MAYWEATHER, McGREGOR MOVING TOWARD AUGUST FIGHT IN VEGAS

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor appear to be moving toward an August 26 date for their superfight, according to a number of media reports. The Las Vegas Review-Journal and ESPN’s Dan Rafael reported on Monday that Mayweather Promotions want the date held for the MGM Grand Garden Arena. ESPN reported on Tuesday that the contracts were signed.

Those developments came after McGregor tweeted on Sunday that “Something BIG is coming #BP.”

It was reported in this column on June 3 that August 26 was the date being explored. In addition, I quoted a source close to one of principal’s camps as saying the fight date is “going to be sooner than people think.”

The Review-Journal reported Nevada Athletic Commission executive director Bob Bennett said he hasn’t received any documentation from the Mayweather or McGregor camps for an upcoming fight in Las Vegas.

The R-J quoted Bennett as saying, “At this point in time, I do not have any records to support the August 26 rumors. Mayweather hasn’t finished applying for his boxing license nor has Conor McGregor completed his licensing procedure at this point and time.”

Vegas Vickie headed for new home Fremont Street icon Vegas Vickie hasn’t had this much attention since she and neon cowboy Vegas Vic got hitched in 1994.

This time she’s making news because she’s leaving him. If it’s a trial separation, no one’s saying, but the official word is that she will soon resurface somewhere downtown, not far from Vic and her roost above the Glitter Gulch sign since 1980.

Derek Stevens, co-owner of The D and three other properties on Fremont Street, including Glitter Gulch, tweeted on Sunday, the last day before Vegas Vickie’s move: “Farewell my friend. We’ll take care of you. Can’t wait to see you soon again & better than ever!”

The removal began on Monday. Vegas Vickie will be kicking up her heels at another downtown address. Vegas Vic has been welcoming visitors to Fremont Street since 1951 when he was erected above the Pioneer Club. He waved his arm and bellowed, “Howdy, Partner.”

Vegas Vic was silenced in 1966 after complaints from actors Lee Marvin and Woody Strode, co-stars in the western classic “The Professionals.” They were staying at the nearby Mint hotel and weren’t getting much sleep between filming at Valley of Fire State Park.

Vic’s arm-waving came to an end in 1991 and his neon has been out for years.

The scene and heard Erich Bergen, who got a big break when he landed a lead role on the Las Vegas production of “Jersey Boys” at The Venetian, received red carpet raves for being among the “best dressed” at the Tony Awards on Sunday. Bergen, who played Bob Gaudio in the Clint Eastwood-directed film “Jersey Boys,” tweeted, “In case you thought my #TonyAwards situation was glamorous, I’m ironing my own shirt, but only the parts you’ll see. The back is a mess.”…

Singing icon Judy Garland would have celebrated her 95th birthday last Saturday. Las Vegas lounge legend Joe Darro, 82, posted a memory on his Facebook page: “Had dinner with her many years ago at the Krupp Ranch here in Vegas!!”

Darro, in a telephone interview, said he was playing with Bobby Sherwood at the Dunes in 1964 when Garland came in to see Sherwood, her brother-in-law.

That led to the dinner invite at the Krupp ranch, named after Vera Krupp, the German actress who married German arms manufacturer Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach from 1952 to 1957. He gave Vera the legendary 33.19-carat diamond that was later purchased by actor Richard Burton in 1968 as a gift to his wife, actress Elizabeth Taylor…

Review-Journal gossip columnist Robin Leach is taking issue with several blogs that referred his newly departed editor Don Chareunsy as Leach’s “ghost writer.”

Leach shot back in a tweet, “Every word under my byline was written by me. I don’t have ghost writer (s)-Never have!!”

Hmmm. Every word? Many of my local journalism brethren know that claim would never hold up in court.

Hot links This is the Warriors’ era and there’s nothing the NBA can do about it, says Ray Ratto http://bit.ly/2rV7Mk1

North Korea awaits another Dennis Rodman visit http://dpo.st/2s5xMYv

A Broadway production of Marilyn Monroe is headed for Broadway http://lat.ms/2sSqKGw

Butterbean’s take on the possibility of a Mayweather-McGregor showdown http://bit.ly/2ss3Vf8

Even the Stanley Cup has to go through airport security http://atnhl.com/2rQmV62

On this day… June 13, 2012: Floyd Mayweather, serving three months in jail for attacking his girlfriend, loses his appeal for early release because bad food and non-bottled water was damaging his health. “It’s jail,” said prosecutor Lisa Luzaich says. “Where did he think he was going? The Four Seasons?”

Sightings NBA analyst Kenny Smith, hanging out at Topgolf Las Vegas, where his daughter, Kayla Brianna performed a couple songs during halftime of the Game 4 of the NBA Finals. More than 1,500 watched the game at the venue throughout the night, including rapper Flavor Flav.

The punch line “Miss Saigon, the only pageant whose locker room our president hasn’t walked in on.” — CBS talk-show host Stephen Colbert, talking about Broadway revivals at the Tony Awards on Sunday.

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