I joined the media circus at lunchtime today at the Albert Hall, with the weigh-in between Nottingham boxing legend Carl Froch and his American opponent Yusaf Mack. There is going to be a big fight tomorrow night at the National Ice Arena.
I heard about the weigh-in this morning on the radio when I woke up. They also said that it was open to the public. So I just had to go along. Not because I'm a boxing fan, which I'm not, but because it is a newsworthy event.
I would have gone along anyway, just see if I could have got a shot or two, but as it was a public event, I just walked in. The main hall was nearly full of fans, and loads of TV cameras were on the stage. I tried to join them, as I said to a security guy that I was media too. He looked at my small Olympus and told me to go and sit down. Maybe it would have been a different story if I had lugged along my Nikon D3s and big zoom lens.
So instead of sitting down like a good little boy, as no one gets the story while obeying the rules, I wandered over to the other side, to see if I could get a better view. I couldn't too many press people there. Another guy was watching the proceedings, and I said to him that I wasn't getting anything standing here. So he kindly said, go on, go and stand over there with all the other press people, and he let me sneak by the railing.
So i just hopped up and joined the rest of the press pack in trying to get a good shot or two. Like this one of the two opponents trying to psyche each other out. Froch is on the left by the way. Of course all the locals were booing Mack and cheering Froch. I just carried on snapping. When I left, I saw Carl's big black Range Rover parked outside. So I just had to take a snap of that as well, with his distinctive numberplate.
