Still reeling from the unprecedented critical and financial success of Manny Pacquiao’s welterweight title defense over Joshua Clottey, which took place March 13 at Cowboys Stadium, Top Rank president Bob Arum has floated the possibility of returning to Arlington.
With Pacquiao currently occupied with winning a congressional seat in his native Philippines, Top Rank is said to be exploring the idea of hosting another card from Cowboys Stadium with the headlining fighter rumored to be undisputed middleweight champion Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik of Youngstown, OH.
Joe Scalzo of The Vindicator reports the following quote from Arum:
“[Cowboys owner] Jerry [Jones] was very impressed when he met Kelly, and he told me he’s looking forward to Kelly fighting a main event in Cowboys stadium,” said Arum. “When I mentioned it to Kelly, his eyes opened wide.”
The Pacquiao-Clottey fight drew nearly 51,000 people to Cowboys Stadium, but without the star power of a Pacquiao, Arum is looking at a more modest turnout.
“Kelly, on his own, couldn’t do 40,000 in Cowboys Stadium,” Arum said. “But north Texas has a huge Hispanic population.” Arum is quoted as saying in Scalzo’s piece. “With a strong Hispanic fighter, he could do 40,000.”
Names like the disgraced Tijuana boxer Antonio Margarito, and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. have been named as possibly opponents for Pavlik, or perhaps fighting in a co-featured bout on the undercard. While Pavlik enjoys tremendous popularity in his native Ohio, his global popularity has yet to translate to Pacquiao or Mayweather numbers. As such, talks of Pavlik fighting a high profile opponent seem more and more like a prerequisite if Jones and Arum hope to replicate their first stadium boxing card. Lucian Bute, Paul “The punisher” Williams, and Ronald “Winky” Wright have all had their names floated out as possible opponents.
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