Do you believe in d?j? vu?
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 18 Apr 2007
They say that lightning never strikes on the same place twice. Others say, “Love is lovelier the second time around”.
With that in mind, I ask: Do you believe in d?j? vu?
But what has that got to do with boxing?
Part of the fun of being a media person cum amateur sports photographer is the opportunity to be present in some of the most exciting sports events around the country. And, the Pacquiao-Solis tiff at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas last weekend was no different.
The media coordinators for Top Rank’s Blaze of Glory” which featured the Pacquiao-Solis fight as the main event of an exciting fight card that included Filipino-American Brian Viloria (He lost!) and the WBC Youth bantamweight champion, Bernabe Concepcion of Bicolandia (He won!) gave the “overhead photographers” a location immediately behind section 123 at the Alamodome about 130 feet from ring center.
The location is on a temporary platform that reconfigured the Alamodome’s seating arrangement reducing it to about half of what it normally holds. The platform also served as a walk-way to the concession stands and to the seats on Section 120 thru 125.
You guessed it. It was not the best place to be for photographers. The platform vibrates when people walked by and it shakes when the fans get excited and are jumping up and down. Worse, when that happens, the fans stand and the view of the ring is all but gone!
But the media people get in for free thus, “why should we complain?”
Given the problems of the location, most of the photographers, this one included, managed to take some nice photos. I for one took more than 500 photos using a telephoto lens half of the time standing on a folding chair to be above the heads of the crowd. It was not easy, but I survived.
When I got home on Sunday, I begun to review the photos to select some for this website. Then it happened!
D?j? vu!
Manny Pacquiao (R) stands in a neutral corner as referee vic Drakulich does the mandatory count on the fallen Jorge Solis at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Manny Pacquiao (R) stands in a neutral corner as referee vic Drakulich does the mandatory count on the fallen Eric Morales at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In my files, I have a photo of the Pacman standing in a certain position in the ring after he knocked out Morales at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
As fate had it, amongst the photo I took at the Alamodome I found one of Jorge Solis down in the same spot and position in the ring where Morales fell with the Pacman standing in the same corner as in the Morales fight.
If one would not look closely, it was easy to think that the two photos were taken a few seconds after each other.
Coincidence? Maybe.
Or is simply d?j? vu?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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