Macau packs a punch in fight for top bouts
Print Edition
A CHINESE fighter’s victory at a Macau showdown brings the world’s top casino market a step closer to challenging Las Vegas for dominance of another Sin City staple: big-time boxing matches.
Macau, which long ago eclipsed Vegas as the world’s top gambling city, is now looking to add to its allure by holding the kind of boxing bouts that Las Vegas is known for.
The Chinese city near Hong Kong is hosting a series of high-profile bouts this year featuring a pair of Asian stars: Chinese two-time Olympic gold medalist Zou Shiming and Philippine fighter Manny Pacquiao.
Zou made his professional debut in April, winning the “Fists of Gold” match at Macau’s Venetian resort. He returned for a second installment of the series last Saturday, defeating his Mexican opponent in a unanimous decision at the Cotai Arena.
Zou’s rise has helped boost boxing’s popularity among fans in China, where the sport was banned until the mid-1980s. Chinese fans, mostly subdued for the six preliminary “undercard” fights, rose to their feet for the main event, calling out “Jia you!” — Chinese for “Let’s go!” — and stomping their feet as Zou fought a six-round flyweight match with Jesus Ortega.
Now all eyes are on the “Clash in Cotai” in November, featuring Pacquiao for the main event and Zou on the undercard. Organizers say it’ll be the biggest professional boxing match ever held in China. It’ll also be the first outside of the US since 2006 for the Filipino superstar, who has lost his two last bouts.
Boxing’s emergence in Macau is another reminder of how the global gambling industry’s center of gravity has shifted to the East thanks to rising incomes in China. But authorities want Macau to be known for more than gambling and see big events as a way to turn the city into a broader tourist destination.
Zou’s celebrated trainer, Los Angeles-based Freddie Roach, left no doubt about how the focus has changed in the boxing world.
“I think I’ve got a new home,” he said at a press conference last week, referring to the Venetian, the flagship casino resort of billionaire Sheldon Adelson’s Macau casino arm, Sands China Ltd. “Macau has become the capital of the boxing world.”
For promoter Top Rank, it’s a chance to get a head start on bringing the sport to the huge, untapped market in China. Boxing was banned under Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong for being too violent and too Western. It wasn’t until 1986 that the ban was lifted.
The sport is nowhere near as popular in China as soccer or basketball, but Top Rank boss Bob Arum sees a vast potential market of new fans. Key to his plan is Zou, who became a celebrity in China after winning a gold medal in the Beijing Olympics and another at the London Games.
Zou “has energized people who follow sports in China,” said Arum. “The number of people who watched his last fight in China was quite remarkable, anywhere between 100 million to 200 million homes based on the surveys we’ve had done. That’s outstanding. Most countries don’t even have that many people.”
Arum said production costs for a Macau show amount to US$500,000, about the same as for bouts in Vegas.
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