Starting off the New Year, Top Rank photographer Chris Farina has been a busy man. On his birthday on January 16th the Las Vegas resident could be found covering a local card at the Hard Rock featuring Vanes Martirosyan vs. Kassim Ouma. Shortly after that he found himself at the Golden Globe awards shooting A-list celebrities on the red carpet in Los Angeles. Two days later he again returned to the boxing world and set his sights on back to back press conferences for the March 13th Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey bout.
Monday night Farina would find himself in Dallas, Texas on the eve of the Pacquiao-Clottey kickoff presser the following day. Reflecting back a few days, Farina notes that what stood out the most to him about being in Dallas was the importance the city put forth towards the event. It’s been well documented that Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones has been pushing hard to stage a meaningful boxing event in his stadium and the press conference spoke of his dedication.
“The way they treated everybody,” says Farina when reflecting on what stood out most about the people in Dallas. “They just had down home Southern hospitality Texas-style and they really did roll out the red carpet. They had the production of a press conference, they had a script, they had pyrotechnics, they even had cheerleaders. It was just a big production and they really went all out to put on a good show. It was just amazing.”
When asked his opinion of the recently constructed Cowboys’ stadium itself, Farina was impressed. Outside of the convenient 80,000 plus seating, Farina admits that the 11,520 square foot overhead screen is what will set the Pacquiao-Clottey event apart.
“It’s massive,” Farina continues. “I think it’s laid out very well. It’s almost like there really isn’t’ a bad seat and it seems to well though out. With this big, humungous jumbo screen it’s absolutely unbelievable. Even if you have the worse seat in the house you just have to look up at the screen and it’s like sitting in your living.”
It’s still somewhat surprising that Pacquiao will be fighting in Dallas, as eight of his last eleven fights have been held in Las Vegas. While the Valley has seemed to become Pacquiao’s second home in recent years Farina admits that a change of pace was needed.
“We get kind of stale in Vegas,” Farina notes of Sin City. “As a promoter you also have to go where the money is and I understand that. The fact is that it is good to go to different kind of venues and whenever we can do something like this it’s extra cool. We’re actually in a stadium putting on a fight and it feels like the old days.”
(Click to see exclusive photographs of Chris Farina’s time covering Pacquiao and Clottey)
While at press conferences around the world Farina has a lot to take in. His mind doesn’t necessarily focus on all of the details, however, as he is often too wrapped up in finding the right shot to take. While Farina doesn’t recall exactly what Pacquiao or Clottey had to say he certainly remembers both men being in high spirits and having a great time during the Dallas spectacle.
“I don’t know what the fighters had to say because I’m just taking pictures,” Farina points out. “I’m not really listening as much because I’m just trying to get the shots that I need and I’m running around trying to cover nine different angles by myself. I did notice they were in good spirits and they were really excited about it. They came out of the tunnel and there was smoke. They were also waiving to the cheerleaders and fans and I just think they loved it. It was a real short press conference too.”
After the Dallas festivities were all wrapped up Farina found himself on his way to New York for Wednesday’s Pacquiao-Clottey follow up press conference. While Dallas may have been fun and elaborate, Farina concedes that the vibe in New York was much more subdued.
“New York is the hardcore type of writers and press,” Farina states. “There wasn’t as much thrills and it was just your standard New York press conference. It was one of those conferences where you get down to business and you are done with it.”
Despite being a standard affair, Farina was able to take something notable from the New York presser. What he remembers most, more than anything, seems to be the extensive talk that people had in regards to the danger that Clottey presents. The word on the New York street is that this is much more than just a showcase for Pacquiao and is instead looked at as a dangerous fight.
“There was definite buzz. But my problem was that I didn’t get to talk to people as much as I’d like but I heard a lot of people talking about how it’s a great matchup. People said that if they couldn’t get Mayweather then this is the best matchup and that’s how I feel. Everybody was really saying that this is going to be a real fight. This fight could go either way depending how you look at it.”
To see exclusive photos of Farina’s time in Dallas and New York covering Pacquiao and Clottey, click HERE
