Tovin Lapan
The boxing world knew a dip in interest was coming with the retirements of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao coming six months apart. Without two of the sports' biggest draws, interest was bound to wane.
But 2016 has been a particularly bleak year for boxing, especially in Las Vegas, the nation's capital for combat sports.
It started in April, when Manny Pacquiao's supposed last fight, a rubber match with Timothy Bradley, did not draw as well as the previous two bouts between the boxers, according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Promoter Bob Arum publicly lamented the lower than expected pay-per-view numbers.
Rising Mexican star Saul "Canelo" Alvarez was supposed to fill some of the void, but he has skipped marquee matchups for lesser opponents who offered less of a threat. After failing to sell out a fight in May, Canelo chose to battle in Dallas instead of Las Vegas during the week of Mexican Independence Day festivities in September.
When Mayweather fought Canelo in 2013 and Manny Pacquiao in 2015, each time the paid attendance was more than 16,000. In May, when Canelo fought Amir Khan, a well-known boxer who was not considered a serious challenger to the larger Mexican fighter, the paid attendance was about 13,000, according to Nevada State Athletic Commission figures.
"I think that showed how poorly things went for Canelo vs. Khan," Las Vegas Sun assistant sports editor and boxing reporter Case Keefer said. "If Canelo vs. Khan had done big numbers, then Canelo would've been back here for whomever he was fighting next. Because the fight in May didn't have a great draw, and the fans weren't so into it like when he fought Floyd, it was easier for Golden Boy to go elsewhere with the fight."
There are some big bouts coming up on the calendar, and promoters are hoping for a strong close to the year, but many of the remaining fights appeal to boxing aficionados more than casual fans.
Manny Pacquiao is coming out of retirement to fight Jessie Vargas for his WBO welterweight belt on Nov. 5. That fight is being held at the Thomas & Mack Arena, and Keefer said the fact the fight is not in one of the larger Strip arenas is a telling indicator that the promoters don't expect Pacquiao to draw the crowds he did in the past.
Perhaps the best matchup on paper all year is the light-heavyweight title bout between champion Sergey Kovalev and challenger Andre Ward, two fighters who are widely considered to be in the top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world. But that fight, at the T-Mobile Arena, is scheduled for Nov. 19, just two weeks after the Pacquiao bout.
"Kovalev vs. Ward is a great fight from a boxing perspective, and hard-core boxing fans will come out for that one," Keefer said. "There might be some concern about the Pacquiao fight splitting some of those ticket sales because they are close together, but I wouldn't be stunned if it did better than expectations."
There is another title bout on tap the week after Kovalev-Ward, between junior lightweights Vasyl Lomachenko and Nicholas Walters, but that features lesser known fighters. With all of the fights packed into November, it appears Las Vegas is unlikely to have a grand fight weekend in 2016 as it has had most years.
"If Kovalev vs. Ward is inside boxing, then the Lomachenko vs. Walters fight is inside-inside boxing," Keefer said. "I don't think many casual fans know who those guys are."