Don King and the making of a fight town
Champions, television, resort partners and the dealmakers who turned a Las Vegas fight into a worldwide event.
Read the storyFIGHT CITY
From the gyms
to the big nights.
Boxing belongs at the heart of the Las Vegas sports story: the fighters, promoters, arenas and business behind the bouts.
THE LONG VIEWInside the fight business
All stories & magazine archiveFrom the undercard to the championship
Christy Martin, Deirdre Gogarty and the Aces belong in the centre of the Las Vegas story.
Read the storyHow television changed the fight business
The UFC’s growth shows why a sports city is also a place where audiences are built.
Read the storyThe referees and voices of fight night
Boxing
Mills Lane
The third man in the ring — and a central figure in one of Las Vegas boxing’s most remembered nights.
THE VEGAS CONNECTION
Read the profileThe Reno-based referee who officiated major Las Vegas fights, including the Tyson–Holyfield rematch at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Boxing
Joe Cortez
The referee behind “fair but firm,” with a Vegas story stretching beyond the ropes.
THE VEGAS CONNECTION
Read the profileA Las Vegas-based championship referee whose career and community work are preserved in UNLV’s Southern Nevada oral-history collection.
Boxing
Richard Steele
An official who also helped create opportunities beyond the main event.
THE VEGAS CONNECTION
Read the profileChampionship referee, Las Vegas promoter and youth-gym organizer.
Sports media
Chuck Hull
The voice connecting local casino fight cards to the great Las Vegas title nights.
THE VEGAS CONNECTION
Read the profileA longtime Las Vegas radio and television broadcaster and the ring announcer at many of the city’s biggest championship fights.
Sports media
Jimmy Lennon Jr.
A Hall of Fame ring announcer whose introductions became part of the Vegas fight-night ritual.
THE VEGAS CONNECTION
Read the profileA recurring voice of Las Vegas championship boxing, including Tyson–Holyfield and Mayweather–Pacquiao at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Sports media
Al Bernstein
A familiar voice explaining the fights to audiences outside the arena.
THE VEGAS CONNECTION
Read the profileBoxing broadcasting and Las Vegas charitable involvement.
The boxing reading room
Browse the reading roomDon King makes the promoter a star
Television, heavyweight champions and a promoter determined to become part of the show.
Sports Illustrated
Read the archive noteBob Arum and the work of selling a fight
A national profile follows Top Rank’s promoter through decades of promotion.
Sports Illustrated
Read the archive noteAli and Patterson: the city becomes a training camp
Before the Convention Center bout, the publicity battle spread across Las Vegas.
Sports Illustrated
Read the archive noteAli–Holmes: the cost of one more big night
Pat Putnam’s report examines a painful Caesars Palace heavyweight spectacle.
Sports Illustrated
Read the archive noteForeman and Lyle trade knockdowns at Caesars
A specialist boxing account revisits an extraordinary heavyweight exchange.
The Ring
Read the archive noteHagler–Hearns, forty years later
The Ring revisits the middleweight showdown that became a Caesars Palace landmark.
The Ring
Read the archive noteThe 89-second comeback and the man across the ring
Peter McNeeley looks back on the MGM Grand night that defined his public identity.
Sports Illustrated
Read the archive noteForeman’s second act, through Moorer’s eyes
An MGM Grand upset is remembered by the champion who lost his title.
The Ring
Read the archive noteHolyfield, Tyson and the reporting after the bite
A Vault podcast returns to the MGM Grand rematch and SI’s contemporary coverage.
Sports Illustrated
Read the archive noteThe New Yorker enters the Tyson aftermath
David Remnick examines the meaning of a notorious Las Vegas fight.
The New Yorker
Read the archive noteThe women who changed the Tyson undercard
Christy Martin and Deirdre Gogarty made a women’s bout impossible to overlook.
International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame
Read the archive noteWhen King and Arum shared a Las Vegas promotion
De La Hoya–Trinidad brought rival promoters and resort partners together.
Las Vegas Sun
Read the archive noteChávez, De La Hoya and a changing generation
A Caesars Palace title fight sits inside the history of the Chávez family.
Sports Illustrated
Read the archive noteA dot-com advertisement enters the ring
Fight trunks became advertising space during the early internet boom.
Wired
Read the archive noteThe eight minutes that kept being remembered
SI revisits Hagler–Hearns a quarter-century after the Caesars Palace fight.
Sports Illustrated
Read the archive noteMeet the promoters
Bob Arum, Don King, Oscar De La Hoya, Leonard Ellerbe and the executives who brought the business together.
Read the promoter profilesThe boxing archive
Follow the local record through Caesars Palace fight photographs, newspaper reporting and the city’s sports business history.
Explore boxing through the yearsFind the next card
Use the Nevada Athletic Commission’s schedule for sanctioned events, then confirm the card, venue and official ticket seller with the promoter or arena. The state schedule includes events outside Las Vegas.
Nevada event schedule (opens in a new tab)T-Mobile Arena events (opens in a new tab)
MGM Grand Garden events (opens in a new tab)
Amateur boxing
The UNLV Boxing Club is part of the city’s college and amateur scene. Follow the club’s information for participation and contact details.
UNLV Boxing Club (opens in a new tab)The Grand Garden chapter
MGM Grand Garden Arena opened in 1993 and became a setting for some of boxing’s biggest nights, including Holyfield–Tyson and Mayweather–Pacquiao.
Explore the venue