Officials from Golden Boy Promotions and the Cowboys yesterday formally announced that Canelo Alvarez will face Liam Smith on Sept. 17 at AT&T Stadium, and Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones said the stadium hosting top sporting events is "what we are all about.” Jones appeared on CNBC yesterday to promote the fight and said, "What I have tried to do since we built this stadium is have the great sport events, or great events." He noted Alvarez "is a hero in Mexico" and will be "enthusiastically supported here with this fight." Jones: "We have such a great vaqueros to the Dallas fan base. ... With the draw and support that Canelo has as a Mexican, I think that we will really take it out the top" ("Power Lunch," CNBC, 7/18). Jones also appeared on Fox Sports Radio's "The Herd," saying, "I can’t tell you what a great hero … that Canelo is with our Hispanic fans." He added, "You’ve got a great fighter and great personality, it fits with our great fan base. We are excited about having it here.” This will mark the third major fight card to take place at AT&T Stadium, following two events headlined by Manny Pacquiao. Jones said, "When Pacquiao fought here, I got letters a foot-and-a-half high from our Hispanic fans thanking me for bringing boxing to AT&T Stadium" ("The Herd," Fox Sports Radio, 7/18). In Dallas, Kate Hairopoulos reports fight organizers "expect a sellout" for the event. The stadium will be set-up in such a way that officials will "count 45,000 and up as a full house." Golden Boy and the Cowboys "will donate a percentage of the proceeds to a charity of the Dallas Police Department and [Dallas Area Rapid Transit's] choosing to honor the officers who were killed in the recent downtown shootings" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/19).
THE "WOW" FACTOR: Jones during his media blitz discussed AT&T Stadium, saying about "two-thirds of this stadium was built for the fans that are inside it, that are there." Jones: "But at least a third of the cost of the stadium was for television, was for perception. It was so that ... when you looked at an event here, had the occasion to be here, you’d go, ‘Wow, real meat on the bone,’ and that’s what we tried to do with the stadium." The stadium cost Jones a reported $1.2B before it opened in '09, and he said, "They ought to pass a law to keep you from spending that much money, but we’re proud of our stadium” ("Power Lunch," CNBC, 7/18).
