Inside, the atmosphere is similar to a packed nightclub.
"This is my first big fight," says Terrell Davis, 30, who is in town with his cousin. "This is like going to the Super Bowl or the NBA All-Star game," he says between bites of pizza. Davis should know; the Denver Broncos' running back was the MVP in Super Bowl XXXII.
For me, attending a bout in Las Vegas has little to do with history makers and stinging combinations; it's the crowd that tweaks my spirits. I'll walk 20 laps around the promenade looking for the person who decided to wear Dolce & Gabbana shoes and a skirt to the event.
Kelvin Roperson of Detroit stands at a concession counter with a buddy. Looking fit in a fedora and black blazer with extra-wide shoulders, Roperson sips a beer and says, "You can feel the electricity. You can feel it in everyone."
Las Vegas has good reason to call itself "The Boxing Capital of the World." According to the Las Vegas Sun, a fight of this caliber can bring $100 million to the city, which already draws more than 90 percent of the state's professional boxing matches. So far this year there have been nearly 70 professional matches in the state, where, of course, betting on them is legal.
John Piet, a senior research analyst for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, estimates that on average, each of the last five professional fights here brought in up to $7 million in non-gaming revenue: transportation, lodging, ticket sales, dining, and shopping.
Ticket sales are no small part of that total; tickets to the Ruiz-Jones fight cost from $200 to $3,000 (for ringside seats). "A lot of the people a fight brings in are usually higher-income visitors," said Piet.
Since the late 1970s, when Leon Spinks defeated Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight crown, Las Vegas has played host to some of the fiercest matches of all time.
