Steve Wynn: A Prominent Business man behind Boxing

Steve Wynn: A Prominent Business man behind Boxing

If you were at – perhaps you’ve seen footage or still photos online – the final press conference for Bradley-Marquez on Wednesday, you’ll probably have noticed a very distinctive logo on the promotional billboard behind the fighters and their teams, and also directly below the microphone on the press podium where all parties associated with the fight addressed the media. The same logo will be on the billboard behind both fighters as they weigh-in on Friday afternoon.

This rather cool looking logo in question with signature style joined writing, reads “Wynn,” in white on a black background.

Steve Wynn, born in New Haven, Connecticut, has owned many hotels on the Las Vegas strip since the 1980’s. I’m sure many of you have heard of the world famous The Mirage Hotel & Casino. Well, Wynn happened to make it the finished article in 1989 for $630 million, putting him onto a steady financial platform that has grown into a blossoming wealth today estimated to be just under $3 billion.

Wynn’s companies have built or refurbished Golden Nugget, Treasure Island, Bellagio, Wynn Macua, The Wynn and Encore, with some others along the Vegas Strip. 

Wynn’s appetite for boxing was whetted back in the fall of 1989, when his brand new hotel, The Mirage, hosted the Leonard-Duran III fight. Wynn’s determination and financial muscle even outweighed Donald Trump’s bid to host the fight in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The site fee laid on the table by Wynn was believed to be around $9 million. Bob Arum’s, Top Rank, promoted the fight.

The Leonard-Duran III fight on a frosty cold night in Vegas on Dec. 7, 1989, had a sellout crowd of 16,305 at The Mirage and produced a gate of $9 million.

However, Wynn had only just scratched the surface as the following year his interest in the sport started to delve deeper. He showed Don King and Bob Arum, the biggest promoters in boxing at the time, that he’d be entering the boxing business with the serious motto, “Do it yourself.”

During the spring of 1990, Buster Douglas was the undisputed heavyweight champion after upsetting Mike Tyson in Tokyo, Japan, at the start of the year. Don King was pushing for an immediate Douglas-Tyson rematch, only for Douglas to fly with his manager, John Johnson, to Vegas for a meeting with Wynn that would be concluded with a two-fight deal: Holyfield, then a Tyson rematch, if he won.

Johnson, guided by King’s rival promoter, Bob Arum, left the meeting overjoyed.

”I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” Arum said. ”I coached the guy before the meeting and told him to ask for $25 (million) for the first fight and $35 for the second. Wynn just looks at him and says, ‘You got it.’ ”

The Mirage would host; Wynn would promote.

The Douglas-Holyfield fight went to purse bids, with Wynn’s winning bid coming in at very hefty $32.1 million. The next down the ladder was Holyfield’s promoter, Main Events, bidding a fraction over $29 million.

This equated to Douglas landing a whopping purse of just under $25 million and Holyfield as the challenger getting $8 million. When taking into consideration the financial climate changes over the last 23 years, Douglas’ purse may well be the most impressive in boxing history.

Thanks to Wynn, of course. 

The date for Douglas-Holyfield was originally set for Sept. 21, but Wynn needed some time to get the promotion into full speed and pushed the date back to Oct. 25. Holyfield’s camp contested the decision at a Supreme Court in New Jersey and insisted on the original date that was agreed. Everything was eventually settled out of court and the fight was on for the Oct. 25^th.

Evander Holyfield knocked out Buster Douglas during the third round, a blubbering and unmotivated Douglas’ performance was seen by many as a disgrace. He came in at a career highest weight of 246lbs.

His performance infuriated Wynn, who said, “I was very disappointed by the effort of the champion. The most important thing is keeping a promise, and when it comes down to James Douglas’s performance, I don’t believe the fight kept the promise.”

The attendance at The Mirage was only 10,117, which left 6,000 empty seats. The live gate produced a sum of only $6.5 million. The pay-per-view figures were around the $1 million mark.

Wynn spent a total of $40 million on the bout and losses were said to be in the region of $2 million.

In 1991, Mike Tyson on his comeback trail fought Razor Ruddock fought twice at The Mirage. However, this time Wynn decided to take a step back and allow the tried and trusted to do the promoting. He signed a deal with promoters Don King and Murad Muhammad – they co-promoted both fights.

Wynn’s brief splash into the forefront of the boxing business was certainly brave.

Saturday night’s event between Bradley and Marquez will take place at the Thomas & Mack Center: promoted by Top Rank®, in association with Zanfer Promotions, Wynn Las Vegas, Márquez Boxing, and Tecate.

The fight will be shown live on HBO pay-per-view in the US; Sky Sports will screen the fight in the UK.

-Robbi Paterson

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