The final
press conference for “Believe It or Not” was held across the street from the
Staples Center at the JW Marriott and it featured the unveiling of wax statues
of Hopkins (and I have to say, they did a great job of replicating “The
Executioner”) and a guy who swallowed a sword and tore apart a phone book in
half. Then they also spent a great deal of time focusing in on Dewey Bozella,
who spent over a quarter century in prison for a crime he did not commit and is
making his pro boxing debut on Saturday night.
But really,
this presser, hosted by Oscar De La Hoya, was an affair that was much too long
and drawn out for not having Don King involved. Hey, guys, in a presser for a
full pay-per-view card, we really don't need to hear from every manager,
trainer and adviser, whose boxers are involved in the undercard. This time took
well over two-and-a-half hours. Freddie Roach, who was there with Jorge
Linares, was excused early as he had to get back over to the Wild Card Boxing
Club to train Manny Pacquiao. The rest of us who needed to speak to the
fighters were stuck.
OK, now I
don't mean to tell the publicists or promoters how to do their jobs (well,
actually, I am) but let’s impose a few rules. First, as it relates to undercard
fights, just have the boxers speak. We don't need the whole team (although
Danny Garcia's father was pretty entertaining and a few jaws dropped as he
dropped a “Monkey Talk” reference at the Holt team). If you are going to run
through the whole gamut, I say we institute a talk clock, like in the NBA, you
get 24 seconds to say what you want and then you sit down.
Also, sponsors
and networks get mentioned of course but, geez, do we really need to hear from
them?
Not saying
this was long but even Bozella cut out early. I don't blame him. He's been
imprisoned long enough in his life already.
