by Manuel Gonez
Cinco de Mayo is the single most important day in boxing. The reason why is simple: no other fight night has generated more money, publicity, or hype than Cinco de Mayo. Can anybody recall a Cinco de Mayo fight that wasn’t epic? The smart money is on no.
Legendary Mexican warriors have fought on this day: Julio Cesar Chavez, Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik “El Terrible” Morales, and Oscar “Golden Boy” de la Hoya. In each of these battles, fighters reaped handsome rewards, a generous purse, extraordinary media attention, and an opportunity to display their skills before a massive audience.
Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Cinco de Mayo 2012 continues the tradition with the mega-fight between Floyd “Money” Mayweather (42-0, 26 knockouts) and the Boricua Assassin Miguel Cotto (37-2, 30 knockouts). Although Mayweather is not Mexican, he understands that Mexicans love boxing and catering to them on May 5th means big money. May 5th and boxing are synonymous- Julio Cesar Chavez discovered it, Oscar De La Hoya exploited it, and now Money Mayweather is capitalizing on it. Cinco de Mayo has always been a huge payday for boxers, and May 5, 2012 is not different. However, Mayweather is achieving more than mere financial gain; he is filling a void that exists from the lack of a true Mexican superstar. Mayweather knows Mexicans love boxing so he is putting on a show for this exceedingly large fan base. This savvy business move is likely to gain him more popularity within the Mexican community.
Given the star power that both fighters command and factor in the elite venue –the MGM Grand–this matchup has all the ingredients to end up landing on the list of epic Cinco de Mayo fights.
Although Cotto is not a Mexican warrior, the tradition of featuring a global star of Mexican descent is not lost. The co-main event highlights the rising Mexican star Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (37-1, 27 knockouts) who is scheduled to meet the aging, but always entertaining Sugar Shane Mosley (46-7,39 knockouts, 1 draw).
It seems that the boxing community and of course, the Las Vegas economy is going to get what it desperately needs –two epic fights with an estimated $100 million in revenue for the City.
