L.A. Challenging Las Vegas for Boxing Crown.

The first big prizefight to hit L.A. since Muhammed Ali and Kenny Norton battled 25 years ago is coming to town, and the prospective purse is huge.

When the bell rings in the opening round for welterweights Oscar De La Hoya and "Sugar" Shane Mosley at Staples Center on June 17, it will be the richest fight Los Angeles has ever hosted, and could well usher in a new era in boxing -- one with L.A. as an up-and-coming prospect.

A number of Hollywood fight fans are expected to be ringside, including Jack Nicholson, Bruce Willis, Michael Douglas and Sylvester Stallone. Both Vice President A1 Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush have inquired about tickets. A Staples Center suiteholder has been offered $30,000 for the use of his box.

Indeed, the fight between De La Hoya and Mosley -- two native Angelenos - is clearly the marquee match of the year, and one that officials with Staples and the city of L.A. hope will serve as a springboard for other premier fights, taking at least part of what is a lucrative pie away from Las Vegas.

"We've had several inquiries over the past months from other promoters," said Brenda Tinnen, Staples Center's vice president for events. "We want to do top-level fights here. We are a competitor (with Las Vegas) for future fights."

Boxing sources say the arena is already negotiating to host a title rematch between Mexican super-bantamweights Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera, and the California Assembly is considering a law that would cap the existing 5 percent state tax on fights so more matches can be lured here.

The fact that there aren't many open dates at the arena works as an advantage in some ways, because Staples officials and boxing insiders agree it would be better to host a few premiere matches each year, instead of lots of matches with more-limited appeal.

L.A. hasn't been a boxing town for some time (both the Great Western Forum and the Olympic Auditorium have closed down their programs), but Staples could change all that. Its glitter and Hollywood proximity is a powerful lure.

Nor is Los Angeles associated with the seamier side of boxing, a plus for a sport badly in need of a shine.

Bringing fights to a new venue that has no taint of scandal could provide a boost to the sport, several observers said. The size of L.A.'s media market is an advantage as well, as is the fact that the majority of top non-heavyweight fighters are Latino -- and L.A. has a giant Latino population.

"From the standpoint of any entertainment property, whether sports or non-sports, you gotta' play in New York and L.A.," said Lou DiBella, a vice president at HBO, which is broadcasting the fight on its pay-per-view network. "(Staples) is a gorgeous building, there's a lot of excitement, the Lakers are hot. There's great sensitivity on the part of people in Nevada as well as New Jersey to (the possibility of losing) boxing business to places like New York and L.A."

In many ways, the stars are in perfect alignment for this fight to happen in L.A. Both De La Hoya and Mosley hail from here, and both have something to prove. De La Hoyn is probably the biggest draw in boxing right now, but his 12-round loss to Felix Trinidad last year dropped him from the undefeated ranks and meant the loss of his title. Mosley is undefeated and has been in De La Hoya's shadow. Both want to use this fight as a springboard to fight Trinidad.

"Whoever wins this fight is from L.A., and L.A. should be a prime venue for their next fight," said boxing promoter Bob Arum, whose Top Rank Productions is putting on the match.

HBO figures the fight could draw as many as 1 million pay-per-view customers, making it second only to the 1.2 million subscribers who watched the De La Hoya-Trinidad bout. Projected gate receipts are around $8 million, by far the most ever for a fight in California.

The fight in the 20,000-seat arena has yet to sell out, but the cheaper tickets, at $50 and $100, sold out in less than 20 minutes. About 3,000 seats are left, at prices ranging between $300 and $900.

"Demand hasn't been as big yet, but it's still three months away from the fight," said Sandy Simon of Good Time Tickets. "Once it gets closer to the fight, there will be a lot more interest."

There are some things standing in the way of Staples becoming West Coast mecca for big boxing matches -- like Las Vegas. The Nevada town has some built-in advantages when it comes to luring big fights. Traditionally, casinos buy large numbers of seats for their high-rolling customers, virtually guaranteeing that a fight sells out. The state has a vested interest in keeping boxing as a major attraction, and officials there are casting the Staples fight as something of an aberration.

"If there was ever a fight that belonged in L.A., it's this one," said Marc Ratner, executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, which oversees boxing. "I don't look at this as a threat. I think there's enough fights to go around."

But other boxing insiders think Las Vegas is vulnerable, partially because of infighting among the hotels running the casinos that has hurt the traditional cross-promoting that comes with the fights.

"I think Las Vegas does have reason to be nervous," Arum said. "The hotels are consolidating and the heads of them are acting like warlords. Now, you can't count on competing casinos to support each other. It used to be that if a fight was at MGM Grand, Caesar's (Palace) and Mandalay Bay would buy tickets for their customers. Now they wait for customers to call them before buying tickets."

But unless something is done about the 5 percent tax that California imposes on any boxing match, it will be hard to bring big fights to the state, promoters say.

Along with the state tax, L.A. imposes a 3 percent city tax on fights. In contrast, Nevada has only a 4 percent state tax, and Las Vegas has no city tax.

As a result, Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles (whose district includes Staples Center), has proposed special legislation that would put a $50,000 cap on the tax.

"The last big fight here was Muhammed Ali and Kenny Norton in 1974," he said. "But L.A. has always been a place where ethnic boxers come and do well. If we get the Barrera-Morales fight here, they could put big video screens out in the parking lot (at Staples) and sell tickets."

The California State Athletic Commission opposes Cedillo's bill, because the tax helps funds its operations. But Cedillo argues that more state revenue would be raised by luring more big fights.

"We can either get $50,000 from big fights, or 100 percent of nothing," he said.

Some numbers seem to support Cedillo's argument. California actually stages more fights every year than Nevada, but with far less to show for it. Last year there were more than 100 fights in this state, compared with 41 in Nevada. But Nevada fights generated gross receipts of $52 million (helped significantly by the De La Hoya-Trinidad fight), compared with only $1.6 million for California.

So if June's bout is as good as many observers think it will be, and Staples Center succeeds in quickly nailing down another top-flight bout, there may be reason to believe that L.A. will once again be known as a fight town.

"I really believe that with the success of this fight, and if we can put Morales and Barrera here next January, then boxing will be off and running in L.A.," Arum said.