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Berto Vs.Guerrero...First time sitting on the floor.
So I've mentioned on a couple threads that I had got a gift from my brother to go watch this fight for my birthday, so being that not many people I know would share in the excitement because they have no interest in boxing I wanted to share here with the Saddo buddies.
For anyone that lives in the area and has a chance to go watch any event at the Citizens Arena, you should definitely attend, it is a nice place and small enough to give every seat a great view. My brother got us floor seats, not right up on the ring as it appears that CutMeMick had but we were close eough to see the sweat flying off Guerrero's head on those uppercuts. I had been to a few fights at the Staples center in a suite for some company thing but as the Staples center is so big you really cant get a feel for the atmosphere. We got their around 4:45pm, the card started at 4:00 so we missed the first fight. We got there and ordered the first set of beers, as we sat back down I pointed out Triple G Gennedy Golovkin to my brother, and slowly I started recognizing more and more folks from the boxing circles I recognize from websites, blogs, HBO, etc. It must have been funny for my brother to see me get all excited about recognizing somone and pointing them out to him, telling the story of who they are and how they are associated with boxing, maybe annoying to the people around us but I was enjoying it. If I would have been closer up I would have probably jumped out of my seat as Mick saw alot more people I didnt see. I got a glance at Triple G as I mentioned, Al Haymon, those brothers and father that walk out with Al Haymon's fighters, ODH, Ponce De Leon, and a couple other people from the boxing world. My brother later joked that I couldnt tell him who a top 40 song artist was but that I could tell him who the manager of some unknown fighter was, I dont know if that means Im getting old or Im just uninterested in top 40 music?
So as the fights got started I noticed my phone was about to die so I needed to conserve energy to be able to take a few pictures of the main event I wish I could have caught a few other pictures to have for mementos. The first fight we saw was in the heavyweight division (I cant remember the names but one of the guys represented the US in 2012) both guys were 1-0 and I think it was only a four round fight. The emptyness of the Arena was pretty crazy it made the whole thing seem so much more intimate, kinda like some underground fight club and only a handful of people were invited but we were there early and I knew it would fill up for the last two fights. As I mentioned I had been to the Staples Center for a few fights and to the Forum with my Dad a looong time ago but never to something like this, small, not many spectators there yet, and pretty close to the ring. The moment I heard the the first big blow land from the young heavyweight on his opponent, I knew I was going to have to give up some other reckless spending to come and see more fights from down here at this angle...Wow it sounded like a mack truck hit this guy.
Every fight on the undercard up until the Charo fight was stopped before the final bell. The guys that you dont see on TV really go to war, saw some kid from Coachella, Randy Caballero against a guy they brought in from Mexico, the Coachella kid was something like 18-0 and the kid from Mexico was 8-8, man it was a slaughter. As I was telling my brother about what little I know about boxing and the business of boxing it was way different to be able to see in person versus reading about it and seeing everything on youtube and TV. I thought about how the prospect is there to polish skills and the opponent is there to serve as batting practice for these guys. I have always believed that through history nothing ever changes just evolves and seeing these young propects slaughter their prey made me think about gladiators killing slaves for practice but that's a different subject.
The arena was small enough that they had an MC from a local radio station named Tattoo trying to hype up the crowd. He had a tattoo on his forehead so I guess it was'nt just a clever nickname. He was throwing out signed gloves and walking around the arena with microhone asking people who they thought would win the fight. There was a performance by some new pop artist which was strange because no one seemed to be paying attention, then there was Adrian Broner who performed some horrible rap in the ring, he got booed very loudly. Like Mick mentioned in his thread Broner is a very little guy along with Ponce De Leon, I know theyd knock me out in a flash but man these guys look alot bigger on TV.
Carlos Quintana Vs Keith **One Time** Thurman was an exciting fight to watch. The knockdown in round 1 was brutal and you really could hear how hard the glove slapped the body to almost finish Quintana in the first round. As the fight progressed I thought CQ's experiance would help him pull through and take 1-time into deep waters but he was taking some massive blows and never seemed to be able to get off on Thurman. When the 6th round started (Pretty sure it was the 6th) I told my brother if CQ can get through this round it may get interesting because Thurman mostly knocks guys out and may have trouble in later rounds...but we never got that far.
As the main event was about to begin the arena was filling up, I have been looking for attendance records for the fight and while it certainly wasnt full the atmosphere was exciting, thoughts of seeing a fight in huge arena for a big fight started crossing my mind, add something to the bucket list. The fight was about to begin and I turned to the couple sitting behind us and I ask the girl who has been screaming for Berto all night if she wanted to make a $20.00 bet to make the fight more exciting but neither her or her date had any cash, damn!
The fight was awesome, I kept looking up at the big screen to see what the folks at home would be seeing compared to my view. Seeing it at home still gives you a better view of the fight from the seats I had I think but I havent seen my DVR of the fight so I cant say with certainty but the atmosphere made it super exciting and the sound of the gloves hitting the other fighter totally overcame the viewing issues that were minimal. 12 rounds of elite level fighting and the hometown favorite won the fight, I'm afraid I have found a new way to blow a check.
Overall my experiance was awesome, small intimate venue, great fights, and great company. Two things that I noted that got me excited about coming to more fights and shelling out the cash for the premium seats:
1. Everyone seemed to know each other, I dont know if it was because they were all tied to the arena, if they were just friends, or if these are all regional fight fans that just know each other after coming to so many fights and sitting in this floor area, it was kind of like they were all season ticket holders for a baseball team that have gotten to know each other after years of holding the season tickets, seemed like a community of hardcore boxing fans reuniting. Mick if you know that to be the case let me know as I need to get into the "community".
2. These tickets were cheap for the level of excitement the fights delivered. The sport has suffered a lack of popularity for so many reasons that I wont get into but because this has happened a fight like Berto Vs Guerrero that features two exciting top level guys in their primes goes for about $100 bucks per ticket. Im not saying its alot or a alittle, that is for each person and their budget to decide but when I think about all the other things I have done with $100 dollars for alot less fullfilling entertainment either because it sucked or because the value wasnt there, my entire time in the arena watching fights was about 4 hours and I think about everything as cost per hour of entertainment so at that rate it's $25/hour. I think I came away a huge winner and I kicked myself in the head for not having attended the Rios Vs Alvarado fight.
Great fight and now Im looking to see what I cut out to go watch Amir Khan in December as that is even closer to wear I live and provides another great value depending on the undercard.
Cheers!
Re: Berto Vs.Guerrero...First time sitting on the floor.
Great post, thanks for sharing!
Re: Berto Vs.Guerrero...First time sitting on the floor.
Cool post hope you have plenty more good birthdays presents.
Re: Berto Vs.Guerrero...First time sitting on the floor.
Fantastic post. Glad you had a blast at the fights.
Re: Berto Vs.Guerrero...First time sitting on the floor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
amat
Awesome post! I'm upset I didn't go, I am from the Bay Area and went to SoCal for the first time (aside from a visit to San Diego in high school) for Rios-Alvarado and I can't compliment the Southern California fight scene enough. I had a media credential for the Rios fight (school paper, because of Donaire's Bay Area connection) and planned to do the same for this bout but it just came up too soon somehow. I'm glad you had fun, great fight and I'm somewhat jealous that you say it's a great venue because The Home Depot Cwnter was GREAT and we just don't have that here in the Bay, just arenas. Cool deal, we need to have a mini Saddo gathering next time there is a good fight in your neck of the woods.
Thanks dude. I am totally down to get together sometime for a fight. I'm pretty sure there are more than just a few saddos in the LA area so we could definitely make that happen.
I had considered going to the Amir Khan fight this weekend but I think I'll just save my money and watch COtto VS Trout.
Let me know when you are going to be in town for a fight and we can hook up sometime.
