Top Rank CEO Bob Arum would like to match unbeaten WBO lightweight titleholder Terence Crawford against the winner of Saturday night's bout between former title challengers Raymundo Beltran and Arash Usmanee, which will take place on the undercard of Tim Bradley-Manny Pacquiao.
"We'll see what happens on Saturday night, because I would like the winner of that fight to fight [Crawford]. This summer, he'll be defending his title in Council Bluffs, Iowa, which is three minutes from downtown Omaha," said Arum. "That's where the casinos are and so forth. So the fight might not be held in Omaha, but it will be in Council Bluffs, which is the same thing."
Great if this happened. I know that Crawford has stated that he would like to defend his title in his hometown someday. I remember seeing him at a Creighton game this season. Glad to see the ovation that he received when they showed him on the video board.
The first boxer from Omaha to hold a recognized world title said Monday that he will refuse to make his first defense in Council Bluffs instead of Omaha, even if it means the fight is moved out of the area.
“It does matter because Council Bluffs is (in) Iowa,” he said. “I want it in Omaha, Nebraska. That's where I'm from. I'm not from Iowa. All my supporters come from Omaha. This is home.
“I'm not fighting there. If it's like that, I'm going back out of town. I'll fight somewhere else.”
Crawford's fight promoter is working on a deal with CenturyLink Center managers for a June 28 title fight in the downtown Omaha arena.
It's “not 100 percent,” said Brad Jacobs, an event producer for Las Vegas-based Top Rank Boxing.
But he said, and CenturyLink managers confirmed, that the promoter's focus had shifted from Council Bluffs to Omaha as the site for Crawford's first title defense, and that serious talks were underway with Omaha's Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority officials to make it happen.
Among the details being discussed: how to configure 10,000-plus seats with a good view of a ring in an arena that can hold nearly 19,000 for basketball.
“If everything works out, by the middle of next week we should have it ironed out,” Jacobs said. “But there's a lot of stuff to get done between now and then.”
This would be so incredible! We need to make this happen and show yet another section of the sporting world that Omaha is one of the best around at hosting these types of events.
Honestly I think this being a unique event will drive ticket sales. I wouldn't be shocked at all to see a sold out arena, this is such a huge get for CLC and Omaha. I will gladly sit in the nose bleeds to be there.
"The press conference is Thursday, I'm leaving Wednesday for Omaha. Gamboa will be there, and tickets will go on sale on Friday. I'm looking forward to the fight. First of all, it's great to bring boxing back to the heart of the country," said Arum.
"It's great to have one of Omaha's own to have won the championship in Scotland, and to come back and to make his first title defense in Omaha before the hometown fans. Tickets will be priced very reasonably, with a $100 top, and we wanted to have moderate ticket prices starting at $25, and we are sure that we'll have great, great attendance."
"It's been a real long time coming," a pumped-up Crawford told ESPN.com on Tuesday after the bout was finalized. "I've been looking forward to it since I turned pro. There's a lot of support here for me, a lot of people always asking me when I'm gonna fight here. We got the fight here now and everyone is excited about it. It's gonna be a big opportunity for me to fight in Omaha and be successful with a victory over the likes of Gamboa."
A news conference at the arena -- about 20 minutes from Crawford's home -- is scheduled for Thursday afternoon and is open to the public.
"I was looking at the lightweight picture and I think this matches the two best lightweights in the world," Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, who promotes Crawford, told ESPN.com. "I believe the winner legitimately establishes himself as No. 1 in the weight class. The other thing that appeals to me is that we are doing this fight -- a real high-class fight -- in the heartland of the country and, hopefully, this can help bring back interest in boxing in a significant part of the country, where they don't get too many big fights."
what was the detail on the ticket sales that I caught the end of the discussion on 1620 a few days back? Sounds like scalpers got their hands on the "good" seats and somehow it was difforent than other events. Figured I might hear more about it but have not heard it mentioned agian.
For the record NEBUGEATER does not equal BUGEATER !!!!!!!
Top Rank® announced today that undefeated Top-Five contenders MATT KOROBOV and JOSE UZCATEGUI would battle in a 10-round rumble in the co-main event to World Boxing Organization (WBO) lightweight champion TERENCE CRAWFORD'S world title defense homecoming against Cuban sensation and three-division world champion YURIORKIS GAMBOA. Korobov and Uzcategui will be battling for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title. Both fights will be televised live from the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Saturday, June 28, on HBO Boxing After Dark®, in its first-ever visit to Omaha, beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.
“If he wins this fight, we’ll schedule him in the fall on HBO, maybe in another division,” he said. “Then he’s on his way. You saw in the amateurs, he beat a guy like (unified 140-pound champion) Danny Garcia. Everybody’s open for him. In other words, this is his first move to become a superstar.
“He’s a star now. If he wins this fight, he’s moving in the path of superstardom.”
I really hope Crawford wins this Saturday. I wonder what attendance will be like?
Last edited by BRoss on Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Crowd was booing. Color announcer said they were waiting for hometown Crawford. Lampley's said this was their first fight. They don't understand the intricacies of a tactical fight.