Marquez vs Peterson Could Sell 40,000 Tickets at Cowboys Stadium, Says Arum
by Scott Christ on Feb 3, 2012 4:30 PM EST
in Boxing News Analysis
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Sal Rodriguez reports that Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is confident in a fight between Juan Manuel Marquez and Lamont Peterson selling 40,000 tickets if held at Cowboys Stadium. Arum wants the fight in Arlington at Jerry Jones' mall-field playground on July 14.
"Juan Manuel against Lamont would be a great fight. What the promoters believe, is that it might get up to 40,000 people, but the trick is to make [the tickets] affordable," Arum said.
REALLY?!? 40,000 fans for Marquez vs Peterson?
First of all, I like that in boxing, it's a "trick" to make tickets "affordable."
Second of all, there's this popular boxing fellow name of Manny Pacquiao, and he didn't sell 40,000 tickets in either of his two fights at Cowboys Stadium. Pacquiao's fight against Joshua Clottey in March 2010 was announced as having 50,994 in attendance that night, but that was a bogus claim. The real attendance was 41,843, with a paid attendance of 36,371.
For Pacquiao's fight against Antonio Margarito eight months later, numbers were down, and that was with a well-known, controversial Mexican opponent instead of a largely-unknown, substitute opponent from Ghana with no fanbase whatsoever. Pacquiao vs Margarito drew 40,154, with a paid attendance of 30,437.
So no, I don't think Marquez and Peterson can get 40,000 into Cowboys Stadium unless you give half the tickets away for free.
I know I keep saying this, but the idea to put this fight in that stadium strikes me as totally bizarre and an unnecessary expense. Why would you want these guys fighting in front of 15-20,000 fans in a building that will make them look and sound like nothing? Was the disinterested buzz of Pacquiao-Clottey something we need to revisit?
If you want to put the fight in Texas, how about Reliant Arena in Houston? That building has become a nice boxing venue. San Antonio has the Alamodome, which hosts Chavez vs Rubio tomorrow night. There are probably 15 venues in Texas that are better for this fight than Cowboys Stadium.
Marquez vs Peterson is not finalized yet, but Arum seems to be pushing hard for it. Team Peterson is currently weighing this offer against one from Golden Boy and Amir Khan.
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lol
Arum is going senile. A lot of people didn’t even know who Lamont was before the Khan fight. Even if Lamont was fighting Pacquiao, they probably wouldn’t even sell 40,000 tickets.
"Arum is going senile"
Bob: “Well folks, my estimate of 40,000 was actually a gross miscalculation. I reworked the figures on the back of this paper napkin here, and by my calculations, we should be able to seat 100,000 easy- with standing room in play of course.”
This is silly
Some of the same people that bashed Gary Shaw for putting Bradley-Alexander in the Silverdome are now praising Arum for “taking a chance” and “being a real promoter” with this. I agree with the Reliant Arena idea. That would be great for a fight like this.
@KoryKitchen32 on twitter
Would 40k attend for free?
"We've come a long way, and I'm not talking about Virginia Slims, either." - Art Howe
it’s a damn fine fight, i would drive 10 hours to get to dallas if i was given a free ticket
The struggle to free myself of restraints, becomes my very shackles
by battle axe of doom on Feb 3, 2012 5:24 PM EST up reply actions
how's about toyota center
granted i don’t know anything about arena’s, but the fans came out for baby bull vs jmm I at toyota center and it’s a small little arena. granted baby bull was a homer but still
The struggle to free myself of restraints, becomes my very shackles
by battle axe of doom on Feb 3, 2012 5:24 PM EST reply actions
that’s another good choice.
Bad Left Hook
"The internet has undermined professionalism in journalism, which is a good thing." - Bill James
Nods in agreement....40k sounds about right
Petterson is a bigger draw than Pacman and Floyd put together. Throw in Marquez and his huge following and they might need to add extra seats.
"Heaven doesn’t want me and hell is afraid I will take over". - Bobby Czyz
by PhinsAllDay on Feb 3, 2012 5:34 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Peterson and Marquez
While I believe this would be a good fight, like everyone else I feel that the promoters are crazy for thinking this would sell 40000 tickets. It would not even sell 5000 tickets. Unfortunately, Marquez is not a draw. He is a very good maybe borderline great fighter but he does not draw. Peterson does not even have a loyal fanbase in his hometown. This should not dissuade promoters from making the fight happen, they should just do it at a smaller venue. As for a prediction, Marquez wins by stoppage late. I am definitely not sold on Lamont Peterson. He has looked better of late but he was terrible against Tim Bradley and I feel that Marquez possesses more tools than Bradley.
HBO or PPV?
I’m not going so I’m just wondering if anyone knows the tv arrangements.
No clue yet — there’s a chance Top Rank tries to take this thing to PPV and HBO could back that basically “just because.” It won’t do anything to their budget. Honestly if they filled a nice undercard, and July is late enough to free up some guys, I wouldn’t mind buying it. I really expect Marquez-Peterson would be a very, very good fight.
Bad Left Hook
"The internet has undermined professionalism in journalism, which is a good thing." - Bill James
Right or wrong
A key part of the proposed strategy is noted in the Boxingscene article but not above.
It sounds as if any deal in Dallas is based on having a March doubleheader in Mexico City featuring both Marquez and Peterson to help build the July fight.
Whether or not that strategy leads to gaining the site fees and audience in Texas is another story. But it is a part of it.
"Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer"
---- Muhammed Ali
I don’t think Marquez vs David Diaz and Peterson vs (someone) in Mexico City will have any effect on an audience. For one thing I don’t know who they think is going to pick that card up on American TV, since HBO is busy on 3/17 with the Martinez card.
Bad Left Hook
"The internet has undermined professionalism in journalism, which is a good thing." - Bill James
I’m going to ask what the thinking is when I get a chance.
I think we can agree that they are pretty damn good showmen and they have a decent concept of how to sell and promote. I was in Dallas for Pac/Marg and whatever the numbers the show was great and the attendance big. How big and how much was real is another story but the show was well ‘attended’.
They are not known for taking site fees and putting few asses in seats a la Dawson/Hopkins and/or Bradley/Alexander.
In other words, haters aside, I have to believe that there is a good measure of posturing going on in the negotiations for both site fees and network contracts before locking in these two.
Last word. I want to see them fight.
"Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer"
---- Muhammed Ali
it's a great fight but not worthy of such a large arena
"The tempt for greatness is the biggest drug in the world."
—Mike Tyson
by honorablecbm on Feb 4, 2012 1:36 AM EST via iPhone app reply actions
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