Boxing vs. MMA: Which sport reigns in Las Vegas?

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Steve Marcus

Brothers Xavier Williams, left, 12, and Tony Williams, 13, do push-ups at Johnny Tocco’s Boxing Gym Monday, April 17, 2017.

Sun, Apr 30, 2017 (2 a.m.)

Covered in each other’s blood after five rounds and more than 300 significant strikes, Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz stood waiting for the decision under the lights of T-Mobile Arena. McGregor won the Aug. 20 match and earned an officially reported $3 million. It was the largest payout in the history of mixed martial arts’ flagship promotion, the Ultimate Fighting Championship. But if you add up all the extras for bonuses, sponsorships, shares of the pay-per-view take and fees for afterparty appearances, he and Diaz also likely made one of the highest combined payouts in UFC history: an estimated $28 million.

While that’s an incredible amount of money, it doesn’t compare with the biggest purses in boxing. Floyd Mayweather Jr. made $220 million for his 2015 win against Manny Pacquiao. And in losing, Pacquiao took home more than $150 million. Even going back as far as 1997, Evander Holyfield made $33 million in his fight with Mike Tyson, who made $30 million (though Tyson had to give 10 percent of that to the Nevada State Athletic Commission for biting off part of Holyfield’s ear).

The days of boxing’s heavyweight champion being the most popular athlete in the country are gone, and most of the sport’s biggest stars are on their way out the door to retirement. But even though boxing has lost some of its luster while MMA has exploded in popularity, the latter is much younger and has catching up to do as far as pay for its athletes.

Johnny Tocco's Boxing Gym

Undefeated welterweight boxer Jeremy Launch slideshow »

Highest grossing boxing matches

1. $400M: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, May 2, 2015

2. $150M: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Sept. 14, 2013

3. $136M: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Oscar De La Hoya, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, May 5, 2007

4. $100M: Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson, Pyramid Arena, Memphis, Tenn., June 8, 2002

5. $96M: Mike Tyson vs. Peter McNeeley, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Aug. 19, 1995

Highest grossing MMA cards

Because MMA’s marquee promotion, UFC, is a privately owned company, it isn’t required to reveal gross revenue for events. While some dollars are hidden from the public eye, one figure made visible is the live gate, or total ticket sales for an event. Here are the top five gates in UFC history.

1. $17.7M: Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez, UFC 205, Madison Square Garden, New York, Nov. 12, 2016

2. $12.2M: Georges St-Pierre vs. Jake Shields, UFC 129, Rogers Centre, Toronto, April 30, 2011

3. $10.7 million: Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes, UFC 200, T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, July 9, 2016

4. $10 million: Conor McGregor vs. José Aldo, UFC 194, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Dec. 12, 2015

5. $7.7 million: Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz, UFC 202, T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Aug. 20, 2016

Top 5 MMA pay-per-view buys

1 — 1.65M: Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz, UFC 202, Aug. 20, 2016

2 — 1.6M: Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir, UFC 100, July 11, 2009

3 — 1.3M: Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz, UFC 196, March 5, 2016

4 — 1.3M: Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez, UFC 205, Nov. 12, 2016

5 — 1.1M: Ronda Rousey vs. Amanda Nunes, UFC 207, Dec. 30, 2016

Top 5 boxing pay-per-view buys

1 — 4.6M: Floyd Mayweather jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao, May 2, 2015

2 — 2.4M: Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr., May 5, 2007

3 — 2.2M: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Sept. 14, 2013

4 — 1.99M: Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson, June 28, 1997

5 — 1.97M: Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson, June 8, 2002

“In boxing, there is so much more money to be paid because big-time promoters like Golden Boy and Top Rank have to compete for fighters, so you’re able to make them compete against each other for you,” said Gil Martinez, who has coached both MMA and boxing locally for years. “In boxing, if one promoter doesn’t pay you what you want, then another will. In MMA, there is no competition for the UFC. If the UFC tells you they won’t pay you what you want, then you have nowhere else to go.”

The UFC is not a monopoly, but its grip on the sport, Martinez says, allows it to take a much higher percentage of an event’s earnings, leaving less for the fighters. The cuts aren’t known, and neither are undisclosed discretionary bonuses, but industry analysts say there is little consistency.

UFC officials have always countered by saying its lower-level and young fighters are better compensated than those in boxing. While major boxing promoters will pay as little as a few hundred dollars for fighters at the bottom of the card, only smaller MMA companies have purses that low.

The UFC currently pays at least $16,000 per bout to fighters on its roster. UFC President Dana White has repeatedly said disclosed payouts aren’t a fair barometer.

“If you look at where the UFC came from and where we are today, the one number that’s (gone up) is fighter purses,” FoxSports.com reported White saying in November.

That’s not the case with boxing, as pay largely depends on star power, where the sport currently is experiencing a shortage. But most say it shouldn’t be a competition anyway, given the sports’ differences in age and, more importantly, their shared interests.

Roy Jones Jr.’s Fight Academy trains fighters in both sports, with a full-size octagon right next to its boxing ring. Iconic downtown gym Johnny Tocco’s is more boxing-focused but still has fighters who train for MMA.

“It’s a small percentage — like 5 percent,” said longtime Johnny Tocco’s trainer Luis Monda. “I have like four or five MMA fighters that I train in boxing with the intention of them using what I teach them in MMA. Some of them fall in love with boxing, and they don’t want to leave it.”

The sports often are painted as rivals, but inside gyms, the two work hand-in-hand, or fist-in-fist.

“Combat sports should work together,” Monda said. “It’s us versus the guys that play with balls.”

Is a much-hyped crossover fight in the cards?

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a legend of both boxing and Las Vegas. Known for carrying a duffel bag stuffed with cash, he was undefeated (49-0) as a professional during a 19-year career in the ring, which ended in the fall of 2015.

Given that Mayweather is considered one of the greatest of all time, it’s no surprise that outspoken UFC brawler Conor McGregor wants a piece of the retired champ. But it was Mayweather who last spring admitted to starting the rumor of a crossover fight.

Now the tables appear turned, with UFC President Dana White saying recently that he was locking in the deal on McGregor’s side and waiting to hear from Mayweather. When asked about projected purse amounts by Fox Sports radio host Colin Cowherd, White said it depended how well the fight sold, but he guessed the men could make $100 million and $75 million. “(Mayweather) feels like he’s the A-side and he should get more of it. We haven’t really gotten into that negotiation yet. I wanted to get McGregor locked in first, because McGregor is under contract with me. And at the end of the day, does this fight make a ton of sense for me? It really doesn’t. But Conor wants this thing really bad and I’ve said it many times, the kid’s stepped up and saved some big fights for me, man, so I’m in. I’ll figure it out.”

The Irishman has been posting on social media about his ramped-up boxing training for the potential match (which most in the world of sports and sports betting say is a long shot). Reported by The Irish Sun, McGregor said: “Floyd may crap his jocks after all, and if so, I will go back to true fighting or just pick another boxer like Manny or something” — as in Manny Pacquiao, the three-time World Boxing Organization welterweight champion.

In February, Las Vegas’ Westgate Superbook opened betting on Mayweather as a minus-2500 favorite over McGregor, a plus-1100 underdog.

Las Vegas still rules the ring

In a 2014 story speculating about Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s retirement, sports news site Bleacher Report asserted that even such a monster talent could be replaced.

“From Muhammad Ali to Sugar Ray Leonard to Mike Tyson to Oscar De La Hoya and beyond, a new star has always filled the void, continuing Sin City’s reign as the home of big-league combat sports. ... A product of economics and tradition, in boxing there’s Las Vegas, and then there’s every place else,” the article read.

New York City once was its home, but the theory is that televised bouts killed the thrill of the in-person experience there. So in 1955, light heavyweight champ Archie Moore was scheduled to fight veteran heavyweight Niño Valdés for a chance at Rocky Marciano’s title, in what then was a sleepy little version of today’s Las Vegas. Hank Greenspun, publisher of the Las Vegas Sun (and father of current owner Brian Greenspun) called it “the greatest event for the town since the government started using the area for atom bomb tests.”

The fight took place at Cashman Field, with about 6,000 souls watching from the stands. It wasn’t until five years later that the sport returned, and for good. This time, the fight was inside the Las Vegas Convention Center. Then it moved to the casinos, thanks to trailblazer Kirk Kerkorian, whose International Hotel hosted Sonny Liston’s terrible loss to Leotis Martin in 1969. Caesars Palace became the fight mecca, with an outdoor arena that got built before each event.

And boxing remains one of the city’s major attractions today.

Sin City’s bastion of old-school boxing

Johnny Tocco’s Ringside Gym

While fighting and training as boxers did in the 1950s and ’60s is considered outdated today, Tocco’s is about as close as it gets. Once a month, the gym hosts sparring sessions in coordination with Downtown Las Vegas’ First Friday. Fans come in and watch up-and-coming amateurs brawl.

Address: 9 W. Charleston Blvd.

The 60-year-old brick walls of Johnny Tocco’s Ringside Gym still stand tall.

Faded murals of the greatest fighters in the sport’s history cover the bricks along Charleston Boulevard, and inside, the boxers learn to fight — unencumbered by treadmills, stair-steppers or air conditioning.

In the center of the main room is an old boxing ring. The ropes are tattered and the mat is a hand-me-down from Mandalay Bay. The stage for Joel Casamayor versus Diego Corrales in 2006, it’s now held onto the ring at Tocco’s with duct tape.

The walls are decorated with old boxing posters and an occasional bloodstain. “When you walk through the doors and look around, you get the impression that you might get your ass kicked,” said Luis Monda, a trainer at Tocco’s for the past five years. “The ones who don’t take boxing serious tend to get weeded out pretty quickly.”

Boxing is a staple of the city, here long before professional hockey or football started making noise. But the bedrock of the Las Vegas boxing scene sits just a half-mile off the Strip.

Tocco’s opened in 1953 and was made famous as the gym of then-heavyweight world champion Sonny Liston. His old truck tire still sits in the corner of the room, complete with puncture holes from Liston’s sledgehammer.

The story goes like this: Liston and his trainer, Gary Bates, would drive up to Mount Charleston and chop down trees to improve upper-body strength and lower-body stability. One weekend, a park ranger caught them and arrested Bates — sparing the heavyweight champion. Once Bates was released, the two went and bought the tire to hammer on as an alternative workout.

Liston isn’t the only legend this gym has housed. Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Mike Tyson and even Floyd Mayweather Jr. trained here.

“The building has so much history,” said Rodrigo Aranda, who trained for 21 of his 28 pro fights at Tocco’s, and now works as a trainer. “It reminds you of the good old days and takes you back to that time. You live in that time while you’re in here.”

No longer a destination for championship fighters, Tocco’s is loved for its embrace of dirt, sweat and grit.

“When I first pulled up, I laughed. It looks absurd from the outside ... But when I realized the level that people function at in here with minimal equipment, I realized how special the place was,” Monda said.

“If a guy wants to learn how to fight, he can do all the drills, hit the bags, jump over cones and ropes and do all of that crazy crap — which is good — but the only way he’s going to learn how to fight is to get in there and fight,” said John Maynard Roberts, a trainer at Tocco’s since 2001. “You need your bell rung, a black eye and a bloody nose.”

Roberts isn’t impressed with most modern fighters. “Old-school fighters are where it’s at,” he said. “Those guys were monsters compared to today’s fighters. People were tougher in those days. Life was harder. They were tougher and they fought more often.”

A mentor to Roberts, “Ancient” Archie Moore finished his boxing career with 219 professional fights. Julio César Chávez Sr. fought 115 times. For the sake of comparison, this weekend’s boxers, Canelo Álvarez and Julio César Chávez Jr., have fought 50 and 54 pro fights.

“Back in the day, it was just about fighting between the best,” Chávez Sr. said. “Nowadays, it’s more marketing and business.”

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