Fierce foe for boxing

LAS VEGAS — It is 5 p.m. on a Saturday at Mandalay Bay Events Center, where the doors have just opened for the first bout of a fight show. It is one of several fights that will take place hours before the pay-per-view battles start.

Typically, there are more people working in the arena than watching the first fight of a boxing card.

“You can usually hear a pin drop,” said Marc Ratner, the former executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Not tonight. This night there is a crowd waiting for the doors to open, and there are about 6,000 people already in the arena when Kurt Pellegrino takes on Drew Ficket in a welterweight bout.

But then, this isn’t a boxing show.

It’s an Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts event, and the sport that blends boxing, kick boxing, wrestling and jujitsu is all the rage in Las Vegas.

“It is amazing how big it has become,” said Randy Couture, a former UFC fighter and now a color analyst. “And it’s getting bigger.”

On July 8, more than 12,000 people filled sold-out Mandalay Bay Events Center for UFC 61 for a highly anticipated mixed martial arts battle featuring four of the sport’s biggest stars. Ken Shamrock, one of the first UFC fighters, faced Tito Ortiz in a grudge match, and heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia, at 6-foot-8 and 255 pounds, defended his title in the third fight of a trilogy against Andrei Arlovski.

Those who were fortunate enough to obtain box office tickets paid between $100 and $750 to attend. Some paid much more to buy tickets from scalpers. Others paid to watch the show on closed circuit at other casinos in town.

In May, Staples Center in Los Angeles was sold out for UFC 60. The month before, the Arrowhead Pond arena in Anaheim was sold out for UFC 59.

Contrast that with Saturday night’s boxing pay-per-view show at MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, considered to be the center of the boxing universe.

Two of boxing’s biggest stars, Shane Mosley and Fernando Vargas, fought in a rematch. There were thousands of empty seats, and most likely a portion of the 9,800 fans who did show up received complimentary tickets.

Or contrast tomorrow’s re-debut on ESPN of a recycled, failed network boxing program, “The Contender,” to the success of Ultimate Fighting Championship’s shows on Spike TV. The reality program “The Ultimate Fighter” is the network’s most-watched program.

That sound you hear in Las Vegas is not a pin dropping, but knees knocking — the knees of those in the boxing business who see their sport being pummeled by Ultimate Fighting Championship, the most prominent of the various mixed martial arts promotions in America.

Most boxing promoters don’t want to even acknowledge the existence of Ultimate Fighting Championship. Bob Arum at Top Rank did not respond to questions about it, and a representative of Kathy Duva at Main Events said the firm won’t discuss it.

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