Category: Boxing

Love him or loathe him, Floyd Mayweather is, in some regards, unrivaled in the world of boxing both in terms of his 50-0 record, defensive abilities, and his fight purses. As an undefeated fighter and with PPV audiences dying to either see his winning run continue, the dollar sums he was and indeed is able to command and draw in went up and up over the years. Even now when he’s effectively retired from professional boxing, he hasn’t exactly left the scene. A mismatched fight against social media star Logan Paul is imminent for instance, and should bring in the millions once more.

Nowadays Floyd Mayweather is more often found in a Las Vegas Casino than he is a boxing ring.No doubt he’s still in need of a rush and certainly falls into the category of having ‘money to burn’. It’s not in high risk credit card processing territory though because even in his advancing years – boxing-wise- he’s capable of bringing in big bucks. Let’s take a look at a few of his fights that effortlessly brought in the crowds and the $$$.

Mayweather vs Pacquiao drew in an astonishing £678M. The fight resulted in 4.6m PPV sales and a record gate. Fans had been hoping for the match up for half a decade and consequently it drew such interest that it was dubbed the Fight of the Century. Inevitably, considering the anticipation beforehand the fight didn’t quite live up to the hype. It was however still a masterclass by Mayweather earning a purse of £223.5m, with Pacquiao earning £122m for the fight.

Next up was what could be classed as Mayweather’s first ‘gimmicky’ fight, against Connor McGregor.  The fight earned £662.5m total (with a £223.5m purse for Mayweather, and £70m for McGregor) and surprisingly MMA superstar McGregor actually put up a better performance than most had anticipation. He certainly didn’t let himself down in what was dubbed ‘The Money Fight’ (how imaginative!). That said at no point did Mayweather actually look in trouble and as such it was something of an easy pay day for the fighter.

Third up and quite a drop was Mayweather vs Canelo, coming it at £214m. The Mexican fighter, who has been a world champion in four different weight classes (as has Mayweather), was a relative youngster when he fought Mayweather and so to an extent was schooled by him, in the fight held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Nowadays Canelo is a powerful force in boxing, as he recently demonstrated in his devastating win against the UK’s Billy Joe Saunders. Indeed the fighter hasn’t lost before or since his loss to Mayweather and so it would’ve been a fascinating match-up if they’d both been able to take each other in in their prime.

So all in all we certainly see that Floyd Mayweather is ‘Moneymaker’ by both name and nature. He’s not everyones cup of tea, with his brash and extravagant attitude on full display. At the same time though, it’s hard not to admire someone who has done it all, and essentially not put a foot wrong during their career.

 

If anyone ever asks you where the home of boxing is, or perhaps where some of the biggest fights have occurred, more often than not there will be one reply, Las Vegas. The bright lights of Vegas, Nevada have long been synonymous with both casinos and boxing. The former – casinos – is true to the point where even themed sites from other countries, such as the best online casinos australia seek to recreate that classic vegas feel. The latter – boxing – brings to mind classic moments from some of the most memorable match ups in boxing history.

One Vegas brawl that I remember staying up to watch in a bleary-eyed state was the bout between Floyd Mayweather andRicky Hatton. A true fan favourite, Hatton was accompanied to the MGM by thousands of British fans looking to support him against a boxing great. Unfortunately for him, the world stage proved to be a level too far compared to being a local legend on the domestic level.

In 2017 Mayweather (undefeated to this day) was back in Vegas, this time taking part in what was seen as a gimmick of sorts by some; a fight against former UFC champion Conor McGregor. Though he may have taken the fight on account that he was fighting someone with little boxing experience, McGregor actually put on a good performance. The bout is the second highest ‘boxing gate’ gross fight in Nevada to this day, bringing in $55 million+. The highest gross being Floyd Mayweather (again!) vs Manny Pacquiao in 2015, grossing $72 million.

We need look no further than Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder in February 2020 for the last pre-pandemic Vegas masterlcass in boxing. Off the back of the first epic match-up between the two, Fury showed exactly how it’s done at the MGM. Vegas is on another level with venues doubling as casinos and sports venues, though of course there are options like best payout nz casinos for online players too. We can’t all be lucky enough to be in Vegas 24/7! In any case, let’s hope it’s not long until the next epic boxing classic. It’s about time we had more top level sport to look forward to!

Born Cassius Marcellus Clay in Louisville, Kentucky, Muhammad Ali fought 61 times as a professional boxer, winning 56 times, including 37 by knockout. He first became world heavyweight champion in February, 1964, aged 22, when defeating Sonny Liston by technical knockout. He was stripped of the title in 1966 for refusing to be drafted into the U.S. Army, but regained it by knocking out George Foreman in the fabled ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ in Kinshasa, Zaire in 1974. Ali lost the title to Leon Spinks, by split decision, in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1978, but regained it, by unanimous decision, in a rematch in New Orleans, Louisiana later the same year.

In this day and age of course there is also a heavy focus on the betting interest perspective. With more and more sportsbook options out there, there’s no shortage of ways to ‘put your money where your mouth is’. Using a Caesars NY sportsbook promo code, or one of the other top offers out there can also give your bet a boost to tip the odds very much in your favor. Boxing has to be one of the prime opportunities to go for the big win, with so many types of bets (round betting, victory type: TKO, KO, Distance etc) and exciting upcoming fights to get involved in (Tyson Fury vs Dillion Whyte, Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk 2). It’s a good time to be a boxing fan.

but back to Ali, and sside from Spinks, the other four men to beat Ali were, in chronological order, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick. Ali retired after the second Spinks fight, but attempted an ill-advised comeback in 1980, aged 38, only to lose, by technical knockout, to Larry Holmes after ten rounds in Las Vegas. The following year, Ali tried again, in a non-title fight against Trevor Berbick in Nassau, Bahamas, but lost by unanimous decision. He finally admitted defeat, saying, ‘Father Time has caught up with me. I’m finished.’

 

On September 2, 1995, Franklin ‘Frank’ Bruno achieved his oft-stated ambition of becoming heavyweight champion of the world, defeating reigning World Boxing Council (WBC) champion Oliver McCall by unanimous decision at Wembley Stadium, London. Bruno had previously tried, and failed, to win a world heavyweight title, being knocked out by Tim Witherspoon in 1986 and stopped by Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis in 1989 amd 1993, respectively.

Indeed, it was Lewis that McCall had defeated, by technical knockout, at Wembley Arena, London the previous September to win the WBC title. He had subsequently won a surprisingly close, but unanimous, decision against 45-year-old Larry Holmes at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas on his first defence of the title in April, 1995. After the first ten rounds of the match billed as ‘The Empire Strikes Back’, Bruno was clearly ahead on points and withstood a final, desperate onslaught from McCall to win 117-111, 117-1, 115-113.

Vegas is of course known for both boxing and as the go-to casino destination; it’s the gamblers dream of bright lights and bid bets. Caesars Palace itself is a premium casino option. With that said, of course online options like Online Casino Bluebook are also very appealing to the casino minded, and offer a unique convenience factor as well as countless games on offer -roulette, poker, and countless captivating slots options.

For all his muscularity and punching power, Bruno was a limited fighter at the highest level and his limitations were ruthlessly exposed in his first, mandatory defence of the WBC World Heavyweight Championship at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada on March16, 1996. Bruno once again faced Tyson, who had returned to professional boxing the previous August after serving three years in prison, and lasted just three rounds. In truth, Bruno offered very little and, less than a minute into the third round, succumbed to a flurry of unanswered punches that sent him crashing into the ropes, where the referee stopped the fight. His reign as WBC World Heavyweight Champion had lasted 195 days, or six months and two weeks.

The MGM is once again, yet another top location for casino goers in (Nevada) Las Vegas. Once against demonstrating that the ‘City of Sin’ really is the place to be if you’re a follower of either boxing of enjoy the thrill of the spin of a roulette wheel. It’s often been known for boxers to also enjoy the allure of the casino lifestyle. Flloy Mayweather jnr for instance is frequently pictures playing slots or sports betting. It’s said that it’s not uncommon for him to gamble $1,000,000 at a time, but with a net worth of half a billion dollars I suppose he can afford it (for now!).