T-Mobile Arena in the US city of Las Vegas has been awarded hosting rights for the highly-anticipated middleweight boxing clash between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin this September.
T-Mobile Arena fought off competition from a number of leading venues to land the showpiece fight between Mexico’s Alvarez and Golovkin, of Kazakhstan, on September 16.
London’s Wembley Stadium, Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, Los Angeles’ Dodgers Stadium, Texas’ AT&T Stadium and New York’s Madison Square Garden were all reportedly in the mix, but it is the 20,000-seat T-Mobile Arena, situated on the Las Vegas Strip, that has been chosen.
Promoter Oscar De La Hoya told US sports broadcaster ESPN: “I did receive a crazy amount of money – the offers were just amazing (including) from Madison Square Garden. I was contemplating it.
“Obviously, my good friend (Dallas Cowboys owner) Jerry Jones wanted this fight. I talked to my great friend Magic Johnson, who wanted to stage the fight at Dodger Stadium, but ultimately the entertainment factor (was key). People want to go to parties after the fight. You want to stage the pre-fight parties, the weigh-in.”
De La Hoya said that around 35,000 seats would be added at 12-15 closed circuits across Las Vegas to accommodate for T-Mobile Arena’s relatively small capacity.
Alvarez has fought twice at T-Mobile Arena in the past, but middleweight world champion Golovkin has never boxed at the venue before.
Image: Bill Feldberg
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