My Days in Dallas: Part Two (Covering Pacquiao - Clottey) By Steve Kim, MaxBoxing (March 17, 2010) Special to Doghouse Boxing
Well, the big day finally arrived. It was time for “The Event” at Dallas Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas. But before that, there was plenty going on that day and night.
11:13 AM: I wake up feeling pretty good and, like the day before, I hop on my laptop and do a blog entry and do some tweeting. Anyone that wants to know our whereabouts for the tailgate outside the stadium would have to go to my Twitter page to find out because we didn’t even know where we would be later.
12:19 PM: I meet the Swider Brothers downstairs to get some lunch and we drop off Ray Alcorta at the Gaylord Texan, as he has some business to attend to. We end up eating at this place called “Big Racks BBQ and Sports Grill,” which is basically across the street from our Hilton. Now, this place isn’t just called “Big Racks” because it has ribs, but because the waitresses, shall we say, are letting it all hang out up top. As we get seated, Matt says, "I didn’t know it was THIS kinda place."
Soon, Brian embarrasses us by asking our server if they could switch one of the TVs to a European soccer game. Good grief, we’re in the Land of Football and Gun Racks and he’s asking for the Manchester United? Luckily, they can’t find it and we end up watching the Big Ten Network on an adjacent screen which shows old football highlights of Drew Brees and Charles Woodson.
But Brian is placated by the fact that many of the waitresses have tattoos on various parts of their body.
1:17 PM: We’re back at the room and we plan to meet at two o’clock to get going. I start ironing my clothes and packing my stuff early. Believe it or not, I’m actually wearing a suit (sans tie) to this fight. Hey, it’s “The Event,” what can I say? And if I do say so myself, I was looking all “Fresh Kid Ice.” During this stretch, “Hoosiers” was on TV, a truly great movie. Seriously, has Gene Hackman ever been in a real bad one? Unfortunately, I didn’t get to the part where Jimmy Chitwood agreed to join the team (That guy had a sweet stroke from the outside, didn’t he?)
2:01 PM: I get up to room 818 and the Swiders have prepared a list of things we need to get for our tailgate which includes lots of beer, a Styrofoam cooler or two, sandwiches, chips, plates, plastic forks and spoons and a small bag of M&Ms for Brian.
As we walk downstairs to the car, we run into Ray and members of his family who flew in for the fight, including his daughter Jaz (who thinks I’m actually happy to see her). Minutes into our foray to Tom Thumb, our British friend, Alan- who has now joined us- and Brian start talking soccer. "Good grief," I blurt out to Matt. "You guys are really brothers?!" To which Alan responded, "Hey, c’mon, I get to talk about something too. Just give me this."
Point taken.
2:42 PM: By this time, we’re on our way to the stadium and Matt has moved into the back seat with me. "Right here, is the ‘No-Soccer-Talk Zone,’" he says to me. We go up the 360 and traffic isn’t all that bad. Hey, it’s Pacquiao-Clottey, not the Cowboys versus the Redskins.
3:10 PM: We pull into Lot Silver 4 and parking is $50 bucks. What can I say? Jerry Jones needs to make his money back. But we decide this location is prime (right across from the stadium) and we quickly set up a few chairs, break out the beers and food, and our first official boxing tailgate experience has begun.
But we were soon put to shame by a large contingent of Filipinos- loaded into about five or six vehicles- who soon break out tents, grills, and have footballs flying around. Many of them have Cowboy jerseys with Pacquiao’s last name on the back with the numeral “1.” Now, that was a tailgate that was worthy of the SEC or Big Ten.
Soon, Anthony (Mr. Warm Beer Guy) rolls through. He had called us earlier asking what we needed. Ice was the call and he brings this huge tube of ice that takes three of us to carry near Brian’s SUV. He gave us enough ice to last the month, with Heinekens on the bottom. He then leaves, since he’s at a nearby hotel and would be walking back with his lady friend. But atta’ boy, Anthony, you always come through. From now on, you’re our George Gervin.
3:38 PM: I decide to try a Shiner Bock, a beer based out of Texas, which Nolan Ryan has a supposed interest in. It’s actually very good. I knew “The Ryan Express” wouldn’t let me down. Soon, we start talking about how Ryan scored a TKO over Robin Ventura back in the day. Alan has no idea what we’re talking about. Later, Brian and I debate whether it should be Shaq O’Neal of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the All-Time NBA squad. Sorry, I gotta go with Kareem; not only was his durability and longevity superior, he had the single greatest weapon ever in basketball history. And Shaq was in movies like “Kazaam” and “Steel.” Jabbar was in “Airplane.”
Checkmate, as far as I’m concerned.
4:40 PM: Before I get too buzzed, I decide to go get my fight credential, which is located at the box-office. After I get my credential, I run into a fan, who says, "Hey, Steve, you’re awfully dressed up for a tailgate." I’m not going to argue that. I decide to take a tour inside Cowboy Stadium and I have to say, there is indeed a “wow” factor the first time you step inside this facility ( I have posted a bunch of pictures on my Twitpic page). This place is everything they said it is. I can’t believe I’m here at “The Event” and boxing is back on the big stage. This sure beats the MGM Bland…I mean, Grand.
6:19 PM: By this time, I’ve been back at the tailgate for awhile and we decide to head in. So we start packing up our stuff. There is still plenty of beer and food left, which will come in handy later. We figure with traffic and stuff, we can stick around for awhile, anyway.
6:37 PM: I get to the floor level and this place still has the new stadium smell. I run into the bathroom and I see Brian Viloria, who is doing the night’s broadcast for Solar Sports. As I’m inside this still immaculate restroom I’m reminded of the couple who were caught having sex in one of the stalls during one of the Cowboy games (there’s video proof; just Google it). I guess that’s one of the benefits of a sparkling, new yard. By the way, the guy on top of that girl doing the deed, had a Michael Irvin jersey on. Don’t know why that’s important to this discussion, but I thought I’d mention it.
As I walk around and start to see the crowd escalating, I’m actually in awe to a certain degree. I get to do this for a living; can you believe it? For years, I led the charge among all reporters to get back to having events of this nature, and here I am, live and in-person to witness it.
6:59 PM: I get to my seat and it’s like having 50-yard line seats on the field (Floor 2, Row 6, Seat 6). Prospect Roberto Marroquin, a local kid from the Dallas area, is in the ring. Ray Stallone of HBO Sports stops by to say hello and chat. Marroquin blows out Samuel Sanchez in two rounds. This guy looks like he has quite the future. I know Top Rank is very high on him.
Later, publicist Julie Goldsticker introduces herself. I’ve been receiving her releases for awhile and she counts the likes of Andre Berto, Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell as clients. Don’t know if she has any fighters not named Andre.
There was a lull in the action so I decide to just walk around. Rich Marotta, who’s doing the international call of the fight for Top Rank asks me, "Look at this crowd, already. When was the last time you saw this many people before the televised fights began?" He has a point. When real fans buy tickets, they will show up much sooner than the casino comp crowd.
As I take my stroll, you just see the enormity of this place. So this is what a billion dollars looks like. I decide to buy a Cowboy souvenir beer cup. It’s blue with the iconic Cowboy star. To get a 12-ounce Miller Lite, it costs $8.50. I have cups from Clemson, Georgia Tech and North Carolina State during my road trips to Miami games; I figure, hey, why not? It’s my first stadium fight. Now, I thought this was a great deal, until I got in my room later, and the first thing I see is about 20 of these cups, lined up about a yard high, that had been purchased by the Alcorta clan.
D-oh!
I go to where the Swiders were sitting, after getting lost for a few minutes. Hey, this place is expansive and I had never been here before. See, this is why you never ask Asians for directions while driving. The sight lines aren’t the greatest, but geez, that big screen of Jones is incredible. And you can just feel the atmosphere rising. As I get back to press row, there’s a bit of a commotion and it’s because Barry Switzer is getting asked for a few autographs. I always liked “The Bootlegger’s Boy”
8:03 PM: John Duddy is in the ring, he’s facing Michael Medina, as a prelude to a fight with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., which will take place here in June. In what was a rather dreary affair, he won a non-descript 10-rounder. This was the start of what was a terrible undercard. Seriously, for as great an event as this was, the fights, overall, were poor. But really, has Bob Arum just really stopped giving a damn about his undercards? At least with Butterbean and Mia St. John, you knew these weren’t real fights. But with boxing on such a huge platform, didn’t Top Rank have an obligation to do better than they did?
8:51 PM: There’s a huge bathroom line near press row as Alfonso Gomez and Jose Luis Castillo enter the arena. So I decide to hold it ‘til later. A few minutes later, publicist Bill Caplan says to me, "They think there’s over 50,000." I notice that Gomez has a new tattoo on his back, which is about the most memorable thing about this mismatch. Seriously, Castillo was given a slot on this show? Why?
9:11 PM: The great Jimmy Johnson is shown on the big screen seated next to Arum and is given a huge ovation. I had to muster up all my professionalism to not stand up and scream," HOW BOUT ‘DEM EXTENZE!"
9:20 PM: Castillo quits on his stool after five rounds and calls it a career. Seriously, couldn’t have Top Rank given him his 401K retirement fight on “Top Rank Live”?
9:23 PM: OK, I really need to go potty. So I head out towards the bowels of the arena and I see an outhouse (cleanest one I’ve ever been in) and take care of business. As I walk back, I see a focused and intense David Diaz walking into the arena, which is located not too far from where I had to pee. This has to be it for Diaz; if he can’t pull the upset of Humberto Soto, I don’t think his career has much of a future outside of being an opponent like Castillo was earlier. But I think at five-to-one odds, he is a live dog. Soto not looked nearly as good at 135, but the Swiders say they saw him sweating it out in the sauna for a good half-hour a few days before.
9:35 PM: Diaz gets knocked down by Soto in the first, prompting Ray to ask me via text what Matt’s number was. It turns out that they had a bet and he wanted to start gloating early, as he had Soto. Now, you know an undercard is not exactly “Revenge of the Rematches” when the crowd starts “the wave.” Now, I like “the wave,” and I never understood why so many sportswriters and journalists looked down on it. It’s good clean fun and what are ballgames but places to have fun? It’s not the opera; c’mon.
But the first several attempts from the end zone crowd don’t get far. I can’t lie; I got pretty wrapped up in this. At first, the initial attempts didn’t get very far. In fact, if it were a football game, they would’ve been tackled for a safety more than once. Then they got enough folks involved to get to about the 30-yard line. As the momentum stopped, boos would ring out. Then the next one got past mid-field. You could just feel the drama. Finally, it happened. To the 40! To the 30! To the 20! To the ten...touchdown! And this “wave” actually went around the perimeter about three or four times. Let’s see that at the Mandalay Bay.
There was certainly a correlation between the expense of the tickets and the participation and enthusiasm of the sections. But in the upper decks, I saw a lot of “Pac-Man” cutouts and Filipino flags rising up as if they were surfing.
10:20 PM: Soto scores a 12th-round knockdown to seal his unanimous decision victory, which I admittedly had no clue was for a world title. It concluded an undercard where the fans standing up in sections to do “the wave” was the most notable occurrence.
10:26 PM: The emotion is back in the arena as anticipation grows for the night’s main event. I see Carl Moretti of Top Rank in a Tony Romo jersey inside the ring. Three separate national anthems are played. A trio of Cowboy Cheerleaders belt out the American version. It’s the best looking anthem I’ve ever heard. Chants of “Manny! Manny! Manny!” break out. Then a video montage entitled, “This is Sport” is played on the big screen, which shows some legendary fights. This was quite the scene, as the lights were dimmed, it was hard not to get into this.
Joshua Clottey entered the ring first and, unfortunately, his dance into the ring to Fort Minor’s “Remember the Name” was the most effort he put out all night. He was followed by Manny Pacquiao, who seemed to practically skip into the ring to a seamless hybrid of AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” and Survivors’ “Eye of the Tiger.”
10:43 PM: By this time, both fighters are in the ring and Michael Buffer is doing his thing. Soon both boxers are introduced and in the center of the ring.
11:34 PM: The “fight” is over. And really, I don’t think I need to rehash this for you by this time. Pacquiao, who in many respects was in a no-win situation, did his best to stop Clottey and make a show of it, but Clottey, to paraphrase Herman Edwards, “Didn’t play to win the game.” Hellloooo! It was shameful in many respects and it was made even worse when he was carried on his shoulders by his handlers after this outing. It was as if he had achieved his goal of not getting stopped by Pacquiao. Hey, no guts, no glory. Nothing wrong with losing, but to not even making an attempt to win? That’s unconscionable at this level of boxing, in my view.
Pacquiao wins a wide decision, Clottey lost a ton of respect from the fans. My view on the fight night was this: those who were there at Cowboys Stadium had a great time and would come back. However, the millions watching on TV had to be underwhelmed, to say the least. In fact, the most notable thing for them might have been Jim Lampley “banging” out the call of the fight.
11:50 PM: As I make my way out of the arena, I run into Barry Hunter, the trainer of Anthony Peterson, who might be facing Soto on June 5th at Yankee Stadium. Needless to say, they won’t hesitate to put their names on the dotted line. As I exit one of the end zones, I realized I had pulled a Jim Marshall by going the wrong direction. So with that, I got some roadwork done and the fans outside seemed generally happy. After all, their guy had won.
As I get near Lot 4, a pair of Maxboxing fans approach me (it must’ve been the suit) and we talk for a few minutes. I get to Brian’s vehicle and everyone is there enjoying what is now ice-cold beer. I’m hungry and I grab a sandwich. After about a half-hour or so, we decide that enough of the traffic has cleared up and it was time to head back to Grapevine and the Gaylord Texan. We dump out the big tub of ice, get the remaining beers and we were on our way.
12:28 AM: I get a call from CBS in Los Angeles as I was interviewed by Steve Hartman and Gary Miller on “Sports Central.” I guess Pacquiao has really crossed over. I never thought a fight against a relatively unknown African fighter in Texas would ever have gotten coverage on this show. We finally get on the highway and the traffic clears up. If there was one drawback, logistically, to this promotion is that the fight hotel and the venue were about 30-40 minutes apart,. And we were in a bit of a rush because, in Texas, last call is 1:30 and we wanted to drink a few at Texas Station and check out the scene.
1:20 AM: We get to the Gaylord and rush into the Texas Station. I see Mario Lopez (yeah, the guy who played A.C. Slater) eating with his girl, Courtney, and some friends. He invites me to sit and eat, but I got some drinking to do with the fellas, but we decide to smoke a cigar later at the nearby cigar bar. By this time, Alcorta, fresh off his Soto victory, has joined us. We know we don’t have much time so we start ordering drinks real fast, and downing them just as quickly.
1:43 AM: By this time, Lopez has made his way over to the cigar bar and texts me. So I get over there and he’s at a table with Miguel Cotto and his crew. Lopez pulls a few strings and gets a round of shots for everybody (of which I don’t partake in. Sorry, when it comes to shots, I’m Ricardo Lopez, a strawweight) I guess Lopez being Lopez, he even gets the cigar area opened up a bit later. As he was getting the shots, I was explaining to Cotto what a Michelada drink was. As I’ve explained before, it’s a concoction of beer and tomato juice, mostly.
As I go through what goes into this drink, Cotto asks, " Beer and tomato juice? Really?" I respond, “Yeah, I know, it’s a Mexican thing, but seriously, it’s good.” We’re all a bit bummed that it’s last call, so I tell Miguel, if he wants, we have plenty of beers back in our hotel room. He actually seems a tad interested by my offer. Hey, when it’s closing time, you’ll do anything for a cold one.
2:02 AM: I explain to Mario that I really didn’t have time to smoke a cigar with him and I see Matt, Brian and Alan all walking toward the cigar bar. In Texas, when it’s closing time, it’s closing time and they had basically been booted from the Texas Station. As I see them, I ask, "What happened?" As they told me that they had been thrown out, I said, "Well, we got beer in our room; let’s get outta here."
And just like that, we were in room 818 at the Hilton, enjoying our last beers in Texas. It certainly wasn’t much in the way of fights, but it certainly was an event.
