Boxing in Nevada enjoys banner year, rosy future

Keith Kizer looked at the ledger sheet and smiled.

The executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission saw a net income of $4,834,212.18 generated by a governing body that works on an annual operating budget of $425,978.

Those numbers were for fiscal year 2006. When the 2007 figures come out next July, Kizer will have even more to smile about because boxing in Nevada was the best it has been in years.

Thanks to a couple of mega-fights, both of which included Floyd Mayweather Jr., Nevada found itself front and center in boxing's renaissance this year.

"It was a great year for Nevada and for boxing fans in general," Kizer said. "We had out biggest year as far as live gates go, and it indicates the public has interest."

Mayweather's fight with Oscar De La Hoya on May 5 at the MGM Grand Garden produced a record gate for the state of $18,419,200. Mayweather's Dec. 8 fight with Ricky Hatton, also at the MGM Grand, was the ninth-biggest gate in Nevada history, generating $10,393,950.

In all, Nevada fights brought in approximately $44.2 million in live gate receipts during 2007.

"You've got to give the hotels credit for forcing the promoters to work together and produce competitive fights for the public," Kizer said. "I'm seeing more camaraderie among the promoters, and that can only be good for boxing."

It was a year of change for the commission as Gov. Jim Gibbons replaced Tony Alamo and Joe W. Brown in October with Bill Brady and Pat Lundvall, and John Bailey took Alamo's place as commission chairman. The commission also received additional funding from the legislature to test fighters for banned substances and hired Dr. Timothy Trainor to oversee medical, health and safety issues.

Kizer said of the 382 boxers who competed in the 32 fight cards staged in Nevada during 2007, 10 fighters tested positive for banned substances, up from three in 2006.

"That's something I'm disappointed in," Kizer said. "We're testing more and we're getting more positives. That's not good. I was hoping the more we test, the fewer positives we'd get. But I guess some fighters aren't getting the message."

Kizer said performance-enhancing substances are the biggest issue facing the NAC going into 2008.

"It's one thing if a baseball player is using steroids; all he's doing is changing a pitcher's ERA with the edge he may get," Kizer said. "In boxing, if a fighter is using steroids, he has the increased ability to hurt someone, maybe even kill his opponent. That's serious. Not only does it create an unlevel playing field, it creates a dangerous one."

All boxers who win a fight in Nevada are tested afterward, as are some of the losing fighters. Kizer plans to implement random pre-fight drug testing in 2008.

"We're going to be even more vigilant," Kizer said of the NAC's testing of fighters for banned substances, which includes recreational drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and amphetamines along with steroids and human growth hormone. "These are health and safety issues, and we're doing it to protect the fighters as well as the integrity of the sport."

Inside the ring, 2008 is already shaping up to be big for Nevada, Kizer said. Two pay-per-view events -- the Feb. 16 rematch between middleweights Kelly Pavlik and Jermain Taylor at the MGM Grand and the March 15 super featherweight title fight between Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao at Mandalay Bay -- will generate huge interest throughout boxing and set the stage for even bigger events.

De La Hoya has said he plans to fight at least twice in 2008 and probably will compete in Las Vegas in one of those fights, perhaps against Hatton. Mayweather would command huge money were he to meet Miguel Cotto in a potential battle of the world's two best welterweights.

Light heavyweights Joe Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins are talking about a possible fight. Despite being fined by the NAC a record $200,000 for his dustup with Winky Wright at the weigh-in of their July 21 fight, Hopkins said he would have no problem with the bout being in Las Vegas.

"I feel really good about 2008," Kizer said. "We're starting off with two strong events, and I see that leading to even bigger fights. I see the momentum from this year carrying over to next year."

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@ reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2913.