Steve Crosson

For the uninitiated, there’s an upcoming real estate event like no other. It’s Fight Night, presented by The Real Estate Council on May 3 at the Hilton Anatole.

This will be the 24th annual Fight Night, to be attended by about 1,300 real estate professionals. It’s not only the area’s premier real estate networking event-it’s great fun. The evening consists of a cocktail reception, fine dinner, beautiful hostesses, casino gambling and entertainment, and of course, professional boxing. The dress is black-tie but the atmosphere is exciting.

The proceeds from Fight Night have helped many inner-city organizations achieve their goals of improving neighborhoods by building affordable housing and playgrounds and expanding neighborhood centers. Additionally, TREC, using funds from Fight Night, provided money to begin the process of designing the soon-to-be-completed Woodall Rodgers Park.

I’ve been heavily involved in Fight Night since its inception in 1989. My primary role has been, and continues to be, to handle the boxing piece of the event as well as getting boxing celebrities to appear. Over the years, we’ve had Evander Holyfield, Larry Holmes, Joe Frazier (twice), “Sugar” Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, legendary trainers Angelo Dundee and Eddie Futch, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, Earnie Shavers, Riddick Bowe, Lennox Lewis, and The Greatest of All Time, Muhammad Ali (twice).

We’ve had several boxers who became world champions within 12 months of the event, including Ricardo (“Finito”) Lopez and Quincy Taylor.

There are misconceptions about Fight Night. It’s not sexist; many professional women in real estate attend. It’s not a rowdy affair, reflecting poor taste. In fact, it’s a classy and most enjoyable event.

One of the interesting aspects of is that sponsors and table-buyers support the program during good times and bad. In 1989, commercial real estate in Dallas was without a pulse. Nonetheless, Fight Night was sold out, with a long waiting list. During the recent recession, that support remained solid. I have concluded that the success of Fight Night is due to its uniqueness. Patrons support it because they enjoy it, not because they feel obliged to do so.

I highly recommend getting involved in Fight Night. It’s a great way to help the community while having a blast at the same time. Click here for more details.

Steve Crosson is chairman and CEO of Crosson Dannis Inc., which provides real estate appraisal and consultation services. He also serves as chairman and editor in chief of The Appraiser Journal.