Sarah Feldberg
Last week was a busy one for sports in Las Vegas. The city's first NHL team, the Golden Knights, drafted its initial squad, including Marc-Andre Fleury of the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins and Jason Garrison of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Oakland Raiders signed quarterback Derek Carr to a five-year, $125 million contract, which will give him two years in Las Vegas after the team's move to the desert in 2020.
Meanwhile, fight fans grappled over the merits of the recently announced boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and MMA star Conor McGregor, set for Aug. 26 at the T-Mobile Arena, and debated the outcome of the Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev light heavyweight championship, which went to Ward by TKO after referee Tony Weeks called a stoppage in the eighth round.
I was there inside the Mandalay Bay Events Center on June 17 for Ward vs. Kovalev II, and despite the somewhat controversial conclusion, it was a thrilling night. The two men were meeting for the second time in less than a year after the first bout in November ended in an even more controversial decision for Ward where Kovalev made his displeasure known, and tension inside the arena ran high.
After the undercard bout just before the main event ended in a first-round knockout that looked as if it was thrown after the bell, the room felt jittery and energized, like anything could happen and probably would.
It was the feeling of fight night.
There's a level of pomp in boxing that's missing from other sports: the tuxedo-clad commentators, the front row full of celebrities, the ring illuminated like a shrine and the dramatic walk-ins. There's music booming as the contenders and their entourages file toward the floor.
It's all part of the match's rising action, a way to build anticipation for the coming battle. And it works. No one's on the edge of their seat for the first pitch of a baseball game.
When the ring girls, color guard, trainers and promoters had all climbed out of the ropes; and ring announcer Bruce Buffer's booming voice had quieted, just three figures were left in the spotlight. As the opening bell rang, Ward and Kovalev charged into the center, and the crowd roared.
The thing about watching a fight live is the quiet. Unlike a basketball or football game, where there's almost always an announcer, song or audience reaction reverberating, boxing is a shockingly quiet sport. For three minutes at a time, the two pugilists stalked each other, pouncing and retreating to exploit any weakness or opportunity while the crowd held its collective breath. Every now and then a punch would land with a powerful thud, and the room would erupt. Then we'd settle back into silence, staring into the ring to await some grand reckoning or moment of truth.
Up close a fight is more intense, more frightening, more exhilarating. When you can see the sweat fly and the boxers grimace, boxing becomes something primal and powerful. This may be a sport, but it isn't a game. No one's trying to just have fun out there.
And when that moment of reckoning came, in the eighth round via a wicked right hook from Ward that made Kovalev stumble and left him swaying enough for Weeks to call a stoppage, the Mandalay Bay Events Center exploded into a cathartic cacophony of cheers and jeers.
Las Vegas's professional sports options are about to increase exponentially. There will be NHL hockey on the Strip, with center ice just a few minutes walk from the casino floor. The Raiders will play just west of the I-15, a panorama of casinos serving as the stadium backdrop. The buzz of new sports and new teams is good for the city — the name Las Vegas popping into headlines for more than casino developments and celebrity scandals — but none of them will compete with fight night for drama or tension.
Even as boxing's mainstream popularity has waned in recent years, its place in Las Vegas remains strong. Boxing still infuses the Strip with a unique energy. It still brings crowds, controversy and incredible people-watching. With the major leagues heading to the desert there's still plenty of buzz for the Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin middleweight fight at T-Mobile Arena on Sept. 16 and, yes, Mayweather vs. McGregor in the same room on Aug. 26. There's still nothing like the sweet science on a Saturday in Vegas. There's still nothing like fight night.