Roberto Durán vs. Vinny Pazienza
Pazienza had returned to boxing in December 1992 after a 13-month absence while he recovered from a broken neck he suffered in a near-fatal car crash in November 1991."[2] Finally, after months of negotiations and Pazienza replacing Duva as his manager with Bill Cayton, the two fighters came to an agreement in March 1994 to face one another in June that same year.Though the 43-year old Durán had fought only journeymen fighters since returning to boxing in 1991 (losing his first fight to Pat Lawlor and then going 7-0 since), there was considerable hype for the fight with the MGM Grand Garden Arena paying a $1.3 million site fee and HBO's pay-per-view division TVKO giving both fighters not only a $500,000 payday, but a percentage of the pay-per-view sales as well.[4] There was a considerable amount of trash talk from both fighters prior to the bout with Pazienza openly expressing his dislike of Durán stating "I've grown to hate him over the months."[5] Originally, the fight was to take place in Atlantic City but the venue was switched to the MGM Grand Garden Arena, with the casino-hotel serving as the sole promoter of the bout.