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|| SportsShooter.com: News Item: Posted 2009-05-12
Pacquiao vs. Hatton Fight Week in Vegas
Tom Hogan and his staff at Hoganphotos covered this event from a historical and editorial perspective.
By Tom Hogan, Hoganphotos.com
Photo by Tom Hogan / Hoganphotos.com
Ricky Hatton steps on the scale in front of thousand of fans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 1, 2009. Photo shot with a remote.
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If you are a big fight fan, there is no other place on the planet that you would rather be. Fight week for our staff at Hoganphotos means many hours of work covering the event for loads of media outlets around the world. Our staff at Hoganphotos is the sole provider of images to Golden Boy Promotions; Oscar De La Hoya’s boxing promotional firm. We specialize in boxing photography. Our staff is positioned around the world so when there is an event or simultaneous events, we can cover them with consistency in quality and speed. It’s important that each member of our staff shoot an event from a historical and editorial perspective; tell the story with their photos.
Boxing is unique for historical purposes because the event between two fighters may never happen again. It does not occur a few times a year during a home stand like baseball, it does not happen every year during division or conference play like football and does not happen in a series to determine a champion. Boxing is one of the few sports where each second counts and the event can end without notice. For this fight; Pacquiao vs. Hatton, the fight lasted less than six minutes with a shocking ending. Leading up the fight night, there are many events that we cover. These events include arrival of fighters, media workouts, press conferences and weigh-in’s. I have put together a diary of fight week for Pacquiao vs. Hatton; the biggest fight of the year. Here goes!
Tuesday AM:
Tuesday 11:30am starts with Manny Pacquiao’s arrival at the entrance of Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Manny arrived with MANY members of his entourage in a bus that is plastered on the outside with his photos. The closest thing I can compare to a riot occurs during the fight week arrival of Manny at Manadalay Bay when he steps off the bus and walks through the hotel to the guest elevators. Today Manny is mobbed by fans as it is their only chance to actually touch their hero. The crowd is huge and Manny and his guards push their way through to the elevators as there is not much of a chance for a media op or photo op, but our ace photog and SportsShooter.com member Gene Blevins gets a number of unbelievable shots that captures the crowd and of course Manny. Gene is always in the right place at the right time and I rest easy that if there is an opportunity to get a shot in an impossible situation, Gene will get it as he always does.
Tuesday Afternoon:
Tuesday 1pm means that Ricky Hatton will have his Grand arrival at the MGM Grand, just a few blocks away down the strip from Mandalay Bay. The fighters stay in different hotels so that each fighter can call the hotel home base for their fans. It becomes fighter central. At 1pm, Hatton steps out of his limo and, of course Gene Blevins gets the shot everyone wants, Ricky getting out of the limo, smiling and greeting his fans. This shot is important as it provides the reader a chance to see what Hatton is experiencing in Las Vegas. Hatton may never be greeted to such fanfare again, so it is also important from a historical perspective. The crowd is not short on alcoholic beverages but remain orderly (for a Hatton crowd) thanks to the security staff at the MGM Grand. Photos are captioned, transmitted and sent to an unbelievable amount of media around the globe.
Photo by Tom Hogan / Hoganphotos.com
Manny Pacquiao lands a right to the head of Ricky Hatton before his 2nd round KO of Hatton on May 2, 2009.
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Wednesday:
Wednesday 12pm. The Final Press Conference for Pacquiao vs. Hatton takes place at the MGM Grand. Our photographer Gene Blevins is front and center at our saved photo position (Thanks PR staff). Tons of media fill the media room where the press conference takes place. Fighters, trainers, promoters and HBO executives take their turn speaking about the fight and at the end the fighters pose, first facing the media, then toe to toe. This is the shot that everyone wants. It’s a must. The pushing and shoving begins, Gene delivers a great shot of both fighters looking into his camera, and photos are captioned, transmitted and sent to a massive list of media.
Thursday: the busiest day of the week… we think…
Thursday starts early so that we can begin setting our overhead remotes for fight night, still two days away. The photogs take turns going up in the scissor jack 30 feet high (yes, it’s scary) to point their camera’s at the ring for Saturday’s big fight. After setting my two camera’s, one dead center over the ring and one at an angle in the red corner, facing the blue corner (Ricky Hatton’s corner, Golden Boy Promotions fighter). Gene and I start to plan our shot of the weigh in from behind the fighter looking out into the crowd. Our hope is that we get a shot that shows the fever of the event. I have never seen it done before and have been excited at the prospect of getting the shot. This fight seems to be the perfect scenario for this shot, a huge passionate crowd for each fighter in a packed house. We find that we have two problems. The banner that advertises the fight and will hang behind the fighters is very high and there is nothing to mount our camera to. We find the MGM stagehands and arrive at the thought of putting a ladder behind the banner and attaching two magic arms to hold the camera high enough to get the shot over the banner. Pointing the camera is the next hurdle that we face on Friday.
Thursday at 11:30am we shoot the undercard press conference in the MGM Media room. The undercard press conference takes place on a different day so that they are not overshadowed by the main event. There are some great fights on the undercard and titles are on the line, so the fighters are deserving of their piece of the spotlight too. The undercard press conference is much easier to shot as there are not as many photogs shooting so less pushing and shoving. We get what we need, caption, transmit… sound familiar?
My day is far from done.
At 1pm, I have a studio shoot with one of Golden Boy Promotions undefeated prospect, Erislandy Lara from Cuba. My staff sets up the lights and background and I slide in just in time to do the shoot which takes no more than 15 minutes. I have it down to a science. The fighter is courteous and easy to work with as he has been told that the photos will appear on billboards, posters, newspapers for his upcoming fights.
After the shoot, I go back out to the arena to double check that the remotes are set, each photographer is on a separate channel etc. You can never over check. Once the remotes go up, you will not see them until after the fight, two days from now.
Photo by Tom Hogan / Hoganphotos.com
Floyd Mayweather Jr, Oscar De La Hoya and Juan Manuel Marquez pose for a photos at the Press Conference to announce Mayweather's return bout against Marquez on July 18, 2009.
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Friday: Weigh In Day
Friday’s during Fight Week are always busy. First thing, I arrive at the arena, the fans are already lined up to get into the arena at 9am; six hours before the weigh-in starts they are drinking- double fisted, beers in hand. I get into the arena to check our weigh-in remote and to point the camera for the weigh-in shot. The positioning of the camera on the ladder has not allowed me to climb the ladder and point the camera. I find a stagehand to drive the scissor jack and get to a position to point the camera. I point the camera, set the settings and cross my fingers. With remotes, you never know. This shot has never been done with a remote before but if it turns out, it will become one of our regular shots for big events.
At 1pm, I meet Juan Diaz, a young two-time world champion who is graduating from the University of Houston with honors (smart kid). He and his manager, Willie Savannah want a studio shoot with Juan in his cap and gown. No problem. My staff sets up the lights and background and I slide in to do the shoot. I have never shot graduation photos before so of course, I can’t resist the typical boxing poses with the fighter in cap and gown.
While walking to the arena, I hear security yell, “if you want to see the weigh-in and you’re not in the arena now, you will not be able to get in, the doors are closing, we are at capacity”. A stampede begins and I head downstairs to the floor entrance.
The crowd for the weigh-in is awesome, including the Ricky Hatton band that plays "There’s only 1…Ricky Hatton…" to the tune of Walking in Winter Wonderland. That song will never be the same and if you have ever been to a Ricky Hatton fight, you know what I am talking about. Again, the atmosphere is electric.
When the fighters step onto the stage with an introduction from Michael Buffer, the intensity goes through the roof. I fire the remote (10mm lens) and hope I am capturing it all. I am also shooting front and center with my 70-200mm.
After the weigh-in, I hustle to get my remote to see what I have…..got it! Ricky posing on the scale with arms raised, #1 with his fingers, tattoo on his back, no doubt who it is. There’s only 1…..Ricky Hatton……
Saturday – Fight Day
Fight day is always a day of rest until about 2pm when I need to make my way to the arena. Not today!
Photo by Tom Hogan / Hoganphotos.com
Manny Pacquiao poses (and ask that I shoot a photo of his group) with his entourage after his 2nd round KO of Ricky Hatton on May 2, 2009 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
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On Friday night, I get word from Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) COO, David Itskowitch, “be at the Hollywood Theater at 10am Saturday.” Armando Gaytan from GBP adds “and bring your gear”. Hmm…no other details. As I watch the Padres lose to the Dodgers at the MGM Sportsbook on Friday night, I notice the ticker tape at the bottom of the TV screen on ESPN that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is rumored to be fighting on July 18. It’s all making sense now, we knew Floyd Jr. would be back, just a matter of when.
Saturday at 10am I arrive and am escorted into the theater before media arrives so that I can stake claim to my spot front and center. As suspected, it’s a press conference for Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s comeback against Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18th back at the MGM. Looks like another packed fight week coming in July! I shoot the press conference and as always, Oscar De La Hoya gets the fighters to pose and look right into my camera. I edit the photos and next thing I know, it’s 15 minutes before the fights start. I rush to ringside for the first of nine fights before the main event, its 2:30pm, main event starts around 8pm. I test fire the remotes overhead and hear the clicking of the shutter on both cameras. Music to my ears. Now I just hope the batteries are still charged. The remotes have already been up for two days.
The fights roll by and celebs file in. As I snap what I can in between fights of celebs. As it turns out, a few are over my shoulder, Jay Z is seated right behind my assistant in the front row and behind Jay Z is Puffy or is it PDiddy or…. Next to Puffy is Russell Brand (Actor/Comedian), on the other side of Puffy is Jude Law. Looks like I am in the right place.
Main event is about to start so I take my place so I can get a good shot of the entrance. Security is tight and am told I cannot get a prime spot to shoot entrance.I get into the ring as my credential allows and shoot Manny and Ricky stepping into the ring (this is historic stuff and I want to capture every second, every move).
The fight is about to begin so I exit out of the ring and take my spot near Manny’s corner, facing Ricky’s corner. I shoot fast as I know the fight can end any second. BAM! Ricky goes down. I look back and my assistant is firing away with remotes…nice. The action is blistering and a dream come true for a sports photographer. Both Manny and Ricky are great for photos as both put their heart on their sleeve and blast away. Manny drops Ricky in the second round and the fight is over. An unbelievable knockout! Ricky is motionless and doctors rush into the ring to check his vitals. After a while Ricky gets up to his stool. There is a crowd around Ricky and I feel as if I am missing shots so I jump into the ring. Manny comes over to hug Ricky and I get the shot (nice). If I stayed outside the ropes, I would not have gotten that shot (captured forever).
Photo by Tom Hogan / Hoganphotos.com
Manny Pacquiao walks to a neutral corner after his KO of Ricky Hatton in the 2nd round of their bout on May 2, 2009. Photo shot with a remote.
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I exit the ring and take my spot with the other photogs to get the winner with the belts. All the photogs on my side of the ring (Getty’s Al Bello, Reuters Steve Marcus, Sports Illustrated’s John Iacono, AP’s Jae Hong and Fightnews photog Chris Cozzone) call Manny over for the shot with the belt. As I am shooting with my camera up to my face I see Manny looking at me and mouthing something, but I can’t hear. I put my camera aside and hear, “Tom Hogan, Tom Hogan, please take a picture of my group”. I laugh and tell Manny that I will. Manny is a genuine guy and very easy to like. Manny then poses for me looking straight into my camera for more than 30 frames.
About one hour after the fight, when the arena was empty, the lighting truss comes down and the photogs wait for their camera to be brought down to see what they have. The scene is much like Christmas morning with kids waiting to see what they have in their stocking.
I review my overhead shots and find that I have all the shots I had hoped for. Every knockdown, ring entrances, ring celebrations…everything (Nice!). Off to edit photos, burn DVD’s etc.
All in all a great fight week. On to the next show!
Thanks to my staff for Pacquiao vs. Hatton; Gene Blevins, Rich Hogan, TJ Hogan, Jen Carpenter. Our UK photographers who covered the Pre-Fight Press Conference in London and Manchester; Will Sheratt and Mark Chapman. Golden Boy Promotions staff; David Itskowitch, Armando Gaytan, Monica Sears, Ramiro Gonzalez MGM Staff; Scott Ghertner and Stephanie Heller.
Tom Hogan is a freelance photographer that specializes in boxing. He owns and operates www.Hoganphotos.com; a photo wire service with over 15,000 boxing images comprised from boxing photographers around the world. Hoganphotos.com delivers top quality images within moments of an event to clients and media outlets around the world.
Related Links:
Tom's member page
Gene's member page
Hoganphotos
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