Round 12: The time tunnel in Las Vegas
By Mauricio Sulaimán – President of the WBC – Son of José Sulaimán
February isn’t over yet, and the amount of traveling I have done has been tremendous.
From day trips to Oaxaca and Tampico, to going around the world to Thailand, Dubai, Rome and London. In this process I have lost special moments with my family, and I made a decision from one day to the next… to bring my daughter to celebrate her birthday in Las Vegas, and attend the Bad Bunny concert. This Puerto Rican artist is my daughter’s boyfriend; Well he doesn’t know, but she does.
My wife, my daughter, her friend and I literally came backpacking, with the most complicated flights: CDMX-Denver-Las Vegas-Guadalajara-CDMX, but mission accomplished: a birthday in the memory of my beloved girl.
We walked a lot to show them this city that never ceases to surprise, and something wonderful happened to me; I remembered, as if I were in a time tunnel, many of the things that surprised me from my first trip to Sin City. It was in 1986, my dad brought me, with my brother Fernando, when Mike Tyson conquered the WBC heavyweight championship at the age of 20!
At that time there was only Caesars Palace, and the other traditional hotels like the Flamingo, Dunes, Tropicana, Sahara and a few others, and off the main street, the Hilton, where many fights took place.
The attraction that was advertised in all the hotels was Prime Rib buffet for $4.99.
My dad took us to the topless show called Jubilee, wow what memories! We saw Siegfried and Roy and their tigers show at a small ballroom at the Riviera hotel; Downtown was a great attraction, all the lights, there was a display window with a horseshoe with a million dollars, the Ripley, wax and Guinness World Records museums; The Golden Nugget hotel.
Julio César Chávez became a hero in the fights he had at the Hilton; Edwin Rosario, Meldrick Taylor and his great night when he battered his greatest enemy, the now deceased, Great Héctor Macho Camacho, at the Thomas & Mack stadium.
Years later the Mirage arrived, and everything changed from that point on. The hotel opened with the trilogy between Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Manos de Piedra Durán “UNO MAS” promoted by Bob Arum. A magical hotel that had a volcano at the entrance and was an attraction for thousands of visitors; Next to this hotel, Treasure Island, with a pirate battleship , which marveled tourists every night at the hour.
The MGM, which had to close due to a fire in the 70s, reopened its doors, becoming the hotel with the most rooms in the world: five thousand and five rooms; it included an amusement park, and was positioned as the center of boxing, with memorable fights by Mike Tyson, Chávez, Ricardo López, and the so many memorable cards that Don King put together with five world title fights.
Immediately afterwards, Mandalay Bay arrived, taking up the baton of boxing, starring Óscar de la Hoya, Érik Morales, Marco Barrera, Lennox Lewis and many others. There was one of the greatest and most dramatic fights in history: Diego Corrales against José Luis Castillo.
The city continued to develop, with buildings such as the New York, Paris, Venetian, and the Excalibur, with a medieval battle show.
The Fashion Show shopping center grew from a small one to expand to the south of the street, known as the Las Vegas Strip. Caesars built new towers, and a Forum Shops shopping center was opened, which amazed us with its ceiling painted like clouds.
My dad enjoyed a few specific restaurants. Off the Strip there was The Tillerman, Pieros, for Italian food, Chins, at the Fashion Show; Moongate, at the Mirage, The Palm at Caesars, and perhaps his favorite, where I had many meetings with the entire boxing community, the Kokomos, at the Mirage.
Eventually the Wynn arrived, that was another marvel that captivated the world with its beauty, and in fact, to this day, it remains the favorite of many.
Las Vegas went from being Sin City to a destination for all ages, and found a way to be on the international map through sports. The T-Mobile Arena was built, which in combination with the MGM, has staged great fights in recent years until today, with Floyd Mayweather, Canelo and Pacquiao, among others.
An NHL team was brought in there, and the Golden Knights have already managed to become champions, hockey in the desert unthinkable! What sand! The NFL’s Raiders now have their stadium, and the most recent Super Bowl was held there. Baseball will arrive soon, with a Major League team, and the Formula 1 GP was also celebrated with unimaginable success.
The last big surprise is the famous The Sphere, which looks like a giant ball with projections on its screens, where concerts and all kinds of events are held with 160 thousand speakers. And the most luxurious Fountain Bleu hotel just opened.
Did you know…?
Las Vegas is the city with the most world championship fights on the entire planet. It was in the state of Nevada, where the first black world champion, Jack Johnson, defeated the great white hope, James J. Jeffries, in 1909, when an open-air stadium was built, by enterprising promoter Tex Richard.
Today’s anecdote
After a wonderful dinner at The Palm, where my dad enjoyed a great steak and his traditional cheesecake, we headed to Mandalay Bay, one night before the fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Ike Quartey. My nephew Pepe Toño had stayed in Don José’s room to take messages, and keep an eye on any pending matters, since there were no cell phones like today.
My other nephew, Héctor, had gone to get hamburgers for dinner for the two of them, as we came came back and got my dad settled in so he could rest, we turned off the lights and we all left the room.
When we arrived at the lobby, they realized that they had left the hamburgers, Hectorón went up, and upon entering the room, he found his grandfather sitting in the living room with a hamburger in his hand and with surprised eyes, when he saw him enter, he said: “My son ,! how good these burgers are ! “What happened is that I hardly had anything to eat during dinner, and I was dying of hunger.” They both smiled mischievously, while taking a big bite of the succulent In and out burger…
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