I was in Vegas a few weeks ago covering one of the most anticipated boxing matches of the year.  Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez met for the fourth time in their respective careers in what was an absolutely star-studded evening at the MGM Grand Casino and Hotel.   It’s always great to be back working with the HBO Boxing Crew, which I have been a proud member of for the better part of the past two decades.

Juan Manuel Marquez lands a punch on Manny Pacquiao while I capture from the apron.

For this match I was shooting the Sony 1850 Super Slow-Mo handheld camera.  I’m very familiar with this model, as I have been using it with HBO Boxing for some time now, although, it’s smooth operating and exceptional quality never cease to amaze me.   Although it is a Slow-mo camera that does not mean that everything I am capturing turns out in slow motion.  I am shooting in real time, however, the frame rate of these cameras is so high that it enables unbelievable slow motion for television replays.

Recently I have been covering a lot of college basketball games up and down the east coast.  It was nice to be back on the apron (the area of the boxing ring outside of the ropes) and up close and personal, capturing these athletes clash like titans.  Our camera crew consisted of nearly a dozen operators; handheld cameras covering the fight and covering crowd reactions, hard cameras (on tripods) covering the fight, a robotic camera covering the fight and crowd reactions, and finally the J.I.T.A. (Jib in the air) which captures the most artistic and attractive shots, in my opinion.

At the conclusion of the sixth round the heavily favored Manny Pacquiao was knocked out and the match was over.  Once the match is over, our camera crew has to deal with the mayhem of the celebration.  Dozens of people are storming the ring and giving hugs and kisses to the winner.  Here enlies the problem: I need to get to my assigned spot and get the necassary close-up shot of the fighters after the match.  I was literally shooting with one hand and politely moving people out of my way with the other hand.  To give you an even more detailed idea of how crazy the building gets at the conclusion of the fight… Governor Romney was in the front row with his wife for the fight.  There was so much pushing and shoving going on with people crowding the ring and trying to get to their assigned spots that someone actually got pushed into the boxers spit bucket (filled with bloody spit from the boxers in between rounds) and the bucket knocked over and spilled all over the Governor and his wife.  All in all, through all the mayhem, our crew pulled off another successful broadcast for HBO Boxing.

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After the match I was able to catch up with a boxing legend, Sugar Ray Leonard.