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- My seats were immediately behind the press on the floor level. There was a walkway in front of me but no immediate seats. There were two rows of seats for those with credentials in addition to a number of tables (6 or 7 rows) for radio, web, TV people...
- We were also seated right in front of the stage where the HBO announcers filmed their pre-fight stuff; you can barely see me, but I'm there. As Roy Jones is talking, I'm the bald guy in the yellow sweater who leans over to pick something up (that would be my glasses, which were knocked off by an overanxious fan waving his arms). You can briefly see my face between Lampley's mic and his face while he's talking to Roy about the Winky Wright fight. I'm facing away and then I turn around but it's hard to make out my face. Check it out if you taped it.
- That guy who's the new WBC mandatory for Zab Judah is a bum and was part of the most boring fight on the card. He has 12 KO's in 56 fights.
- Kelvin Davis looked awful and that guy that destroyed him isn't particularly skilled, but he looked heavier than a cruiserweight in person. At the end of the next to last round, Davis got rocked so hard he did a subdued-Judah dance getting back to his corner. He didn't have a chance; his opponent was loading up, throwing wild sidearmed punches at his head. If he had any presence of mind, a straight jab from Davis would have landed clean.
- Radio today said there were 20,000 for the fight. That's 15,000+ more than Mayweather drew for Bruseles...
- Polish and Polish-American fans were everywhere. It sounded like a foreign country in the bathrooms waiting to piss where people were on their cell phones. There were Polish jerseys and flags everywhere. Most of the row behind me were Polish supporters; those guys love to chant ALL THROUGH THE FIGHT. They never got off obviously for the Golota fight, but were crazy during the Adamek fight, which may have influenced the judges in what was an even fight. The guy next to me scored it 115-113 for Briggs; I had it 115-114 for Adamek. Both guys would get destroyed by Tarver or Johnson.
- Cory Spinks came out with a St. Louis fighter. He walked in front of me and nodded "hi" at one point; the guy two seats down (the one in the green waving his arms while Roy talks) got a pic on his cellphone with Spinks; they confiscated real cameras at the gates. Kerry Wood sat perpindicular to me next to 3 other Cubs pitchers. The section in front of me seated a prominent Chicago newsman. I also spotted Fres Oquendo. I passed Rid**** Bowe on the stairs heading up between one of the fights.
- They also announced Rev. Jesse Jackson, Will Grigsby, Tim Austin, Leon Spinks, **** Butkus, Luol Deng & Ben Gordon as being in attendance, that I can remember.
- Roy Jones Jr., who I always thought was a ****y loudmouth, seemed very humble and polite when people hollered out at him. He posed for a picture with a fan, signed a glove for someone else, and even reassured a young fan who wanted an autograph while they were close to going on the air that he would sign it for him later. He also signed the program of another person sitting in my row. He smiled politely and seemed almost bashful when people would cheer him. When they were announcing the celebs in the crowd, Lampley stood behind him, gesturing for us to give him a standing ovation. We did, and Roy looked embarassed.
- One of the undercards had a curious exchange where Alejandro Garcia appeared to have a sloppy knockdown, but got tangled up with his opponent (a rematch with Roshii Wells) and actually flipped up over the middle rope and out of the ring (though not off the apron). No knockdown was called.
- I was worried that the large Polish supporting population that went nuts after Adamek won would get rowdy after Golota got destroyed, but it was mainly disbelief that seemed to be prevalent. There was some shouting at Brewster after he gloated and some screaming at the replay, but no fights in the crowd. This may have been partly because Brewster's supporters weren't as vocal or easy to spot. I clapped when he came out and was actually jumping up and down and shaking my fist after the first knockdown and nobody bothered me...
- I picked up a Brewster signed glove at a collector's memorabilia store across from our hotel prior to the fight. I was rooting for Brewster, partly because he was born in Indiana, partly because I thought if he continued retaining, he'd fight at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, partly because he seems like a great guy in real life. This big KO impressed me alot. Maybe the next time he'll fight in my state; I hope so.
- We were also seated right in front of the stage where the HBO announcers filmed their pre-fight stuff; you can barely see me, but I'm there. As Roy Jones is talking, I'm the bald guy in the yellow sweater who leans over to pick something up (that would be my glasses, which were knocked off by an overanxious fan waving his arms). You can briefly see my face between Lampley's mic and his face while he's talking to Roy about the Winky Wright fight. I'm facing away and then I turn around but it's hard to make out my face. Check it out if you taped it.
- That guy who's the new WBC mandatory for Zab Judah is a bum and was part of the most boring fight on the card. He has 12 KO's in 56 fights.
- Kelvin Davis looked awful and that guy that destroyed him isn't particularly skilled, but he looked heavier than a cruiserweight in person. At the end of the next to last round, Davis got rocked so hard he did a subdued-Judah dance getting back to his corner. He didn't have a chance; his opponent was loading up, throwing wild sidearmed punches at his head. If he had any presence of mind, a straight jab from Davis would have landed clean.
- Radio today said there were 20,000 for the fight. That's 15,000+ more than Mayweather drew for Bruseles...
- Polish and Polish-American fans were everywhere. It sounded like a foreign country in the bathrooms waiting to piss where people were on their cell phones. There were Polish jerseys and flags everywhere. Most of the row behind me were Polish supporters; those guys love to chant ALL THROUGH THE FIGHT. They never got off obviously for the Golota fight, but were crazy during the Adamek fight, which may have influenced the judges in what was an even fight. The guy next to me scored it 115-113 for Briggs; I had it 115-114 for Adamek. Both guys would get destroyed by Tarver or Johnson.
- Cory Spinks came out with a St. Louis fighter. He walked in front of me and nodded "hi" at one point; the guy two seats down (the one in the green waving his arms while Roy talks) got a pic on his cellphone with Spinks; they confiscated real cameras at the gates. Kerry Wood sat perpindicular to me next to 3 other Cubs pitchers. The section in front of me seated a prominent Chicago newsman. I also spotted Fres Oquendo. I passed Rid**** Bowe on the stairs heading up between one of the fights.
- They also announced Rev. Jesse Jackson, Will Grigsby, Tim Austin, Leon Spinks, **** Butkus, Luol Deng & Ben Gordon as being in attendance, that I can remember.
- Roy Jones Jr., who I always thought was a ****y loudmouth, seemed very humble and polite when people hollered out at him. He posed for a picture with a fan, signed a glove for someone else, and even reassured a young fan who wanted an autograph while they were close to going on the air that he would sign it for him later. He also signed the program of another person sitting in my row. He smiled politely and seemed almost bashful when people would cheer him. When they were announcing the celebs in the crowd, Lampley stood behind him, gesturing for us to give him a standing ovation. We did, and Roy looked embarassed.
- One of the undercards had a curious exchange where Alejandro Garcia appeared to have a sloppy knockdown, but got tangled up with his opponent (a rematch with Roshii Wells) and actually flipped up over the middle rope and out of the ring (though not off the apron). No knockdown was called.
- I was worried that the large Polish supporting population that went nuts after Adamek won would get rowdy after Golota got destroyed, but it was mainly disbelief that seemed to be prevalent. There was some shouting at Brewster after he gloated and some screaming at the replay, but no fights in the crowd. This may have been partly because Brewster's supporters weren't as vocal or easy to spot. I clapped when he came out and was actually jumping up and down and shaking my fist after the first knockdown and nobody bothered me...
- I picked up a Brewster signed glove at a collector's memorabilia store across from our hotel prior to the fight. I was rooting for Brewster, partly because he was born in Indiana, partly because I thought if he continued retaining, he'd fight at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, partly because he seems like a great guy in real life. This big KO impressed me alot. Maybe the next time he'll fight in my state; I hope so.