On the road again: Canelo-Saunders and tales from Day 1 of a Dallas fight week

ARLINGTON, Texas — Wednesday was a beautiful day and it had nothing to do with the weather.

For the first time since March 8, 2020, when I took a train home from New York the morning after covering the Robert Helenius-Adam Kownacki heavyweight fight, I was on the road again.

Like many, I spent the past 14 months at home because of the coronavirus pandemic. I didn’t go to any fights or anywhere else.

But now that I’ve had both of my vaccinations and there’s a big fight on Saturday (DAZN, 8 p.m. ET) — pound-for-pound king Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders to unify super middleweight world titles — it was time to hit the road again, which I was able to do thanks to the assignment to cover it from Dougie Fischer, the fine editor of The Ring, for the magazine’s website, RingTV.com.

I’ve been writing daily for Ring this week and wrote two stories on Wednesday.

One was about how there will be a huge crowd on hand for the fight, It will be the largest gathering of any kind in the United States since the pandemic began. You can read the story here: https://www.ringtv.com/621423-canelo-alvarez-billy-joe-saunders-expected-to-break-att-stadiums-boxing-attendance-record/

The other is about Canelo, even with Saunders in front of him, being willing to look ahead to a possible undisputed title fight with Caleb Plant in the fall, as well as other top opponents he is interested in fighting. You can read that one here: https://www.ringtv.com/621460-canelo-alvarez-is-willing-to-look-ahead/

I could not be more excited to be back out doing what I love doing and have done for two decades — covering fights. Of course, I have written tons of stories from my home office, be it during a pandemic or not. But there is nothing like going to the event and being able to see and talk to people in person. It creates relationships, sources and memories. After more than a year away from it I have truly missed it.

So, I flew from Washington, D.C. to Dallas and then got an Uber — I had to redo some stuff on my account earlier in the week because I hadn’t used it since March 8, 2020 — to the fight hotel, which sits basically across a huge parking lot from AT&T Stadium, site of the fight and where I have covered four other boxing events.

After arriving at the hotel, it was like the last 14 months of frustration of being away from fights melted away in about 30 seconds. The reason was because as soon as I walked in I saw several boxing people I had not seen in ages. That’s what always happens when you travel to fights — you arrive and run into everyone. It’s a blast.

Even before I checked in the first person I saw was David Diamante, the outstanding Matchroom Boxing ring announcer. We chatted and then suddenly there were more boxing people to talk to, hug and get reacquainted with.

I was as happy to see them as I think were to see me: Tami Cotel, the longtime production coordinator better known as the woman in the headset you always see moving fighters into position for post-fight interviews; producer Frank Belmont; Matchroom Boxing’s Frank Smith; Brendan Gibbons, the son of agent/adviser/manager Sean Gibbons, who has Katsunari Takayama challenging Elwin Soto for the WBO junior flyweight title on the undercard; and WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman, who I like and respect a lot even though we disagree on many issues. We talk often via email but now we will once again be able to have dinner together and bicker in person about the “franchise” title and bridgerweight division.

Then, after I finally checked in to the hotel, I had to check in with Matchroom Boxing down the hall in order to enter the bubble. I got my red wrist band that said “quarantine” and had to head to my room for the evening.

I will get a Covid-19 test first thing Thursday morning and, assuming I’m negative — I was in a test I had at home on Sunday — I will get my green wrist band that will allow me to roam free in the hotel, attend the press conference and other fight-related activities.

While I was checking in with Matchroom to get my wristband, I ran into old pal and former super middleweight champion Carl Froch, the future Hall of Famer. He was doing the same since he is here to work as an analyst for DAZN's United Kingdom version of the broadcast. We shared some good memories, including one of the best trips I ever took — to his hometown of Nottingham, England to cover his knockout of Lucian Bute to win a super middleweight title for the third time in 2012.

And then I went to my room and looked forward to the next few days of continuing to cover Alvarez-Saunders, providing an all-new water pressure report, seeing and talking to more old friends and, hopefully, seeing some good fights on Saturday night.

I took some pictures of my grand arrival. Here they are for your viewing pleasure.

I’ve been to Dallas many times for fights, but seeing this sign in the airport and knowing I was back at a fight was site for sore eyes.

The first thing I saw at the hotel entrance was a giant column wrapped in a promotional image of Canelo and Saunders.

In the lobby is a giant promotional sign for sponsor Hennessy and an oversized WBC championship belt.

I covered retired former three-time super middleweight champion Carl Froch’s career and it was good to see him again. I marveled that his son is now 10, since I remember when he was born.

The elevators are covered in fight signage. Looks great!

This is the view from my hotel room. Seriously. AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, will have around 70,000 on hand for Saturday’s fight. It is poised to break the record for largest indoor crowd in United States boxing history. The record is Muhammad Ali-Leon Spinks II, which drew 63,352 to the Superdome in New Orleans on Sept. 15, 1978.

Canelo-Saunders face off photo: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing