a cost of $16 million
Nov. 22, 1979: Fantasy Tower opens with 23 stories and 600 guest rooms
Feb. 16, 1990: Groundbreaking of Forum Shops at Caesars, which opens on May 1, 1992
Aug. 28, 1997: Grand opening of Forum Shops expansion
Dec. 19, 1997: Palace Tower completion, the focal point of a $600 million expansion/renovation
Sept. 28, 1998: Neptune's Villa Wedding Chapel opens, the first at Caesars
July 17, 2000: Removal of the original block from the exterior of the hotel; six months later the original sunscreens are removed
March 25, 2003: Grand opening of The Colosseum at Caesars Palace with Celine Dion opening her production "A New Day ..."
October 2004: Grand openings - Mesa Grill, Roman Plaza Amphitheater and The Forum Shops' 175,000-square-foot expansion
August 2005: Augustus Tower completed, adding 949 rooms
It has been 40 years since Caesars Palace opened its doors and embarked on building a reputation as the "Home of Champions."
It has been 10 years since anybody traded leather in its famous but portable outdoor boxing arena, which didn't have a name and could basically be disassembled with a wrench - which it was, to make room for a swimming pool and a garden.
But I'd be willing to bet that if you looked real close, you could still find some of Tommy Hearns' DNA on a chaise longue. After all, the "Hit Man" fought at Caesars 13 times.
I recall writing that it wasn't plush skyboxes that made the outdoor arena at Caesars Palace special because it didn't have plush skyboxes. What made it special were the heroes who did battle there under a starlit desert sky.
Fans saw Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. Martina Navratilova and Jimmy Connors. Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt. Wayne Gretzky and Pele. Mary Lou Retton and Hulk Hogan.
ABC's "Wide World of Sports" didn't originate from Caesars Palace. But it could have.
It was on a big boxing night, however, when Caesars shone brightest. The sun would finally set and the celebrities would be preening for the cameras on the way to their $1,000 ringside seats, and Debbie Munch, the resort's longtime publicist, would be running around the press room in her sneakers making sure you had what you needed and that the pretzel bowl was full, because at Caesars, the pretzel bowl was always full.
Then the buzz would begin, and it would get louder and louder and louder, like locusts assembling on the eve of a plague. The fighters would make their way from the back lot, where the dressing cubicles were, usually with the hoods of their robes drawn tight and their arms outstretched, resting on the shoulders of a trainer or a cut man or a member of their "entourage," which is what boxing people call a posse.
Then the buzz would turn into electricity that you could cut with a chain saw because a knife wouldn't do the job on a night where Leonard or Hearns or Hagler had his game face on.
And even though you thought you had it seen it all, you wished there were telephones at ringside, or that cell phones had been invented, so you could call your buddies who were watching on closed circuit TV in a movie theater and brag about where you were and what you were doing at that very moment.
"Outside, under the stars, big, big fights in a great era for boxing. That's what made it special," said Marc Ratner, the former Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director who has witnessed every major fight ever held at Caesars Palace - and keeps the ticket stubs in a tidy scrapbook to prove it.
"There was no other venue in the world like that."
PALACE JEWELS
A look at some of the significant sports events in Caesars Palace's 40-year history:
Evel Knievel's Fountain Jump, 1968
The greatest daredevil of them all breaks hearts - and most of the bones in his body - when he crashes on the landing ramp during ABC's "Wide World of Sports." Twelve years later, his son Robbie will become the first to clear the fountains.
Alan King Caesars Palace Tennis Classic, 1972-1985
"I'm going to retire when this kid grows up and beats me." - Jimmy Connors, after hitting balls with 4-year-old Andre Agassi at Caesars in 1974.
Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns I, 1981
The first true megafight in Southern Nevada grosses $38 million, a record at the time.
Caesars Palace Grand Prix, 1981-84
The world's best race drivers zip down the main straightaway before it becomes Spago at the Forum Shops.
Gerry Cooney vs. Larry Holmes, 1982
The Great White Hope meets a great black champion before a crowd of more than 25,000 - still the largest turnout ever for a prizefight in Southern Nevada.
Ray Mancini vs. Duk Koo Kim, 1982
Tragedy in the ring. Title fights are shortened to 12 rounds after Kim, the gritty challenger from South Korea, collapses after 14 brutal rounds and dies from his injuries five days later.
Marvelous Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns, 1985
Eight minutes of fury. Two of the greatest fighters of their era imitate rock 'em, sock 'em, robots and knock each other's blocks off before Hagler knocks out Hearns.
Marvelous Marvin Hagler vs. Sugar Ray Leonard, 1987
A controversial split decision for Leonard sends Hagler to an early retirement - and an action-films acting career in Italy.
Los Angeles Kings vs. New York Rangers, 1991
The ice at a temporary outdoor rink, cooled by 300 pounds of refrigeration, holds up on a 95-degree day for Wayne Gretzky and pals - until a horde of grasshoppers are attracted by Caesars' bright lights and descend on it during the third period.
Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield, 1993
The notorious Fan Man fight. "There's nothing in our rule book that address what to do when a man flies into the ring with a fan on his back." - Former Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Marc Ratner.
World Cup soccer draw, 1994
Master of Ceremonies Robin Williams puts on a surgical glove to pull the colored balls representing the world's best soccer-playing nations out of a brandy snifter.
Muhammad Ali vs. Larry Holmes, 1980
Even the Greatest gets old. Ali retires on his stool after the 10th round upon absorbing a thorough beating from his former sparring partner.
Oscar De La Hoya vs. Julio Cesar Chavez, 1996
The last fight held in the famous outdoor stadium literally turns into a bloodbath. A showdown of great Latino champions, one on his way up and one on his way out, ends in the fourth round after De La Hoya opens a massive cut on Chavez's forehead.
Mike Metzger jumps the fountains, 2006
Anything Evel Knievel couldn't do, Mike Metzger can do better. The extreme sports dude thrills a huge crowd by successfully jumping the daunting fountains on his tricked-out off-road bike and throwing in a back flip during mid-flight for the national TV cameras.
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