Fight Night in Vegas

Published in Health & Fitness Magazine
June 2008
By Keith Darcey
Link to original article

There is nothing like fight night – especially in Las Vegas. It brings out the Hollywood elite and the superstar athletes. Football has the Super Bowl and baseball has the World Series, but for boxing fans, it is that dream mega-fight between fighters that you have waited a lifetime to see matched against each other. For the boxers, months, even years, have been spent training and working out, building to the point where they walk into the ring. For fans, months of media hype and anticipation gradually get more intense.

Finally, in the moments before round one, as the crowd is in a frenzy, boxing has what no other sport can offer or match, and television cannot properly capture – Michael Buffer stepping to the microphone in the center of the ring belting out, “Lets get ready to rumble!” With that simple phrase, a packed arena takes noise to a level seldom heard. And it’s fight time.

On April 19, undefeated Joe Calzaghe (44-0) of Wales, England, and long-time Super Middleweight Champion, was fighting his first fight in the United States against future Boxing Hall of Fame member, current Light Heavyweight Champion and decade-long Middleweight Champion, Bernard Hopkins (48-4-1). The fight had a local flavor as Hopkins was trained by fitness expert Mackie Shilstone of The Fitness Principle at East Jefferson General Hospital. The fight was for the Light Heavyweight Championship, which is the 175-pound division.

Both fighters arrived in Las Vegas for the fight about a week before the fight for the final preparations. Training camp for boxers is an intense, five or six week grind. They are running at sunup, working throughout the day on strength and conditioning, sparring hundreds of rounds and breaking down tape of the opponent.

Since most fighters are normally heavier than the weight they fight at, it takes great work to lose the weight while still building muscle and strength. Every piece of food, everything they drink, and every supplement they take is carefully mapped out and regimented to the exact time of day they will take it. Far different from the bare knuckle fighters in the 1800’s, the fighters today match their natural skills with the latest science has to offer to, in their words, “build the most destructive fight machine humanly possible.”

The day before the fight, I traveled to Planet Hollywood Hotel, the site of the traditional pre-fight weigh-in. Everywhere I looked, I saw a current or former boxing champion – Roy Jones, Jr., Marco Antonio Barrera, Zab Judah, and even Sylvester Stallone (and yes, that counts because he was Rocky). Even though the media turns it into a press event, it’s not just great theater. There is a lot riding on the condition of the fighters and whether they arrive under the 175-pound weight limit. Fights can be cancelled because of over the limit weight. Also, the Nevada State Boxing Commission gives them a full medical workup, including an EKG, and HIV and Hepatitis tests. They spend the rest of the day and night putting weight back on and hydrating. Some fighters who didn’t lose the weight properly and had to drop a lot of last minute pounds, may gain back ten pounds or more overnight.

As Hopkins and Calzaghe stepped into the ring, two worlds collided as thousands of Calzaghe fans made the trip from England to support him. Throughout the fight, they sang, drank and waved their country’s flag (not necessarily in that order). The Hopkins fans did their part as well, especially in the first round when Hopkins dropped Calzaghe to the canvas. It was a great fight between two styles. Hopkins clearly landed the harder punches, as evident by the cut and swelling on Calzaghe’s face, and the flurry of punches thrown by Calzaghe.

The crowd was on its feet through all twelve rounds of great back and forth action. Calzaghe walked out with a controversial split decision win, with two of the three judges scoring it for him, and the Light Heavyweight title. In boxing, the winner s not always clear. The Associated Press and ESPN, as well as any in media row, scored the fight for Hopkins.

Leaving the arena with adrenalin flowing and wishing I had pursued a boxing career, the rip back to the hotel was spent explaining to the wonderful people of Wales that Hopkins was robbed of the decision. They weren’t buying it, or at least admitting to it, but the ones I interacted with were fun, goodnatured and just wanted to leave Las Vegas with a story they would debate sharing with friends and family at home.

My night ended with an elevator ride with HBO Boxing analyst Max Kellerman, who was still in his classic tuxedo from calling the action. For thirty floors, I was able to talk boxing with one of the most knowledgeable boxing commentators around. Like I said, there is nothing like boxing in Vegas.