USA vs Mexico

The crowd was split 50/50. The good guys, aka those who wanted Mayweather to dominate in his coming out party, and the bad guys, aka those who were hoping that Marquez could pull off a Mexican-Independence-Day-inspired upset. Being at the bar was like being present at a USA vs. Mexico soccer game. Those of us on the side of good felt as if we were suffocating from the tension emanating off of the Marquez fans. The evening really wasn’t about the fight though. No, “Fight Night” at Jillians was all about being seen.

Balling up was the theme of the night. A $20 cover didn’t deter the blazer-wearing crowd from reaching into their deep pockets for drink after drink after drink. Sitting in the corner with our baseball caps and jerseys, we had first row seats to a truly unique people-watching experience. Unfortunately, the couple that joined us at our table can best be likened to those neighbors who rat on you to the “Neighborhood Rules Committee” because you put up Christmas lights two days before you were legally allowed to. In other words...our neighbors were BI-AT-CHES.

The guy looked like he was straight out of New Jersey with his tight pants and greasy hair. Still, he was saved by the fact he manned up with his order of Grey Goose on the rocks to at least give him a certain G-like aspect. His wife though….there were no redeeming characteristics to be found whatsoever! With a ring as big as her blown out/died blond hair, she felt that her money gave her the right to be as rude as possible. In a place packed to the T, if the waiter (who handled the crowed extremely well, by the way) was a second later than Big Hair thought she should be or God forbid crossed in front of her to get to the table next to us instead of behind her, Blondie was not afraid to let the poor waiter have it.

Luckily for Greg and I, there was a great fight on that helped to distract us from our poor choice of roomies. From the opening duel of National Anthems, to the moment where it looked like Floyd was going to KO the ringside reporter, my eyes never once strayed from the wall of TV’s. For the first 3 rounds, my ears rang from the “Marquez!” chants echoing throughout the bar. Every time Marquez would unleash a flurry of punches it seemed to his fans that he had to be dominating the fight…but that was only because the Matrix-like moves of Mayweather were literally impossible to see with the naked eye. Slow motion eventually revealed to the Marquez die-hards that it was as if Mayweather knew exactly where Marquez was going to jab next as even when cornered, Mayweather some how avoided Every Single Punch. Therefore, by the time Mayweather put Marquez on the ground, the fans were just as defeated as Marquez was.

Was the night expensive? Yes. Was it worth it? You bet it was! Every time we have ordered a Boxing or MMA fight we had been disappointed. The electric atmosphere made it so I can imagine what it’s actually like to be ringside at the MGM watching Mayweather put on a clinic...all we were missing was the actual lions. Make sure to get there early though if you don’t want to be crammed within a centimeter of your life on your feet in front of the bar. We got there around an hour and a half before the fight was scheduled, but still only just managed to get a table.

Hope to see you there for Pacquiao vs Mayweather!