May 5th was supposed to be a big day in Las Vegas.

One of the biggest fights of the sport this year was supposed to take place in T-Mobile Arena as the unified middleweight title was going to be on the line with champion Gennady Golovkin having a rematch with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and see who would come out as the fighter with the highest ranking in the middleweight division. Due to a positive drug test of Alvarez, the fight was scrapped and Golovkin ended up fighting Vanes Martirosyan in Carson California and Alvarez ended up being suspended for six months.

The result of that may have affected the sport of boxing, but it also affected the city of Las Vegas as well. Usually around the time of Cinco de Mayo weekend, the city hosts a big fight that brings in a lot of people…fans and visitors alike take in the sights of the Las Vegas Strip and then await the boxing match. This year, that did not happen for the first time in ten years and the result out on Las Vegas Boulevard showed.

Usually a packed area seemed to be like a regular Saturday night even though the area did experience their local hockey team win the night before, as the Golden Knights defeated the San Jose Sharks. Not only did the fight between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin not happen, but the Box Fan Expo, which is an annual event that brings in current and former boxers for a meet and greet with fans of the sport, was postponed. That could have brought in even more people and more business to the city and the Strip in particular.

With that being known, I feel that the economic impact that was caused by Canelo’s positive test was within the millions within Las Vegas Boulevard alone. Now while there may be another big fight coming up in the sport of boxing by September, that still may not compensate what was lost over this weekend.