RINGSIDE PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE ARANETA COLISEUM - AN EXPERIENCE
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 10 Apr 2008
I had the distinct privilege to be at the ring apron of the Araneta Coliseum on two big boxing promotions. The first one was during the Pacquiao-Larios fight and the other during the Penalosa-Sor Vorapin bout.
Unfortunately, both experiences rate below par. The former, a minus 1 on a scale of 1-10 and the latter, a 5 on the same scale.
Certain Filipino photographers (at least those who crowd the ring apron during those two occasions) indeed belong to a different lot.
They made the experience for those who were accredited to be at the ring apron, awfully difficult at best!
Sadly, the best I can describe them is that they are totally undisciplined.
Is that perhaps their usual way of getting their job done? Or, are they true media people shooting photos for legitimate news organizations or just people who wanted to shoot the event for themselves?
There is absolutely no comparison with those that I had an opportunity of being with at the Abellana Stadium at Cebu (Gorres-Montiel) and at the Waterfront Hotel (Gorres-Darchinyan) at the same city.
Some of those at Araneta Coliseum were only concerned about getting their shots. They blatantly ignored rules set by the promoters and etiquette at the ring apron.
I initially thought that it was the organizer?s fault that order was not instituted at Araneta Coliseum. I found out later, it was not their fault. They set rules, but they were ignored. In short, it was ?certain photographers? that made life miserable at the ring apron.
During the Pacquiao-Larios fight there were no indications as to who was supposed to be allowed to shoot from the ring apron. Everyone and anyone with a gadget to shoot a photo, cell phones included, crowded the apron making it extremely difficult to work.
Those fans who paid lots of money to be at ring side, or who were given ?freebies? because they were ?somebody?, yelled to no avail to the ?photographers? at ring side to stay low so as not to block their view.
But, they hardly listened and they blatantly stayed were they were and took the photos they wanted.
Included amongst those that crowed the ring apron were perhaps some pickpockets. My friend from PhilBoxing lost a cell phone while he was taking photos, a cell phone he had before he took a position at the ring apron.
During the Penalosa-Sor Vorapin fight, the organizers placed names tags at the ring apron to indicate who was supposed to be there. There were some ?security? people who made sure that only people whose names were at the apron, were there.
During the preliminary fights, there were no problems but as soon as the title fights started, there was a sudden increase in the number of ?photographers?. Some even tried to squeeze between those who were ?accredited? ignoring the fact that there were spaces left clear so that the judges can have a clean line of sight to see the fighters atop the ring. The security people were helpless, or rather useless!
One person even tried to squeeze between me and a judge ignoring repeated admonition of the judge to clear his path of vision. ?Singgit lang,? ( let me squeeze in) he repeatedly reason out!
Who were these people that crowed the ring apron? How in the world did they on the first place, got access to the area?
How do we prevent these from happening again?
Or, are we even interested to make changes for the better?
In the US, from the small fight cards held on Casinos to the large venues such as Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, Staples Center, Thomas and Mack Center, Alamo Dome, and Madison Square Garden to name a few, there are hard rules set to streamline the whole process for the event.
Different ?credentials? are issued to people who have roles in the event. Each category of people are issued a ?photo credential? of an specific color that designates the only areas where one can be. These people apply for these credentials weeks before the fight date. There are deadlines set and past these deadlines, no credentials are given. If one was approved for a credential and does not show up, it will be a point against that person. Next time around, that person would have a hard time getting one.
Media people are assigned different colored credentials. ?Writers? get a different one from ?photographers?. Their credentials allow them to be at the floor level but only at an specific place where they have tables and seats with access to the Internet. They can not roam around the floor level.
Photographers are issued two different colors to designate the areas they can shoot from. There is a limit of 16 photographers at the ring apron. These are assigned to people representing large news services and newspapers. These people are issued a credential that has a clear mark indicating they have ?Ringside Access?.
Another group of photographers who are accredited as well, are issued credentials of another color and are assigned to a section where they have a clear view of the ring but from a certain distance from it. These group of photographers can not approach the ring no matter what. These people must have at least a 300mm lens to show before their credentials are actually issue to them.
With the above system, everyone is given a chance to shot photos. There is no crowding and everyone is happy.
Can we do the same thing at Araneta Coliseum or venues similar?
Of course we can!
All we need to do is set the rules and enforce them equally. A few barricades guarded diligently by several security people will help, particularly at the floor level.
We also have to hire security people who can stand up and enforce the rules equally and most importantly, without fear.
All of these can be done. The only thing needed to get it done is the desire to do it.
The question is: Are we up to it?
Top photo: Photographers squeeze themselves in during the Banal-Herrera fight last Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum in the Philippines.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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