John Katsilometes
Manny Pacquiao, in victory. It was unanimous.
Saturday, March 13, 2010 | 3:35 p.m.
Pacquiao Dominates
Before nearly 51,000 people at Cowboys Stadium, Manny Pacquiao beat Joshua Clottey by a unanimous decision on Saturday night.
Ghanans! They are a happy bunch ... for now.
Sentiment from a fan. A Pacquiao fan, in this instance.
A few Filipinos, enjoying the revelry.
Cowboys Stadium, filling up for the main event. There are 450 credentialed media members here, about 100 more than a title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The spacing in the $700 seats is ridiculous. Better than first-class.
Jim Lampley, a man in a hurry.
Gratuitous concession-stand shot.
The stadium DJ has him some Vegas chops.
The stadium's Miller Light Lounge, where later I might be coerced into some karaoke.
Even a $1.2 billion facility needs temporary ... facilities.
A look at Round 1 of the first fight, between Mauricio Pastrana and Eden Sonsona (bantamweights), as seen from the stands, on the Cowboys Stadium big screen.
11:45 Central time
Snap analysis of Cowboys Stadium: It's different. It's built to entertain, no question. Logistics require a lot of planning, true of any 100,000-seat stadium. You are far removed from any genuine post-fight activity. I am thinking what it would be like to be at MGM Grand right now, knowing there are a half-dozen major resorts nearby packed with activity. Here, when the fight is over, the night is over. And what's the fun in that? But as a facility, all I can say is, bravo. Amazing.
11:40 Central time
It's unanimous. Cards were 120-108, 119-109, 119-109, all for Pacquiao. This will be remembered as a significant event, but a so-so fight. It's in the books and there was no bloodshed.
11:30, Central time
Clottey is having only sporadic success, enough to go the distance, now in Round 11. I feel if he loses a decision, which seems likely, he'll wonder if he shouldn't have been more aggressive. Crowd is roaring for Pacquiao now.
11:15 Central time
Seventh round. If Clottey is going to win this fight he's going to have to spring out of this cocoon he's enveloped himself in. He is clearly the bigger man, but Pacquiao is in great physical condition. Every Pacman combination is met wtih cheers. The fight is settling into a methodical rhythm, and after Round 7, there are some boos from the folks behind me in the $700 seats. Clottey might have won one round, the second, and that's it.
11:10 Central time
Clottey is mostly defensive entering Roung 6. Determined not to get hit. Crowd gets the "Man-NEE" chant going for the first time. Seems Pacquiao is struggling to get inside Clottey's cover. Clottey has a great strategy if he's looking to lose a decision, frankly.
Really quiet between rounds, still.
10:55 Central time
Clottey is really defensive, but he has had his moments in the first two rounds. In one of those moments, he smashed Pacquiao with a lead right. Good punch.
Pacquiao's shorts are adorned with so many logos, I think the only one missing is Joe Camel.
Weirdly quiet between rounds.
10:40 Central time
Three -- count 'em -- Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders sang the national anthem. The U.S. national anthem, I mean. The place is shaking. Deion Sanders, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jamal Anderson, Drew Pearson, Troy Aikman, among those here. Sound system is rocking this place with AC/DC's "Thunderstruck," and can we agree that if it ain't AC/DC, it ain't music?
Boxing montage shown on Dandy Don a bit ago. This HAS to lead to introductions, right? Or we could just have a night of thumping music, strobes and Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Fine by me.
9:55 Central time
I have nicknamed the big screen Dandy Don. Dandy Don rocks. The crowd was doing the wave earlier, to great effect.
Dandy Don just showed Troy Aikman. Crowd, predictably, loses its bearings. I had no idea Filipinos were such Aikman fans.
The announced attendance is 50,944. Huge, third-largest in U.S. fight history, but a bad NFL preseason crowd, for those looking for perspective.
Earlier, I found me some Ghanans. They were up in the "Party Zone," or as it should be called, "The Land of Semi-Orchestrated Madness." They are singing and dancing and waving flags. One told me he is a Clottey fan. I asked how Clottey would win and he said, "To the body! Hit him to the body!" "Him" being Pacquiao, of course. I remember the British Ricky Hatton fans telling me the exact same thing before the Pacquiao-Hatton bout. I suppose boxing really does reduce our planet to one Global Village.
It's electric in here, but not so electric as to allow for unimpeded Internet access. No matter. I have my health ...
8:40 Central time
Every time Pacquiao's image appears, the crowd goes nuts.
On sale: 16-ounce frozen margaritas in a tall, commemorative Cowboys container, $15. And a woman drinking one told me, "They're kind of tutti-fruity. It needs an extra shot of tequila." A beer is $8.50.
Those who saw the NBA All-Star game here said it was folly to try to watch the action live on the court, but on the screen it was fun. Fans keep calling it the "TV," subconsciously I guess.
We're in Round 8 of the John Duddy-Michael Medina bout. No idea who's winning this one, but I can say that the ring girls in Vegas still have no peer.
8:25 Central time
Place is filling up. Images of Clottey, first, then Pacquiao, were just shown on the big screen. Crowd is heavily favored to Pacman, probably by 80-20. That's 80-20 percent, not 80 fans to 20 fans. ...
8:15 Central time
"Tell everyone in Las Vegas this place is terrible." Who just told me this? Andre Agassi right-hand man Cisco Aguilar, attending the fight to see what Dallas-Arlington has to offer. He was laughing. Very out-of-context chat. Cisco's great.
7:50 Central time
Here it is. Later. WiFi issues at Death Star. What's the saying? We can put up a $6 million high-def big screen 55 feet over a boxing ring, but we can't type a simple live blog?
I mean, MEN ARE ORBITING THE EARTH.
Anyway, took a quick spin around the stadium, and by "quick spin," I mean, "hourlong jaunt." Met many fans, who are intrigued to know people actually live in Las Vegas. I spoke with a half-dozen who have attended bouts in Vegas. Almost to a person, they love this place -- yo're almost afraid not too, it's so intimidating -- but realize Las Vegas is an entity unto itself. One told me, "We'll never be Vegas, but look at the clarity on the screen.
Twice, there has been booing because the screen cutaway to a network feed broadcasting to the Philippines.
The one celeb sighting: Mario Lopez. There must be a pageant nearby ...
6 p.m., Central time
First bout ends with Sonsora slamming Pastrana with a dramatic overhand right, resulting in an eighth-roung knockout. Not just a boxing knockout. An actual, this-guy-is-unconscious knockout. Update on the big screen: It's 55 feet above the ring and cost $6.2 million.
5:45 p.m., Central time
Good lord is this place imposing.
We were ushered into Cowboys Stadium a few minutes ago, just in time to catch the first bell of the first bout of the first fight card at Cowboys Stadium. Currently swapping shots are bantamweights Marcio Pastrana and Eden Sonsona. They weigh 119 pounds, each, but they look like giants on the stadium's big screen, which is somewhere between 30 and 90 feet over the ring and has me instinctively ducking for cover.
I have seen no famous people so far, but I can report that the stadium DJ is wearing a Bank at Bellagio T-shirt. He shouted at me that is is from Vegas and I'lll get his name as soon as I can work my way free. I'm eight rows from the ring, but have to crane my neck to see the big screen hanging above.
What else can I report. Oh, a bomb-sniffing dog (golden lab) took a spin through the press bus before we were allowed to enter. Wonderful animal. I wanted to take him/her home with me, which I learned later is frowned upon.
We'll check back in later.
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