[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 64 (Thursday, April 30, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S2544]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PACQUIAO-MAYWEATHER FIGHT
Mr. REID. Mr. President, as some know, I fought a little bit. I was
in the minor leagues for a couple of years.
As the Presiding Officer knows, in Nevada, on Saturday night, in Las
Vegas, there is going to be a stunning athletic event, one of the most
significant athletic events, actually, in the last 50 years. It is a
wonderful occasion for Nevada to host the fight between Manny
Pacquiao--I should say Congressman Pacquiao, who is a member of the
Philippine Congress--and Floyd Mayweather. They will be battling for
three separate titles. They are fighting for the 147-pound weight
class--for all the people who think that is small, that is the class
that--we have had some of our great fighters of all time who have
fought that same weight level.
These are two great athletes. The winner of the match will be crowned
as the greatest pound for pound fighter in the world, and they will go
down as two of the finest fighters ever in the history of the world. So
regardless of who wins, this bout is projected to shatter boxing
records for not only being a significant boxing match--the focus of the
world will be on this fight. People all over the world will be watching
this fight.
They don't really know how many pay-per-view purchases are expected,
but I made one last night. I was planning on going to the fight, but,
as my friend the Presiding Officer knows, things have changed over the
years. If we want to get one of those good seats, we have to pay for
it. I have been willing to do that in the past, but the traffic was a
little too heavy there, so I decided to watch it here with some of my
family. But I am so happy that the pay-per-view purchases are expected
to exceed 3 million people, and they won't get it any cheaper than I
did--$99.95. So it is wonderful that all previous records will be
broken as to revenue.
The only thing I don't like about it is the fight doesn't start back
here until 9 o'clock and usually they don't end until midnight. I wish
they would start a little earlier, but, as I have learned with my
baseball, they just start them later back here.
I am very excited about this unforgettable fight. There is nothing
like a championship fight. There is nothing like one that has all this
attention.
After I started practicing law, I started judging fights. I was on
the Nevada fight commission, and I judged fights. I judged lots of
fights. I can remember the first big fight I went to. Oh, it was a big
fight. I walked in there, and I couldn't imagine there would be that
much attention on anything. Of course, there were thousands of people
there. I was excited. I was going to judge one of the preliminary
fights. It was stunning. You see ringside all of these glamorous,
important people. These fights catch the enthusiasm of sports fans all
over the world.
The eagerness that I have of watching this fight goes far beyond the
sport of boxing or the spectacle of a marquis matchup. I am thrilled
for Nevada. This fight will inject hundreds of millions of dollars into
the State's economy. It will benefit Nevadans all--fighters and their
teams, of course, hotels, restaurants, cab drivers, limousine drivers,
parking valets, maids will get bigger tips than they usually get. It
will be a great time for Nevada.
So I have done everything I can within my power here as a Member of
the legislature to help in any way that I can. I have interceded on a
couple of occasions to help make this fight move forward, and I was
very happy to do so.
I love this sport. Some of my most prized possessions in my home are
fight pictures. I have one picture of the great Joe Louis and Max
Schmeling, and they both signed that picture before they died. I had
the good fortune, when Joe Louis spent so much time at Caesars Palace,
to have met him. I have pictures hanging on my wall of my dear father-
in-law, who worked with fighters. I have a picture on the wall--they
are all together--of him with Jack Dempsey, with Primo Carnera, who was
6 foot 7, a huge man--my father-in-law was about 5 foot 5--Sugar Ray
Robinson. All these--not all of them, but many great fighters are there
with my father-in-law. I love that picture, and it reminds me of my
minor league experience in boxing.
I am very excited about watching this fight.
Las Vegas has been the entertainment capital of the world for a long
time, and we are happy that, in fact, is the case. But a few short
years ago, as the Presiding Officer knows, we were hit very hard. The
debacle that took place on Wall Street hurt Nevada more than any other
place. We have been recovering. We haven't recovered totally, but we
have recovered significantly.
The 2008 economic collapse took a heavy toll on Nevada. A quarter of
Nevadans are employed in the tourism and hospitality industry, and when
the recession hit, they got hurt, as did all working classes--
construction workers; everybody got hurt--but we fought our way back.
Last year, we welcomed to Las Vegas 41 million people--little Las
Vegas, 41 million people. It is not so little, but the Presiding
Officer and I remember when it was a little place. But now it is a
community with a metropolitan area of over 2 million people. Forty-one
million people have come to Las Vegas and produced an economic impact
of more than $50 billion. We shattered previous records by attracting
1.4 million more visitors than we did--in 2014. So it is only going to
get better, and the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight will keep that momentum
going for Nevada.
I am not picking a winner. I wish both men the best of luck. But,
admittedly, I am a little biased because of my relationship with Manny
Pacquiao.
As the Presiding Officer will remember, one of my real campaigners in
one of my difficult races was Manny Pacquiao. He campaigned for me. He
broke training to come out of L.A., flew in for a big event I had one
night. So you have to remember that kind of stuff. So I have a very
good relationship with Manny Pacquiao. Certainly, I don't have a bad
one with Floyd Mayweather, but I know Manny Pacquiao much better than I
know Floyd Mayweather. He stood in my corner in the past, and he will
always have my support.
Regardless, though, of which fighter reigns supreme on that Saturday
night--and one of them will. They are alone. Nobody is there with them.
Regardless of who leaves the arena with that big belt, Nevada's hard-
working economy will have won the fight.
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