My first boxing match

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Other

I would have posted sooner, but I was waiting for the photos someone took of me with the boxers, which I never got...

I am new to the sport of boxing. My first main event occurred this past weekend in Las Vegas at the Thomas and Mack Center. The stage was set. This was to be the final fight of a trilogy between Diego 'Chico' Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo, "The War to Settle the Score." Unfortunately, their 3rd match wasn't to be. For the second time in a row, Castillo was unable to make the 135 weight limit required for WBC lightweight match. He weighed in the day before the fight at almost 140lbs.

This was a big disappointment for many. Obviously the boxers, and specifically Corrales, who did train and prepare and meet the 135 lb. limit. But the promoters, the fans, Showtime, the various investors (Wynn, Caesars)... Of the close to 14000 tickets sold, only about 4000 people attended. The remaining tickets would have to be reimbursed.

Now I have to say, I was not one of the many disappointed, mostly because I don't know Castillo or Corrales from a hole in the wall. I was attending this fight to show support for undefeated junior middleweight Yuri Foreman, a new friend. He was one of the undercard matches, and fought agst Jesus Valverde after the televised match. He won his ten round match by unanimous decision and we were very happy for him.

The main event however, with the cancellation of the Corrales/Castillo fight, was an IBF flyweight world title bout between defending champion Vic Darchinyan and Luis Maldonado. I was rooting for Darchinyan. Why? Well, he had a lot of fans in attendance and they seemed passionate. He is an Armenian who is now a resident of Australia. He came out fighting tough and was clearly a champion in the making. And he won. A TKO
in the 8th round.

I sat with Yuri Foreman's wife and she knew this would be my first boxing match. She asked at one point if it would bother me, being so close (we were ringside), seeing the blood, watching two men pound on each other. I wasn't sure how I would feel. But as the first of the 3 fights we watched started, a very familiar feeling came over me. I cheered. I screamed "Hit 'em". I started to realize, this was no different then hockey. You know the old adage, 'I was at a boxing match and a hockey game broke out'. Well, a big part of hockey is the fighting, the fisticuffs, the roughing, etc. Many of you know I am a huge hockey fan. I had season tickets in DC for 6 years and am no stranger to hockey fights (a particular Rangers/Caps game comes to mind where both benches cleared and the goalies even charged towards each other to meet on center ice). So this came to me, amidst the boxing match, that I actually like this. I have been known to cheer more for the fighting than the goals and here is a whole evening of fighting. Yeah.

I would call my first fight a success. The fighter I came to see won. I got to sit with and chat with boxing legend Roberto Duran. I got to hang out with (and flirt with) IBF and WBA light welterweight champion Ricky 'the Hitman' Hatton (British cutey). I got to realize my new love of this sport. Yuri will be back fighting in Vegas in August, and I hope to be right there cheering him on!