LAS VEGAS – There are a lot of wonderful cities and venues across the world that have become synonymous with boxing, but there’s only one Fight Capital of the World. Sin City has been prize fighting’s Mecca seemingly since the day it was built, having been the de facto home for a significant portion of history’s legendary fighters.
Just last year, the iconic MGM Grand Garden Arena hosted its 100th fight card when Gervonta “Tank” Davis defeated Frank Martin with a knockout in the eighth round. The Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay is another sacred site in the city, hosting legendary fights such as Jose Luis Castillo vs. Diego Corrales and Canelo Alvarez vs. Miguel Cotto.
In the years following Canelo’s controversial win over Cotto at Mandalay Bay, he moved his operation primarily to T-Mobile Arena, the largest arena in Las Vegas, to accommodate the large number of Mexican fans who come out to attend his fights.
On Saturday, that operation will become even larger, as Canelo will take on undefeated American power Terence “Bud” Crawford in the first boxing card ever held at Allegiant Stadium. Affectionately nicknamed “The Death Star”, the stadium opened in 2020 on the Las Vegas Strip and has hosted just about everything besides a major fight card.
It won’t be Canelo’s first foray into a stadium fight. He’s fought in several well-known American stadiums, including Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, The Alamodome in San Antonio and Minute Maid Park in Houston.
However, with all due respect to those cities, big fights mean more in Las Vegas than anywhere else. The fact that Saturday’s crowd of 60,000+ will be the largest to ever attend a fight night in Las Vegas already makes it a significant moment in boxing’s history and that’s before you delve into the historic stakes of the fight.
Crawford (41-0-0) has been considered the face of American boxing since Floyd Mayweather’s departure from the sport, having become the first fighter in the four-belt era to become an undisputed champion in two weight classes. He’ll look to add a third undisputed belt to his mantle on Saturday, as he’ll move up two divisions to 168 lbs to fight Canelo.
The 37-year-old Omaha, Neb. native is a decent underdog based on the betting odds, but he’s a somewhat popular pick to win the fight amongst other boxers, analysts and those in the know. On an ESPN panel consisting of 23 “experts”, 15 of them chose Crawford to win the fight despite the fact that he’s moving into unfamiliar territory.
"I think fights like this help the sport of boxing grow in the sense of having the best fight the best," Crawford said. "It ain't going to do nothing but make the sport better and the best is going to start fighting the best ... It's going to be stamped in the history books and the debate is going to be over.”
Standing next to each other at the press conference on Thursday, it didn’t seem like Canelo had any real visual size advantage despite being at his native weight. Both fighters weighed in at 167.5 pounds on Friday morning, so it will be interesting to see how much extra weight Canelo can add before Saturday night’s bout.
The fighters are expected to begin ring walks for the main event at 8 p.m. local time, with Crawford making his way to the ring first before Canelo follows him at 8:15. The fight will be broadcast for free on Netflix in a revolutionary departure from the traditional pay-per-view model, further expanding Netflix’s live sports domain.