Mayor Believes its Viva Las Vegas for Raiders

Carolyn Goodman, the mayor of Las Vegas, is confident that the Oakland Raiders will move to her city – providing the prospective relocation is handled properly.

The Raiders inched closer to a move to Las Vegas last month, after owner Mark Davis met Nevada officials and pledged $500m towards the construction of a new $1.4bn, 65,000-seat domed stadium. He said the Raiders would give Las Vegas and the NFL “an offer they can’t refuse” and would turn “the Silver State into the Silver-and-Black State”.

“Mark Davis has assured us that Las Vegas is not getting played in a Raiders stadium deal,” Goodman said on Tuesday. “I think they from what I understand, if truth is truth, they will come if Nevada can go ahead and do this properly. I know we will have a team.” She said that the stadium site could also host an MLS team and UNLV football.

Davis, who inherited the Raiders after the death of his father Al in 2011, wants the team to leave the Coliseum for a football-specific stadium, and is open to staying in the Bay Area, but has not been able to strike a deal with Oakland officials. The Raiders have two one-year leases at the Coliseum that take them through 2018.

Goodman said she told Sheldon Adelson, the CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation and one of the stadium project’s major backers, “to get us a team two years ago.” She said it seemed more likely at the time that Vegas would look to court the Chargers, because of the city’s connection with the Spanos family, which owns the team.

The Chargers, however, are more inclined to stay in San Diego if a deal can’t be struck to move the team to Los Angeles.

Goodman said she doesn’t see funding for the stadium as a major issue. “We are getting calls from outside the region offering to help with funding for stadium in Las Vegas,” she said.

“I think we’re certainly mature enough and ready enough for a major league any sport and have been for some years – because we’ve grown to over 2.1 million in resident population and have over 42 million visitors,” she said.

Goodman also said Las Vegas would be a destination for fans from the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and all over the west.

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Raiders Looking to Las Vegas

Mark Davis, the owner of the Oakland Raiders, is set for another round of talks with officials in Las Vegas as plans to relocate his team there appear to have gathered momentum.

Davis is scheduled to appear at the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee meeting at 11am on Thursday, and under discussion will be the $1.3bn project being proposed by billionaire casino mogul and longtime Republican donor Sheldon Adelson.

Speculation has grown in recent days that Davis could be ready make a commitment to relocate his team to Las Vegas if financing is approved on Thursday.

The Raiders are staying at the Coliseum for one more year at least, but Davis, who inherited the team after the death of his father Al in 2011, wants his team to play in a football-specific stadium, and is prepared to move his team out of Oakland to get one. Officials in Oakland are reluctant to use public money to create a new football stadium; the Athletics also want a new ballpark of their own.

Davis has been in negotiations with Adelson over the move to Vegas for some months now, and toured UNLV’s Sam Boyd Stadium as a potential temporary home. The location for the proposed 65,000-seat Las Vegas stadium is a 42-acre lot on Tropicana Avenue near the university, a few blocks east of the strip.

Davis declined to speak to ESPN about Thursday’s meeting – which comes on the same day as the NFL draft.

Davis believes that the Raiders can expand their appeal beyond California with a move to Vegas – and that Raiders fans from across America would be keen to visit Vegas to catch a game as part of a weekend trip.

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McGregor Meets dos Anjos in March

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor is set to challenge Rafael dos Anjos in a blockbuster showdown in Las Vegas in March – on the same night that Holly Holm makes her first title defense.

The UFC has not announced either title fight, and bout agreements have not yet been signed, but multiple sources say Holm and McGregor will headline the star-studded event in Vegas on March 5. McGregor will move up in weight to fight in the 155lb lightweight class, while bantamweight Holm will take on Miesha Tate.

Bleacher Report first reported the matchups Thursday. Sources have confirmed the bouts to ESPN. UFC 197 will take place at either the MGM Grand Garden Arena or the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

McGregor, UFC’s hottest property, is coming off a stunning 13-second knockout win over Jose Aldo on December 12, which set the record for the fastest finish in title-fight history. McGregor, from Dublin, is 7-0 in the UFC and will look to become just the third fighter ever to win UFC titles in multiple weight classes.

Holm upset Ronda Rousey for the 135lb female title at UFC 193 in November. Holm won the bout via knockout in the second round with a left head kick.

She is expected to fight Rousey again at some point, but Rousey, 28, has not yet announced when she will return to the Octagon. She did indicate to ESPN late last year she was interested in the rematch.

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Mayweather Outpoints Manny

Floyd Mayweather confirmed his status as the best fighter in boxing after a masterful points win over Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas.

The 38-year-old American dictated the fight with his superior ring skills to earn a unanimous verdict with scores of 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112, extending his unbeaten record to 48 fights.

Heralded by weeks of hype, this battle between the sport's two biggest stars had been billed as the 'Fight of the Century', but Mayweather simply used the 12 rounds to supply a masterclass to the watching world.

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Floyd Weathers Alvarez Bout

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Floyd Mayweather says he suffered a suspected dislocated elbow halfway through his one-sided defeat of Saul Alvarez in Las Vegas.

The five-weight world champion, 36, secured the WBC and WBA light-middleweight titles and stretched his unbeaten professional run to 45 fights.

"I think I dislocated my elbow. I looked at my children and thought 'I can't give it up'," the American said.

Coach Floyd Mayweather Senior wants his son to fight Britain's Amir Khan next.

The fight, which the judges scored 114-114, 116-112 and 117-111, saw Mayweather pocket upwards of £21.6m - a world record purse. 

"My dad said 'Go out there and do what you do best. You go for this'." said the American.

"When I came back to the corner he said 'You are fighting a little tight, loosen up a little bit'."

"I started throwing combinations a little bit more and then we bumped arms. That's when I dislocated my left elbow, so for the sixth and and seventh round I was pawing with the jab.

"When I came back to the corner I looked at my family and thought 'I have to use it, because I have got the will to win'. I was born to win and am going to die to win."

Many tipped the previously unbeaten Alvarez, 23, to cause his opponent problems and, despite the ease of victory, Mayweather believes the Mexican will progress to be a "great" of the sport.

He said: "I want to commend this young, strong champion because he will carry the torch. Tonight experience played a major key. He has got everything it takes to be a legend in the sport, tonight was just my night.

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“Training camp used to be 'go to the gym, go shopping, go to the club, go to the strip club'. Now I am more of a homebody”

"It was an up-and-coming champion versus a legendary champion. Some day he will go down in the hall of fame, some day I will go down in the hall of fame.

"When I was young I beat all these fighters and I was partying every night and beating world champions. But it was around 2007 when I fought Oscar De La Hoya and started staying in the house a lot and concentrated more on my job, which was boxing.

"Normally training camp was 'we go to the gym, we go shopping, we go to the club, we go to the strip club'.

"That was when I was young. Now I am older things change. I am more of a homebody."

Mayweather has four fights remaining in a reported $200m (£126m) contract he signed with US network Showtime in February.

In two fights in 2013, he has now earned $73m (£46m), making him the highest-paid athlete in the world for a second successive year.

Although his father called for former world champion Khan, 26, to be his next opponent, Mayweather insisted he was keeping his options open.

"I don't know what the future holds," he said. "I look to fight in May and again in September and then again May and September.

"I need a vacation. I haven't taken a vacation in four or five years.

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