Want to see a casino host take a beating? Here’s your chance

Did you hear the one about the casino host who got into a fistfight but didn't get fired?

His name is Steve Cyr.

In the corporate gaming era, the ability to land a three-punch combination probably isn't the first skill that casino executives look for when recruiting a host. Relentless charm is a must. A degree in street psychology is invaluable.

But being able to hook off the jab?

Not so much.

At 48, Cyr has found a way to make amateur pugilism pay. He's a participant and prime motivator behind an increasingly popular boxing event that pits members of the casino, nightclub, restaurant and even banking industries against each other. The latest installment, underwritten by the Golden Gate casino, is set for Wednesday night on Fremont Street. The free fight card is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.

Each boxer brings his own rooting section that sometimes numbers in the hundreds. Obviously, it's not designed to compete for Hollywood swells, diamond-dripping high rollers and vast pay-per-view audiences. No one will confuse Cyr's skills with those of Floyd "Money" Mayweather.

But what the boxers lack in sweet science expertise, the casino host says, they make up for in heart and effort. Professional or amateur, no fighter wants to be humiliated in front of friends and family.

The fights figure to draw a couple thousand party animals to Fremont Street on what might otherwise have been a slow Wednesday night.

"We do it on Wednesday nights because all of us work Fridays and Saturdays," Cyr says. "They're industry people, so we're drinkers. We're partyers. We know how to have a good time."

An industry fight card at the Tropicana drew approximately 3,000. Main event fighter Mark Alum, a manager at the Spearmint Rhino topless cabaret, brings his formidable fists and 300 fans with him.

The presence of a Wednesday night fight card on Fremont Street is yet another sign of downtown's successful reinvention. Once considered an elephant graveyard for nickel slot Susies and dime dice Dannys, it now regularly draws a younger crowd that's as interested in drinking and dining as spending time in a casino.

Cyr has made a career out of promoting gambling to gamblers up and down the Strip and from the Hard Rock to Aruba, but he sincerely seems to get a kick out of downtown's new energy. His customers also like to come to town and watch him fight.

If they're like most players, they probably find irresistible the prospect of a casino guy taking a beating for a change.

The event is sanctioned by the Nevada Athletic Commission. Barry Boxing is involved, and Derek Stevens of the Golden Gate and The D (formerly Fitzgeralds) is picking up the tab.

Now, about the boxing casino host. A licensed junket operator for nine casinos, Cyr is also the subject of Deke Castleman's "Whale Hunt in the Desert: The Secret Las Vegas of Superhost Steve Cyr."

It's a good book, but it doesn't hit as hard as he does. He fights at 175 pounds in the masters division, a euphemism for the "old guy club." Trouble is, he sometimes ends up going against men a decade his junior. It's just a rumor, but I hear the next card Cyr will be on is sponsored by AARP.

With a 4-2 record, he tries to keep up his guard along with his sense of humor.

"Instead of fighting it out in the casino pit, we're fighting it out in the ring," he says. And the truth is, "I like playing the old guy. I like to tell people, at this point in my career I'm just in it for the money."

So what if some of the pugilists have spent more time pouring martinis than studying the Marquess of Queensberry Rules. Did he mention the fight card is free?

And there will be go-go dancers on a Wednesday night on Fremont Street?

Top that, Mr. Mayweather.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Email him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.