19.05.05 – By Frank Maloney: Las Vegas never ceases to amaze me. I spent so much time there during Lennox Lewis’ career but I hadn’t been since the David Tua fight in 2000, except when I popped out last November to watch the third Barrera – Morales bout with my WBO Featherweight champion Scott Harrison. While my breath was taken away by the changes that had gone on during my four year absence it was nothing compared to how Las Vegas struck me two weeks ago..
This time I went to Vegas for the Corrales – Castillo fight as well as a court case that took place in the downtown area of town. As soon as I arrived at the airport, I had to look around in wonder. You’ll hear glamour being spoken of as it exists in the South of France, in Paris, in London and in Manhattan but let me tell you; Las Vegas contains every form and walk of life you can imagine. >From the most glamorous, to the most outrageous it’s all there, even just going through the airport, which has to be one of the busiest in the world. You can even lose your fortune in the many slot machines there before you even get to The Strip.
The first thing a visitor may notice when arriving in “Sin City” are the girls that come in and out of the airport. I saw one that was in the line waiting for a taxi and you could definitely tell by the way she was dressed that she was in town looking for some kind of work. She was there to shock and to be outrageous and I could only draw two conclusions from that. Either she was there to become a showgirl or a working girl, I’m not quite sure which one but I think it might be the latter of the two.
On The Strip, where all the large new casinos are located, hotels just seem to be appearing from everywhere. Since the last time I was there, the Mandalay Bay now has another wing called The Hotel, Cesar’s Palace now has a new wing and there was the opening of Steve Wynn’s new hotel which is beyond anything else you’ve ever seen, even in Las Vegas terms. I did attempt to go to the Wynn Hotel but the line of people waiting just to go in and view the hotel was so unbelievably long that I gave up.
On Friday night the big event was the American Boxing Writers awards dinner, which unfortunately I missed due to my plane scheduling, but I was there for the big lightweight unification fight on Saturday between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo. I must say that even though the crowd wasn’t as big as I expected it to be, just over five and a half thousand, the atmosphere was intense to say the least.
Many Mexican fans were in town for the Cinco de Mayo holiday and they were really rooting for WBC champion Jose Luis Castillo of Mexico. His opponent, Diego Corrales, is of Mexican blood but fights under the American flag and Castillo’s fans displayed alot of antipathy towards him.
Looking around the ringside area, I thought to myself, you have to give it to Las Vegas. They know how to put those big time fights together. They know how to market, they know how to bring the stars in; it’s unbelievable. Even before I got down to my ringside seat, I met English Olympic Gold Medallist turned heavyweight hopeful Audley Harrison in a coffee shop at the Mandalay Bay. Audley looked like someone who had just stepped out of Vogue magazine.
When I took my seat at ringside I was surrounded by people like Shane Mosley, Julio Cesar Chavez and his young son, James Toney who was soaking up the glory and admiration before the results of his post fight drugs test was announced a few days later, Floyd Mayweather, Wayne McCullough and others.
We sat through the first world title fight on the bill, between featherweights Juan Manuel Marquez and Victor Polo. By the time the twelfth round came up, those in attendance were beginning to fall asleep and there were a number of boos throughout the round for lack of action.
But that all changed when the headlining bout of Corrales – Castillo came up. The ring entrances, the music, the atmosphere, all of it just had the hair standing up on the back of your neck. Once the fight got underway, you simply could not take your eyes off it. I’m sure those of you who witnessed it on Showtime and the English fans who saw it replayed on Sky Sports, saw how intense the action in the ring was.
But to be there at ringside was absolutely electrifying, especially with Julio Cesar Chavez and his son sitting in front of me and jumping up and down like yo-yos everytime the Mexican fighter Castillo scored a point. At the end when the fight was stopped, I witnessed something that was amazing. Chavez just stood up and in his hand he had a plastic cup full of water or beer, I’m not sure what it was, but he just let fly with it towards the ring. The people around him just looked on in disbelief.
The Mexican crowd certainly did not greet the winner, Diego Corrales, with the cheers you would have though he had earned. They booed him and they booed his exit from the ring, instead of giving the man credit for what he did.
Say whatever you want about the outcome of this contest, it was probably the best fight I’ve witnessed in the 30 years that I’ve been in boxing. As much heart and bravery Corrales showed in the ring, it was a great team effort because the corner work of Joe Goosen was purely first class.
People say that fighters make trainers and I for one agree to that, but a good cornerman doesn’t have to be a great trainer. A good cornerman has to be able to read a fight and motivate his fighter to victory and bring him through the most difficult of situations. We saw that in Britain when Denny Mancini brought Nigel Benn through the tragic fight with Gerald McClellan.
For me, Joe Goosen scored ten out of ten the way he kept Diego Corrales in there and also in regards to the gumshield tactic during the tenth round. People talk about Angelo Dundee and the glove incident in the fight where Cassius Clay was probably going to be knocked out by Henry Cooper, but the way the gumshield incident was dealt with by Corrales’ team has to beat that. It was definitely the turning point in a great struggle. I’m sure that the rest period gained by Corrales was even longer than the famous “long count” in the second Dempsey – Tunney fight.
We all talk about the highs and lows in boxing but I’ve never been on the low side of things there because Lennox Lewis’ two losses with me took place somewhere else. This time I was at the fights as the guest of Art Pelullo, who is the co-promoter of Diego Castillo, and afterward I had the pleasure of celebrating the victory with Art. I can tell you that there’s nothing better than savoring a win in Las Vegas, especially when it’s been snatched from the jaws of defeat. The drinks go down smoothly, the beautiful women pass by and you just can’t stop talking about the fight, recalling each swing of advantage and the turning points that made this bout in particular so great.
One thing that I found remarkable was listening to Castillo’s promoter Bob Arum address the media attending the post-fight press conference. If ever there was a man who doesn’t like losing, it’s Bob. It’s the second time that I’ve witnessed one of his Mexican fighters get beat and the second time I’ve heard him forget to give credit to the winner of the contest and instead just go on about how his man was robbed and cheated out of victory. But then, this is just a facet of what all adds up to make boxing what it is and part of the magic of Las Vegas.
The day after the great fight, I moved into a part of Las Vegas I’d never been to before, the downtown area, which I must say contrasts sharply compared to The Strip a few miles away. I stayed at the Golden Nugget and was there due to its proximity with the courthouse where I had to give evidence on the Monday and Tuesday in a case against Don King concerning the contract of John Ruiz.
It costs less to stay in a downtown hotel in Las Vegas than it does to stay on The Strip and you can tell why if you visit the area. There’s still a bit of that Vegas magic in the older area but if I were asked to compare it, I’d use an English football, or soccer if you like, analogy; it was like watching Arsenal play and then going to watch my favorite team, Millwall.
On my next trip to the boxing capital, I will definitely head directly down to The Strip, where the action is non-stop 24 hours a day and celebrities just walk along the street. Noted personalities from the worlds of film, television, sport and everything else you can think of are on The Strip. It’s really where the glamour is these days and as much as you might hear the city criticized for being over the top, they do know how to do many things with just the right sense of style.
Speaking of English football, the famed Manchester United has a new owner, the same American who owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Malcolm Glazer. I for one will be following the situation with interest to see what he brings to the table. The purchase has caused a bit of a stir among Manchester United’s fans but I’m sure they’ll get used to the idea especially if Glazer can bring to Old Trafford even a small percentage of the glamour that the fight business generates in Las Vegas.
I believe that under this new guidance, Manchester United are certainly going to become the team to watch above anything else in that sport today. Even the former Chelsea billionaire owner of the team, a Russian who may have about as much money as Glazer, didn’t have the style and glamour that only the Americans can bring to England.
Boxing is all about dreams and I would love to bring my fighter, British Lightweight champion Graham Earl, to Las Vegas to challenge for a major world title if he is successful against Commonwealth champion Kevin Bennett in their June 19th showdown in London. By the way, you can find about how to watch that fight live where ever you are in the world by going onto my website, www.frankmaloney.com. People may laugh at my idea to have Earl fight in Las Vegas, but I did have a similar dream in 1989.
Without dreams, there is no point in living and I believe that’s why so many people come to Las Vegas. Their dream is that one special pull on the slot machine is going to turn into a multimillion-dollar jackpot. That dream of mine I had in 1989? As you may have already guessed, it was to manage a fighter to the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world. I’m proud to say that dream became a reality for me.
– Frank Maloney, www.frankmaloney.com