My Visit to “Sin City”: Part I.

My fellow boxing junkies, it was one hell of a weekend! Things were fast-paced and very exhausting. I know that the saying is, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” but I am going to partially break my silence, as giving all the details would be a crime. It was truly a great time and greater experience. My trek to Las Vegas, Nevada began the Thursday before fight night as I drove to San Antonio, Texas, which is where my flight would be leaving from the next morning (6:53 A.M. Friday morning to be exact). A long time friend of mine, Jesse, lives in the beautiful “Alamo” city and always puts me up at his home. I promised myself that there would be no late night because I had to be at the airport by 5:15 A.M. I had spoken to Jesse during my drive, and told him as much. He agreed and advised that we would not make it a marathon night. There is a great theater in San Antonio called “The Alamo Draft House” in which one can have dinner, drink some ice-cold beverages, and check out a movie. Since I had not seen the new “Batman” movie, I figured this would be a great idea. My friend seemed to be up for it so I soon drove into San Antonio and made my way to his pad. Once there, I quickly set myself up for the night as it was only 6 P.M. You can always count on Jesse to have some ice-cold refreshments in the fridge, and Thursday was no different. His younger brother Chris, AKA “Chachi” because he looks like Scott Baio from Happy Days, was also there so we cracked open a few and had some laughs.

Batman was not scheduled to start until 8 P.M., so we talked for a while and heard some tunes. Before I knew it, the time to head on out to the Alamo Draft House had come and gone and we were just deep into conversation and laughter. Around 8:15 P.M., another very close friend of mine, Mike, who also happens to live in San Antonio, arrived with some more cold refreshments and conversation. Yes my friends, it was the “Fantastic Four” again as Mike, Jesse, “Chachi” and I sat around and lied about women, fishing, and deer hunting. Ok, ok ok. For you non-testosterone, machismo filled males, that basically means we were just bullshitting all that time. There was no actual talk of fish and deer. Although the women conversations….well you know. I am sure you guys can relate to this type of stuff. It was great!

Soon after 9:30 P.M., and about six beverages since we should have been at the “Batman” movie, Mike starts talking about this place called the “Cowboy Bar” in Helotes, Texas. I was determined to stay home and go to sleep soon since my flight was so early. Of course, the other three gents would hear nothing of it and began to harass me about going out and having a good time. “You can sleep on the plane man,” was the most common phrase I heard for about an hour. I must tell you my fellow friends of the leather gloves; I caved and gave in to the pressure around me. At about 10:30 P.M., with some clothes I borrowed from “Chachi” (too long of a story to get into), we were walking out of my friends home and were on our way to the “Cowboy Bar” in Helotes.

Now I know what you are thinking. Let me tell you, there was not one cowboy in the place. There were a lot of cowgirls and co-eds but that is really none of you all’s business. We hung out for a while and soon enough, a Karaoke contest started. There were several different contestants involved. Some were amazing, while others were just ridiculous. The cold beverages kept flowing and we just had ourselves a great time. It was good to be back with “El Grupo” and I felt like we were back in the day.

Like everything else, the night grew older, and soon it was time to leave (1:30 A.M.). We made our way out of the bar and headed for home. By the time we arrived back to Jesse’s house, it was already 2 A.M. I felt like there was no point in sleeping since I would have to be on my way to the airport in two hours. We went ahead, fired up the X-Box, and played some Madden so that the time could pass us by. Before we knew it, 4:30 A.M. rolled around and it was time to go. I loaded my one piece of luggage on to my friend’s truck and we headed down Loop 410 West to the airport. By 5:10 A.M., I was at the San Antonio Airport, and was already making my way through the security checkpoints. After going through the metal detector, and putting my shoes back on, I went to my gate and waited. I guess the excitement was really getting my adrenaline going, because I felt as fresh as a brand new bathed and powdered baby. It was soon time to board and, before I knew it, we were in the air and headed to “Sin City.”

After a brief stop in Phoenix, Arizona, I was on another plane and about one hour away from Las Vegas. Next to me on the plane was a young couple that was celebrating their one-year wedding anniversary. They seemed really cool, and I told them I would include them in this piece, so there you go. Before we knew it, the plane touched down in Vegas at 8:35 A.M. I could feel the blood in my veins start to flow again as my heart rate picked up. I was finally here! Problems don’t really come to mind until you arrive at your destination and start to think about what you need to do. The first thing I did was I got myself a cab and headed to the MGM Grand. I needed to register by 10:00 A.M. for my credentials, and I arrived with about forty-five minutes to spare. That is when it hit me. My check in was not scheduled until 3:00 P.M. that afternoon, so what was I going to do with my luggage? Oh well fight fans. I just went ahead and pulled my camera out, and was hauling my luggage all morning. It was a challenge. Everywhere I went, the same question would be asked. “Why do you have your luggage?” It got comical after a while, and the answer was so boring that I started to makeup new ones from which some people got a kick.

10 A.M. rolled around and I was in line getting myself registered for my credentials. When I passed in to the rooms to get my photo taken for the fight night identification, I got to meet Dan Goossen. Let me tell you people this, Dan looks like a million bucks no matter what time of day it is. It took a good while, but it was soon my turn and I got my mug pictured. Soon after, I just headed back to the “war room” to get some interviews and take some pictures. Upon walking in to the “Media Center,” I met Bert Sugar, Shane Mosley, Vernon Forrest, Sam Soliman, and Felix Sturm. Yes my fellow lovers of the squared circle, it was GREAT! I was rubbing elbows with the sports elite. The “Golden Boy” himself, Oscar de la Hoya, soon walked in to do several interviews with radio media that was broadcasting live from the “war room.” One by one, Oscar was gracious with his time and, although not on television, he always flashed that million-dollar smile that has made him a winner with “status quo.” I must be honest my fellow boxing fans, I have followed De La Hoya since he was in the amateurs and always respected the fighter and person he was. I was a little nervous to be in front of a man to for the most part of the last ten years, has been the one to bring in the “mainstream” world into boxing. Oscar was gracious and walked over to me. I had the pleasure of shaking hands with a legend and we talked some shop. I took some pictures of the “Golden Boy.” I must tell you that the whole encounter was very pleasant. De La Hoya was soon on his way as there was still much to do. I did a few interviews with some other boxing insiders and was very excited about the weigh-in, scheduled for a few hours later. Things were really heating up.

Stay tuned fight fans as I give you some great inside stuff about the weigh-in, later that night, and my wacky adventures on fight day. Believe me, you don’t want to miss this stuff.

Contact Sergio Martinez at srg_mrtnz@yahoo.com