Postcard from Atlantic City - The Weigh-In

I chose to take a cab from my Hotel in Absecon to Caesar’s Atlantic City.  I wanted to make sure I arrived on time, and felt better knowing my car would be waiting for me at the Hotel, whenever I made it back that evening.  Fog covered the city as we approached from RT 30.  My driver took me through a shady section of town but assured me we wouldn’t get shot.  I wondered why he’d take this short-cut if I was playing a flat rate, but I was too excited to worry about logic.

I entered Caesar’s and followed the signs to the Centurian Tower.  I saw Alfonso Gomez posing for a picture with a fan, and I realized I was in the right place.  As I entered the ballroom I noticed and introduced myself to yahoo.com’s boxing writer Kevin Iole.  He wished me luck covering my first major fight, and introduced me to Bruce Trampler, Top Rank’s long time matchmaker.  Bruced referenced a recent Iole column that considered him the 14th most powerful man in boxing.  Their lightheartedness helped me feel at ease, even though I could feel my hands shaking.

I set my belongings off to the side, and started to look around to see who else I recognized.  I first noticed Bob Arum, who was off to the side being interviewed.  And then I had my first "wow" moment when I saw Emanuel Steward walking in with Kermit Cintron. There was something special about seeing Kronk Gym attire.

Arum was now looking at his watch and mentioned that Margarito wasn’t there yet.  Just then Lupe Contreras, who would serve as HBO’s ring announcer walked in the room, and I figured we were getting close.  The doors that I entered were now closed, and I was worried that my friend, "Fun" Bob Hennessy wouldn’t be able to meet me in time. 

Just then my phone rang, and Bob was on the phone. He wondered why he couldn’t see my "head" in front of the stage.  At that a moment to my right, a door opened and I heard the screams from a crowd.  I then realized that my "head" was in the wrong room.  I was wondering why I didn’t see a scale!  I followed the rest of the crowd towards the open door.  How cool would this be to walk out on the dias with Gomez and Cintron.  Not so fast... the door closed before everyone was able to get through. 

I now followed the crowd as they raced towards the door so we could enter the correct ballroom.  Although I couldn’t believe I made such a mistake, my thoughts immediatly changed to the fact that I could outrun the majority of the boxing press.  I still hadn’t shifted gears, and was carrying a laptop, but was gaining on those that had a headstart. 

I approached the stage, and found my friend in time to see Gomez and Cotto locked in a stare down.  Once I caught my breath I explained to Bobby why he had a better view than me, despite leaving his house a half hour later than I did.

Next up to the scale was challenger Antonio Margarito and IBF champ, Kermit Cintron.  I thought Cintron looked frozen, but he then snapped out of it to quickly get into Margarito’s chest.  After a few tense seconds he backed up to give the "throat slash" gesture, while Margarito countered by mockingly wiping fake tears from his eyes.  This, of course was to remind Cintron of the condition he left him in the ring three years ago.

I then heard the voice of Maxboxing’s Steve Kim.  I told him my name, and he responded with a "Pribs!".  Bobby was impressed that I was starting to become recognized in the boxing community.  I didn’t have the heart to kill my own buzz by pointing out that I had emailed "K9" the day before and signed it as, "Pribs".