TACOMA, Wash. (AP) -- About a dozen people stood at a bus stop smoking cigarettes while waiting for a ride. Across the way was a tent that is actually a makeshift boxing arena. Across the freeway, a smelly paper mill sat poised to spoil the air.
No, this wasn't Las Vegas.
Former world champions Vernon Forrest and Carlos Baldomir have come to this unlikely scene in this blue-collar city to claim an unlikely title: the WBC super welterweight championship that Floyd Mayweather Jr. vacated after he beat Oscar De La Hoya in May.
Forrest said this week that he was surprised to learn that the nationally televised fight between 36-year-olds, which was going to be a title eliminator until Mayweather vacated, was going to be held Saturday night under a tent in front of fewer than 2,000 people.
No, it's not the 16,000-seat arena at the MGM Grand, the glitzy Las Vegas venue at which Forrest (38-2, 28 KOs) beat Sergio Rios last year. And it's absolutely not famed Madison Square Garden in New York, where Baldomir (43-10-6, 13 KOs) upset Zab Judah to win the IBC welterweight crown last year in front of a capacity crowd.
It's the, uh, Emerald Queen Casino.
But Forrest said he is happy to fight in Tacoma, because it can bring more boxing fans into the sport who don't normally get to see championship bouts in person. The last title fight in Washington state was in 1988, when Greg Haugen defended his IBF lightweight title against Miguel Santana at the Tacoma Dome, one exit down the freeway from Saturday's off-Broadway site.
"Saturday night we're going to see the average Joe in there," Forrest said. "I like it when we can go to a regular city and put on a great fight, as opposed to putting on a fight in a casino and it's really for the casino."
Baldomir, of Argentina, said Saturday might be the finale of his long career.
"Yeah, maybe it could be the last fight, because of my age," Baldomir said through an interpreter. "But I conquered more than I wanted to.
"I've become a champion. ... If I don't win, I'll have to think about it."
But Forrest is looking to fight well beyond Saturday, win or lose. He said athletes remain in their prime long past his age.
"We're in our mid-30s, but if you look at athletes in general, if you look at champions, we're all around the same age," Forrest said. "Young guys can't beat Carlos, nor can young guys beat me. That's why we're fighting each other."