By B.L.Morgan – What used to be called a “Closed Circuit Telecast” of a boxing event, where the fight card was shown to an audience in a movie theater, is now being done through a company named Fathom Events. It is an interesting way to see a top level prizefight that otherwise you could catch in your home on pay-per-view although not every pay-per-view is available as a Fathom Event.
Last night me and my wife went to see the fight card of Marquez and Diaz II. But we didn’t have the budget to travel to Las Vegas. Instead we just went to the Century Theater in Federal Way Washington. It was a good experience, definitely different from seeing the fights at home although it is the same telecast. Having a crowd around you, getting loud at a prizefight when the fists fly does add a good deal of excitement to the event.
I am going to state right up front that there is no substitute for seeing a title fight in the arena where it is taking place. The electricity in a building when a world championship is being fought over is contagious.. You cannot help but get caught up in the moment. But seeing a telecast in a theater where boxers who weigh less than 150 lbs are around 20 feet tall definitely lets you get up close and personal when the snot and blood flies. Slow motion replays of a K.O. punch look especially striking when viewed that big.
The last time I’d seen a live boxing telecast at a movie theater was when I went to the Ali VS Norton III closed circuit telecast in St.Louis. I won’t tell you how old I was so you won’t know how old I am now.
There were a lot of technical problems with that telecast. For one thing the picture was pretty bad and frequently out of focus. I also read years later that some of the closed circuit sites lost the picture entirely for long periods of time. Luckily we didn’t.
Today the technology has improved so much that everything was as crystal clear as a high definition TV screen can get. Being that the screen was in a full-sized movie theater, that was impressive.
Now I’m going to give a quick rundown of what the fight card was like as witnessed in a movie theater. I’ll spare you blow-by-blow since there are several other articles that have already covered that.
Linares VS Juarez
Maybe Rocky needs to think about another profession. He’s got power and talent but doesn’t seem to be able to force himself to accelerate to take the best fighters out of their fight plans. Eating shots while walking forward, throwing almost no jabs and not being busy enough just won’t get the job done against the top guys.
Guerrero VS Casamayor
Right after the Ghost dropped Casamayor he seemed to decide to not seriously hurt his friend. It was a rather lackluster fight that won’t have fans beating down Guerrero’s door begging to see him fight again any time soon.
For Casamayor, he needs to get out before he does get seriously hurt. A more vicious opponent would have damaged him. He doesn’t have the reflexes to compete with the young guys anymore.
Pirog VS Jacobs
Wow! What a surprise. To be honest I’d never heard of Pirog before this fight. I really thought he was going to be a sacrificial lamb to build up Jacobs. Dimitry Pirog is slick, smart, rather fast, tall and hits hard. He beat Jacobs like he was his favorite dirty rug. The K.O. was a one punch classic. A new star was discovered on this night.
Marquez VS Diaz II
Diaz fought a much more disciplined fight this time in trying to box with a master boxer. From the advice Ronnie Shields was giving to Diaz I believe he was more concerned with the kid’s health than winning. By the way, I do totally agree with Shields’ approach.
Let the kid become a lawyer and do some good in the world. His time as a world champion is past. He has a future, why ruin it with taking a severe beating.
It was a spirited fight without being the wild, barn-burner the first one between them was.
I enjoyed the effort both guys put out. No one got seriously hurt and that’s what is important.
In summary I would like to encourage anybody who is a boxing fan to find out if your local theater does Fathom Events. Just Google “Fathom Events” for info. It makes for a good, fun night out and in its own way helps support the sport of boxing. If we want our sport to survive then we should support its shows in whatever way we can.
Maybe all of us cannot afford to hop on a plane and go to Las Vegas for all the big events. But with Fathom Events sometimes the big events come to you.
This story was by B.L.Morgan the author of Blood And Rain, Blood For The Masses, Blood On Celluloid, Blood And Bones, Night Knuckles, and You Play, You Pay. http://sites.google.com/site/johndark1985/home
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!