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The "Eye in the Sky" catches Manny Pacquiao knocking down Miguel Cotto during their megafight in Las Vegas, NV. Photo: Ed Mulholland/HBO
What a time it was in Las Vegas!
I was contracted by HBO to shoot the Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto fight back in September, and have been in a “can’t wait for this shoot” mode ever since. The date finally arrived and I set out to Las Vegas on Wednesday morning, although I wouldn’t actually be shooting until friday, I had plenty of walkthroughs and setup to take care of to make sure the best coverage of the fight could be achieved. On the early morning flight out, I met up with Mark Nathan of HBO, who asked if I felt like going on a hike through Red Rock Canyon in Las Vegas. I never have a car when in Vegas, since we are usually in the fight hotel, and a car is a wasted expense, but Mark had one, so it was the perfect time to explore. Might as well take advantage of the open travel day.
Relaxing on day 1 with stupid self-portraits in the desert set the tone for the week.
Had my entire camera bag with me, so I couldn’t resist taking them out and hiking some trails. Shot photos everywhere. It’s been sometime since I’ve gone out and shot for fun, with no pressure of performing, or deadlines, and just plain enjoyed it. Quite frankly, it relaxed me and really set the tone for the whole week. Who knows maybe I need to take some time relax a bit more on these assignments, it seemed to help my overall performance.
The scenery was beautiful, a bit more cloud cover than I would have liked for the images, but great weather, gorgeous mountains, and plant life everywhere. We wandered down several different trails, and had a good time. Set my timer and took plenty of goofy self-portraits, but didn’t see any wildlife until just before darkness, when we saw a group of burros from the roadside, probably looked pretty funny, but I jumped out of the car and started running across the desert with a 300 f2.8 on my shoulder chasing a burro, just to get a few snaps. I could have wandered around the fence, but figured it was safer on this side, and protected my ass from getting attacked by those asses!
Just before the day ended, we encountered the Wild Burro of the Desert!!!
At that point we were pretty tired from the hiking, so I was dropped off at the MGM Grand in the early evening, checked in, and headed to my room. I checked in with my assistant for the weekend, Al Powers, who frequently assists me on fight shoots in Vegas, and met up with him for dinner inside the MGM Grand at one of my favorites, Diego. All in all a pretty good start to the week.
Thursday is usually the day to hang remote cameras, but Top Rank was using a monstrous LED screen in the arena, over the ring, so we were delayed until Friday because of the construction. The screen also took away any chance of hanging remotes over the ring in the catwalk, so we had to look at other options. I did a walkthrough with my colleague at HBO, Will Hart, and looked over possible remote spots. We decided on a couple of potential locations and called it a day. I say potential because as construction continues, light truss’ are raised and lowered and signs are dropped in, so you never quite know what will change.
Decided to head out for some dinner with my assistant, as we were about to head out I received a call from Coco Cocoves at HBO, and plans changed. I was asked to head to Mandalay Bay to shoot a gallery unveiling of boxing gloves painted with images of Manny Pacquiao by sports artist Jolene Jessie. No flash allowed and no place to really do a set-up portrait, so I shot the unveiling, some samples of gloves and did the best with the available light to set up a quick portrait.
Impromptu shoot with artist Jolene Jessie at Jack's Gallery inside Mandalay Bay. No flash permitted, so we worked the best we could.
Double-Double in Vegas
Then it was off to a fancy dinner! My first In-N-Out Burger courtesy of my assistant, Mr. Al Powers. A delectable feast of two burgers, cheese, onions, sauces and god knows what else. Sloppy, but worth the mess. Midway through dinner, received a call from friend and sports photographer extraordinaire Al Bello, to meet up for some drinks. Picked him up and the three of us closed the evening with drinks at the Hard Rock Casino. Regardless of how much I think I know, I always learn more hanging with Al.
Remote day was finally here, as well as the weigh-in, finally started to feel the excitement of a big fight. Gathered up my gear and headed the arena to hang remotes around 10am, somehow everyone else somehow got ahead of myself, Bello, and Top Rank’s Chris Farina to hang their remotes, almost a reverse pecking order. Al and I finally got our remotes up around 2:30, just ahead of the weigh-in, and we had to come back to finish up Chris’ at 5pm, really long day, just to get a camera up. So what do photographers do to kill time while waiting for the lift? Play lift harness tug-o-war of course, what else…
Top Rank's Chris Farina (c) referees a match of harness tug-o-war between Al Bello and myself.
On to more serious matters, the weigh-in! It was easy to see the magnitude of the fight based on the weigh-in. Fans were gathering at the MGM in the morning, waiting to get in to see the fighters step on the scale…over 6,200 of them! A very loud and emotional crowd split between those supporting Pacquiao and those rooting for Cotto filled the building, the weigh-in was louder than a lot of sporting events I’ve covered over the years. Both fighters looked primed and ready to go as well. The full collection of images can be seen here: Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto Weigh-In
Fans for Cotto and Pacquiao came out in droves to support their fighters at the weigh-in...
Both fighters looked fit and ready for Saturday night!
After the weigh-in I had to head to one of the studio rooms and do an interview with HBO.com for a future piece, they asked me a bunch of questions about photography and fights, while filming me on a green screen. It was a bit uncomfortable at first, being on the other side of the camera, but was a fun interview. I also had to film some footage alongside Will Hart, kind of a boxing photographer face-off, from what i’m told it will probably be used sometime next year.
Finally wrapped up the preparations for the fight, relaxed for an hour or so, and headed out with the Al’s and a couple of others for dinner at Oyshi for their $26 all you can eat sushi. If you like sushi, definitely check it out, you can’t go wrong. Also met up there with a friend and photographer from LA, Craig Bennett, who was coming in to shoot the fight as well.
A good night’s sleep, and I awoke to FIGHT DAY! Now fight day in Vegas has a strange ritual for me, I head down the strip to the Flamingo and have a burger and a LandShark at Margaritaville, not sure why, I just do. In fact the one time I didn’t was the night my remote stopped functioning during the Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton fight, so for that reason alone I will no longer mess with this superstition.
Interesting sign alert on my way down the strip, as pointed out my assistant:
Now Serving What??? Hmmm...
Off to the arena, definitely a big-time buzz at the MGM Grand, place was flat out packed, and loud. I shot a few undercard bouts, (including one with the soon to be released Canon Mark IV!), and headed backstage to the dressing rooms. First up was Manny Pacquiao’s dressing room, where as usual the atmosphere was light and relaxed.
As usual Manny was in a joking mood prior to his fight against Cotto...
Here’s just a quick one of Manny’s shoes that I liked…
It's gotta be the shoes!
Headed over to Cotto’s dressing room, where I was a bit surprised the atmosphere was as light as it was. Most fights I can have a pretty good idea after leaving the dressing rooms what is going to occur in a fight. Both dressing rooms in this case were very relaxed and seemed ready for the task at hand. Miguel was focused and relaxed. Both camps were very easy to work with given it was so close to fight time. Also busted out my LensBaby Composer for a few shots of Cotto.
Cotto was all smiles before his bout against Pacquiao.
Little testing of the LensBaby Composer in the Cotto dressing room...
and a bit more...
Finished up the dressing rooms, and then slinked around the floor of the Grand Garden Arena capturing a few celebs, and quickly made my way to my shooting position for the start of the fight. As for the fight…
WOW!
Totally lived up to the expectations, the crowd may have been the best I’ve ever seen at the fight, the new 21ft high LED screen over the ring, added to the atmosphere and was crystal clear for replays. Just an incredible atmosphere all around. Cotto looked good early, and you got the sense it could be his night (even with a quick knockdown in the third), and then BOOM! Near the end of the fourth round Cotto got nailed with a big left that sent him reeling to all fours in the ring. Not a great shot, but the overhead remote captured it perfectly.
Just what you are looking for in an overhead remote... Photo: Ed Mulholland/HBO
He managed to regain his feet and survive, but it went all downhill from there as Cotto fought valiantly, but couldn’t keep up with Pacquiao’s superior speed. He refused to throw in the towel and take the easy way out (although no one would have blamed him) and told his corner on a couple of occasions not to stop the fight. Referee Kenny Bayless however stopped the bout midway through the 12th round, rescuing Cotto from his own courage. Here are a couple of my favorites from the fight. More can be seen on HBO.com or in my portfolio archives for the fight.
The left hand was the difference maker. This image was the main page of HBO.com Photo: Ed Mulholland/HBO
And it landed often... Photo: Ed Mulholland/HBO
It was an exciting action filled affair and they often met in the center of the ring. Photo: Ed Mulholland/HBO
Cotto had some moments... Photo: Ed Mulholland/HBO
but Pacquiao had answers... Photo: Ed Mulholland/HBO
Good week, successful week, and I was very happy with the results. Had a great time seeing friends and hanging with the guys. Thanks to my assistant Al Powers for all his help over the course of the week. He often goes above and beyond what’s asked or required.
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All content © 2010 by Sports Stock Photography : Ed Mulholland Photography
Those were great shots! Thank you
Nice images, Ed! Looks like it was a good bout!
Ed, again you nailed this one. You are a very good sports photagrapher. Your football stuff is also impressive. Keep up the good work.