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By Cassandra Cousineau, LVSportsBiz.com Boxing Writer
To pump up the hype around the inaugural Formula One week in Las Vegas, ESPN asked Las Vegas-based boxing promoter Top Rank to stage a big fight event in Vegas Thursday two days before the race cars take to the Strip corridor Saturday.
Top Rank founder Bob Arum obliged.
As a result, Shakur Stevenson and Edwin De Los Santos will square off at T-Mobile Arena Thursday. ESPN is broadcasting the Las Vegas Grand Prix, a 50-lap road race that has divided Las Vegas. Locals have complained bitterly about F1 taking over the Strip corridor for the 3.8-mile route and causing major disruptions from the road work and race construction.
“There’s a lot of excitement in town,” Arum told LVSportsBiz.com this week.
“Obviously, the traffic isn’t so great because of Formula One and what they’ve done with all the construction, but it is what it is,” Arum said. “We’re happy to be part of festivities that set Top Rank apart from other promotions this year, especially since there’s been so much transition.”
Arum, turning 92 years old soon, said with Top Rank based in Las Vegas the boxing promotion company “puts us at the epicenter of not just boxing, but the future of major sports and events in the United States.”
Arum elaborated on Las Vegas becoming a hub for major sporting events.
“The more big time events you get, the more it makes the place a big sports city,” he said. “Not only do we have the F1 race, in February we have the Super Bowl. Big college bowl games, and you see how excited the town is about the WNBA champion Aces. They have the MVP in Wilson and a terrific team of guards.”
He acknowledged that some major fights may venture abroad, but the global interest in boxing in Las Vegas only serves to elevate the sport.
“Especially,” he said “as a lead-in to such a global phenomenon as F1.”