More than 8,000 tickets for the event, which took place at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on August 3 and featured Terence Crawford moving up to 154 pounds to face Israil Madrimov in the main event, were quickly sold out.
This is the first Riyadh season boxing event to be held outside Saudi Arabia and while the size of the card and the possibility of Eminem performing will hopefully draw crowds, fight manager Sean Gibbons believes having two of his fighters in the mix will be particularly helpful.
“I would say pit bull mania,” Gibbons said of popular Mexican Isaac Cruz, who is scheduled to defend his WBA 140-pound title against Jose Valenzuela on the show. “I would say pit bull mania. [heavyweight contender] Andy Ruiz…Los Angeles is an extension of Mexico.
“This isn't Omaha, Nebraska. [where Crawford lives]But His Excellency has put together a great card, so maybe you're not a boxing fan, but there are a lot of fans of the big events. But I'm going to say the proof is in the pudding. Crawford never fought in Los Angeles. Andy Ruiz and Pit Bull nearly sold out the Staples Center in 2001. When Isaac was with Gervonta [Davis]He drew a big crowd, a great crowd here. [Las Vegas] and [Rolando] Romero, so I'm sure Pitbull and Andy Ruiz will be a big part of it.”
Of course, Gibbons hasn't given up on a Cruz-David rematch, having narrowly edged Davis out the last time they fought, with Cruz now holding a world title.
“For the last three years, everywhere I've been, in airports, in bars, people of all nationalities have been asking me, 'When are you going to fight Gervonta?' This is the biggest fight that Gervonta can have, and Pitbull can have.”
“Not Teofimo [Lopez]Not Devin Haney. Not Ryan. [Gracia] We already know what it brought, Ryan and Gervonta. Pit Bull brought an entire fan base, an entire country. I think that's a really big thing. [The fight with Pitbull is] His closest match
“Ryan needed a tank to do business in New York. Ryan's all over the place. What they want to see is the Gervonta guy. They want to see a Mexican Mike Tyson vs. a reincarnation of Mike Tyson.”
Does Gibbons think the rematch could gross nearly seven figures in pay-per-view revenue, given how popular both fighters have become since they first met?
“Among the thieves and the pokers and all that stuff… you want to get up there.”
Gibbons is also arranging for Manny Pacquiao to return to boxing later this year to challenge Mario Barrios.
“Manny will be fighting in Japan on July 28th. [in an exhibition]We are in talks with Mario Barrios' team to hold a fight on the Reisen card. The fight would be easy to arrange, but as always the problem is finding a date and a venue. It's in September-October.
“It depends on what Canelo does, but if we're going to do the fight over the Fourth of July weekend, October seems more realistic. The only place it's going to be is Las Vegas. Where do you want to go? Nowhere but Las Vegas.”
Gibbons was in Las Vegas this week with Ricardo Salas and Mark Magsayo. The bout between Salas and Royman Villa was called off after Villa feinted, but the veteran Magsayo beat Eduardo Ramirez on points and Gibbons was full of praise for the former Philippine featherweight champion.
“I had the worst luck,” Gibbons explained. “I got to fight Gary Russell, who was the best 126-pound fighter in the world at the time. My reward for beating Gary Russell was to go straight into a mandatory fight with Rey Vargas. Well, I thought I won, but it wasn't a close decision. Then I got to fight Brandon Figueroa, who is one of the toughest fighters to fight with his style. Mark struggled at 126 pounds, and it showed in the fight.
“He won the first half of the fight, then lost the second half and lost a close decision, so he moved up to 130 pounds and this was his second fight.”
