It was the biggest fight ever to hit North Texas and I was there covering it. Nothing on Earth compares to the thrill and excitement one experiences when covering a major fight card. In my over three years of combative sport journalism, this fight was the biggest I have ever covered. Thinking that I am in a rare and unique position, I decided to keep a running diary of the the night’s sights and sounds.
12:01 AM – The morning of the Pacquiao-Clottey fight does not necessary start off under normal waking hours as I find myself, along with photographer Ed Garza, and writer Mike Campbell in the hotel room of the Editor-in-Chief of Undefeated Magazine at the Gaylord Texan Resort. The hotel is serving as both the media and fighter epicenter for this mega-fight and currently we are going over photos from the Friday night Top Rank Live card which concluded a few hours ago.
1:30 AM – I love covering fights, but big cards like this always turn out to be a lot of hard work. This thought enters our collective minds as we scour through nearly 3,000 photos.
2:00 AM – Famished, our motley crew decides to hit up a local IHOP in hopes of easing these early morning hunger pains. Noted trainer/manager Jon Jay opts to join us as well. Laughter and stories are shared as we wolf down our grub.
2:30 AM – Having finished our food we all decide to head to our respective beds. Being that Ed and I live in the Dallas Metroplex, we have the luxury of making the weary drive to our homes. Unfortunately for me, I live in Garland, which at 2:30 AM seems like the edge of the world when driving from Grapevine.
3:00 AM – I finally make it to the house and fall asleep before my head hits the pillow.
9:30 AM – I groggily wake up and grab a bagel for breakfast. Top Rank is allowing media to pick up credentials in the morning instead of at the arena so I hop in the car and cruise out to the Gaylord Texan.
10:30 AM – Pick up my credential in time to catch a glimpse of the Kelly Pavlik – Sergio Martinez press conference taking place onsite. Since nothing is jumping off at the hotel, I deiced to jet on home to spend some time with the family.
3:30 PM – I’m back at the Gaylord! Thankfully, Top Rank hooked me up with free parking for the week as the $12 a day parking would have been brutal. Fearing how much parking at Cowboys Stadium is going to cost; I opt to catch the media shuttle to the arena.
4:00 PM – Board the bus and take a seat in the back with Ed and some of the press from the Philippines.
4:48 PM – We have arrived. Cowboys Stadium is just gigantic. You can see it miles before you even get there. As the bus pulls into the stadium entrance we are stopped by an Arlington PD barricade. Two police officers then proceed to use mirrors to check underneath the bus, and a drug/bomb sniffing dog is brought on board the bus to check us out. At least you can rest assured that Cowboys Stadium has the same strict screening process as any major airport. Still, the whole thing left us amazed.
5:05 PM – Travel with Ed to pick up his credential from will call, and we find our way to our respective seats.
5:15 PM – First fight of the night is underway and features Mauricio Pastrana and Eden Sonsona.
5:45 PM – Looking around, the stadium is starting to fill up. One of the benefits of not having a fight in a casino setting is no comped high rollers staggering in right before the main event. When you have to pay for a ticket, you better believe that a fan is showing up for the first fight.
5:50 PM – Sonsona impressively stops Pastrana in eight rounds. If nothing else, the fight was action filled.
6:05 PM – The giant video screen in Cowboys Stadium is truly a marvel of modern technology. This thing is huge, and a bit distracting. Still, this stadium has to go down as one of mankind’s most impressive achievements.
6:15 PM – Get a text message from Michael Campbell saying there is food in the media room. Say no more, I’m there. I grab Ed and we head out to get our grub on. As we leave the media area we are informed that the Joe Morales – Michael Farenas fight was declared a no-contest when a clash of heads in the first opened up a cut on Morales’ head.
6:20 PM – The Cowboy’s know how to treat a writer. Tonight’s dinner spread included BBQ chicken, beef brisket, beans, and jalapeño cornbread. The one thing about major events in Dallas that drives me nuts is the playing up of the whole “cowboy” thing. No one I know wears a ten-gallon hat, rides a horse, of goes, “Ye-hawww.”
6:35 PM – One of the oddest conversations ever to take place just occurs at our table in the media room. As Ed, Michael, and myself are eating, we begin making small talk with a women seated at our table. She seems incredibly knowledgeable in the sport of boxing, but we figure it had something to do with the commission credential hanging around her neck. We sit and talk about the failed Pacquiao-Mayweather mega fight that was to have taken place here, before Mayweather insisted on blood testing and killed the whole deal. Anyway, we joke about Mayweather’s refusal to fight anyone who will challenge him and the amount of money he left on the table by not fighting Pacquiao, which leads to the following exchange:
Me: “Man, with that money, Mayweather could have gotten his cars out of repo, and paid back the IRS.”
Ed (laughing): “Hell, with that much money he could have bought the IRS!”
Mystery Women (who has now stopped laughing): “No one can buy the IRS.”
At that moment she slams down her IRS Agent badge. You can practically hear our collective hearts stop. Truth be told, she found the whole chain of events hilarious, as did we. The lady then informs us that she is here to make sure the US government collects their standard 30% cut off all foreign fighters on the card. US tax law categorizes foreign living athletes and entertainers into one bracket. The tax rate for these individuals performing in the United States of America is 30% off the top. All in all, it was a very informative dinner. Still, I was just glad I had already filed my taxes…
6:59 PM – Following our dinner with an IRS agent, we quickly head back to media row as local prospect Robert Marroquin and Sammy Sanchez are set to do battle. Marroquin is giving a star’s introduction, and judging by the crowd’s reaction, it appears that it is well received. Dallas loves them some Marroquin, who may just be the next great star in the sport.
7:05 PM – Marroquin looks good in the opening round. I’ve seen Sanchez fight on several occasions and I know that he is a come-forward buzz saw of a fighter. However, tonight he seems tentative, and Marroquin seems more than happy to take control and floors Sanchez with a beautiful hook at the end of the round.
7:15 PM – Marroquin ends the fight in outstanding fashion, putting Sanchez out on the seat of his pants with two thudding right hands. It was a solid win for Marroquin on the biggest stage of his career to date. The gathered press seemed to be generally impressed.
7:25 PM – Grand Prairie’s Calvin Pitts gave a spirited effort, but ultimately was out matched by the bigger, stronger Rodrigo Garcia. Pitts’ story is one of redemption, and you will not find a more humble and amiable guy in the world. The kid gives his all, and in true warrior fashion protests the referee’s stoppage.
7:30 PM – $5 for bottled water, $8.50 for a beer. Damn, this is extortion. I thought price gouging was illegal?
7:40 PM – Big fights always bring out a plethora of appealing eye candy. God bless Texas and the staggering number of drop-dead gorgeous women mingling about on the floor level.
7:55 PM – Fort Worth’s Arthur Trevino and Isaac Hidalgo battle to a four round majority draw. These guys were so evenly matched it was like watching twins do battle.
8:00 PM – The televised portion of “The Event” is about to start. The lights have dimmed, and the buzz in the arena has been kicked up to eleven. As an added bonus, we have our first sightings of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. They do an exemplary job of whipping the crowd into frenzy.
8:05 PM – Ireland’s John Duddy and Michael Medina are now in the ring, ready to kick of the televised undercard. Biggest applause is reserved for ring announcer Michael Buffer.
8:15 PM – Wait!? Did I just see John Duddy slip a punch?!
8:50 PM – John Duddy guts out a very tough, if not exciting, split decision against Medina.
8:54 PM – Cowboys Stadium is packed. This is definitely a good thing for the sport of boxing.
8:55 PM – Former ‘Contender’ participant Alfonso Gomez taking on the corpse of Jose Luis Castillo is about to begin. Gomez, as promised, comes out to a track from his Spanish rap/rock group Hybrid. If you are a fan of the group Molotov (which I am), then you will appreciate Gomez’s sound.
9:12 PM – Read a “tweet” from Maxboxing’s Steve Kim saying the crowd appears bored. I have to second that notion. This may be “The Event” but so far the undercard is lacking. “Revenge The Rematches” this is not.
9:20 PM – Castillo just quit on his stool. Good, the man is shot. Tough fighter, hope he got a decent payday for this fight.
9:25 PM – Looking around, it’s clear the real fans of the sport are not on the floor, but in the upper levels. The people ringside seem to be nothing more than Dallas socialites, people who are just here to be seen. Posers, but then again, this is Dallas which coined the term “$30,000 millionaire.”
9:30 PM – Humberto Soto and David Diaz are set to do battle in the evening’s co-featured main event. Truth be told, this has fireworks written all over it.
9:52 PM – Pretty bummed that the Soto-Diaz battle turned into nothing more than a glorified sparring session. I understand the two are friends, but come on! Both fighters looked extremely tentative to let more than a jab go.
10:15 PM – With a wholly underwhelming undercard, I find myself tying to pick out escorts in the crowd. I mean, there is a disproportionately large amount of balding, fifty-something men with extremely hot, and young arm candy. So far, I’m pretty confident I’ve identified five “working girls”.
10:25 PM – its PAC time!!! The lights are dimmed, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are in full cheer mode, and Top Rank is showing archived highlights from their extensive fight library on the jumbo screen. Goosebumps? You better damn believe it.
10:29 PM – A video showcasing some of Joshua Clottey’s more memorable moments in the ring is played. It is really top-notch production and if you had no clue of who Clottey was, you respected him a hundred times more after the highlights. This is what the UFC has been doing for years, giving the fans a fully interactive experience. It’s good to see boxing finally acknowledge that the fans buying tickets don’t deserve to be treated like third-rate citizens.
10:30 PM – Clottey is literally dancing toward the ring. Way to take it all in Josh.
10:32 PM – Pacman’s intro video is now playing, and this place is going crazy. Pinoy Power!
10:46 PM – Cowboys Stadium is literally rocking from the energy of the fans. I have to admit that this is pretty f’ing awesome.
10:50 PM – Having never witnessed Pacquiao fighting in person, the first thing I notice is how hast he is in the ring. The guy is like greased lightning in there. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Clottey is doing his best heavy bag impression. Watching him work, you have to be in awe of his tremendous athletic ability.
11:32 PM – This fight is basically a shutout, but as we get ready for the twelfth and final round, the roof opens up in Cowboys Stadium. This is basically Jerry Jones showing off. The crowd responds to the roof opening with thunderous cheers.
11:36 PM – Pacquiao wins the fight in easy fashion. Contrary to what some may think, it was solid win, though I wish Clottey had decided to show up tonight.
11:45 PM – Off to the post-fight press conference.
1:23 AM – After the post-fight press conference we make a run to the media bus before it take off.
1:50 AM – We are now back at the Gaylord Texan. There is an unmistakable Las Vegas vibe to the night/morning. Boxing fans, media, and fighters mingle about in that half drunk, half sleep deprivation stupor that I know all too well. Adding to the scene, the Glass Cactus, the club located on the premise of the Gaylord just let out so we know have a number of hot girls walking around with their high heels in hand. Seriously, I’ve seen the exact same scene at the Bellagio in Vegas.
2:30 AM – There are about seven people in our editors hotel room uploading photos and videos taken throughout the night. Soon, wine bottles are popped and tequila shots are poured. Tonight represented a big night for Undefeated Magazine. On the biggest fight stage to hit the state we managed to create a buzz worthy of any fight rag on the market. In celebration, we toast to our hard work and dedication, and also to the fun had in covering this event.
3:30 AM – Hunger pains are back, so it’s off to our unofficial haunt for the weekend, IHOP. All seven of us pile into Ed’s truck which takes us all back to the days of high school when only one of your friends would have a car, yet twenty people managed to fit into it. Service is slow, but there is not rush, we are content just to sit around and crack jokes.
4:45 AM – Damn daylights saving’s time. I effectively loss an hour of time, and before long I notice that it is 4:45 AM and I have to get my ass back home to Garland. I’m pretty positive that my wife will kill me as I walk through the door.
5:20 AM – Nothing, I repeat nothing, is s brutal as this drive home down 635. I crank the radio and sing along to Lil’ Wayne to keep my senses alert.
5:30 AM – Tumble into my house looking like a zombie. Tonight was truly a memorable night, and I thank the man upstairs for giving me the gifts to be able to cover such an event. Though with that being said, I’m ready to take my ass to sleep.
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