FIRST BOUT AT 3.05PM
ON MAY 5, 2007, Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather met in the ring at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas after the most extensive marketing campaign in the history of boxing. More than 60 per cent of the seats in the sold-out MGM Grand Garden Arena had a price-tag of $2,000 or more attached to them. There were more than 800 requests for media credentials.
Five hours earlier, two unknown fighters fought in an eight-round lightweight bout on the same square of illuminated canvas.
Ernest Johnson was a 27-year-old African-American from Chula Vista, California. His father was a boxing trainer. His mother worked for GMAC in foreclosures and loans.
Growing up, Johnson played sports year-round. He began boxing at age 13, compiled a 68-11 amateur record, and was good enough to be invited to the 2000 Olympic trials. But boxing was sandwiched in between track (400 metres was his specialty), football (he started in high school as a wide receiver), and baseball (pitcher and centerfield). Ernest also wrestled at 125 pounds, fashioned a 101-19 record, and was offered a wrestling scholarship to California State University in Fullerton. But he turned it down to pursue a career in boxing.
“I decided to take boxing seriously when I got out of high school,” Johnson explained. “You can’t make a
