Photoshop

I learned a new Photoshop method in school last week, and I am completely in love with it.  It is called the Gorman Method which is a cool way to make Black and White Pictures.


 I wished I owned CS6 so I could do more at home, but fuck it these are the few I did during class.

Act like you Belong

On Saturday night 50, Juan, and me left Bakersfield for Carson to witness the Brandon Rios-Mike Alvarado and Nonito Donaire- Nishioka fights.
Through Twitter Nonito hooked us up with ringside tickets to the event, and we were all pumped up about both the fights and being ringside for the first time in our lives.
Being Ringside is awesome it's Thunderdome  down there anything goes. We had tickets to the 12th row of section 5,but  I didn't sit  in my seat for more than a minute.
When you are part of the ringside family they allow you to walk all around the floor freely surrounded by all types of boxing heads  such as Freddy Roach, Chrystina Poncher, the fat guy that translates, Jim Lampley, Roy Jones Jr, Tyson Marquez.  I was one Mario Lopez away from exploding in my pants.
I was in awe and it showed, so 50 uttered the words that resonated through out the rest of the night "Act like you belong here"
Fuck that, We quickly left our seat and proceeded to check every inch of the floor taking snap shots ringside and mingled with boxing heads.

The Fight 

Brandon Rios versus Mike Alvarado was the most anticipated night of the fight, if not the year.
Two  undefeated Mexican brawlers with the I dont give a fuck  attitude of Mick Folley would beat the shit out of each other up like Rock and Sock em robots for 10 rounds.  I was salivating for this fight since it was announced.  These kind of fights don't happen in boxing, thank you Bob Arum.
We were leaning against the rails  taking pictures when Alvarado made his way to the ring.
Brandon Rios walking to the ring made it difficult  to maintain my journalist integrety.  Robert Garcia was happy and beaming with pride walking his top protege to the ring it was beautiful to watch.  Fuck it,  I dropped my camera and reached out to Brandon  and he bumped my fist.    It was a sign!! screw journalist integritywas cheering for Brandon tonight.
When the fighters were being introduced we walked to the other side of the ring and passed by our seat.  Juan found me a spot on the corner where I could kneel 7 feet front from the ring and snap away.  After 3 rounds on his knees Juan was beginning to feel like Summer Nyte in her pursuit of the record.  He needed a seat, but there was no way he was going back to the 12th row.
Luckily for him Jay Caspian Kang came to the fight twittered something about a Japanese guy with an afro and left before the sun came down.   Im sure he will write a condescending article on how boxing sucks though, just kidding he already did and it was actually really good.  (Damn he is talented)

 Anyways,  Juan took his seat on the 5th row of media row next to Tyson Marquez.
When the lady asked him about the seat he acted like he belonged there he said something about "Championship Blog" and pointed at me and my camera.  I gave a thumbs up and she believed us.  Why would a  guy wearing a vest and a guy on his knees with a 1000 camera lie??
The fight lived up to the hype. It was fast paced and action filled both fighters getting good licks on each other.   Rios kept moving forward with thunderous hooks to the body and uppercuts to the head. Alvarado tried to  box and keep his distance with the jab and was successful for a few rounds. He was winning the fight but Rios maintained the pressure and kept coming forward.  Eventually in the 7th round and over hand right by Rios stunned Alvarado  and Rios followed up with like seemed 7-10 hooks  to Alvarado's dome and the Ref stopped the fight.
The moment it happened I was pissed it felt like watching RedTube and then  suddenly getting the buffering sign.  It felt that the fight was stopped early, but after seeing the fight 10 more times I believe the ref did the right thing.
This is the type of Ref that would of saved Apollo Creeds life when he fought Ivan Drago, but he would of also stopped the fight when Rocky was getting his ass kicked in the middle of the montage versus Drago and Rocky would have lost the fight and USA would of lost the Cold War.   It is a tricky situation.
 Alvarado deserved a chance to take a few more punches it seemed he was going for the clinch  when it was stopped, and  he would of preferred to go down on the floor than his feet.  Yet,  guys like Alvarado don't go to the floor.
 If the fight continued the result would of been the same.  Rios had done some serious damage to Alvardo's body and he wasn't going to stop the pressure.  Alvarado looked winded after the 6th round, but he  wanted and  deserved the chance to go down fighting.  You can't fault the ref for doing his job though he was looking out for the fighters health.

Nonito Donaire vs Toshiaki Nishioka

Here are some of the Pictures of Nonito Donaire and Toshiaki Nishioka.
I was trying to practice my timing here (which sucked!!) and focus on composition.   The shitty part is that some asshole decided to stand in front of me  when Nonito finished the fight, and block my view worse than Mike Scioscia blocking home plate after a few drinks.

Well here are my pics....

Stalking his Prey

He falls for the first time.

Flash waits for Nishioka to Stand up

I don't know why but this picture reminds me of King Hippo in the NES Mike Tyson's Punch Out.

I know, I know weird picture but I like it.

Here are some of the Pictures of Nonito Donare and Toshiaki Nishioka.  I was trying to practice my timing here (which sucked!!) and focus on composition.   The shitty part is that some asshole decided to stand in front of me  when Nonito finished the fight, and block my view worse than Mike Scioscia blocking home plate after a few drinks.
Well here are my pics....

Bam Bam Rios and Mike Alvarado Pictures

These are some of the Pics I took for the Mike Alvarado- Brandon Rios Fight at The Home Depot Center in Carson.  My boy Juan got me a cool spot because he was wearing a vest everyone believed the bullshit he fed them.   

Forgive me for the ropes obstructing my view.  One day ill set my elbows on the apron and I will win my war against the ropes.

Mike Alvarado's Entrance 

FUCK THE ROPES!!

The Ropes Win Again,

Brandon Rios Wins.

559fights

Entertainment wise Bakersfield has pretty limited selections.
On a Saturday nights the main options are dwindled down to dinner at an over crowded restaurant, getting wasted downtown and hitting on fat chicks, going to Camino hitting on hot girls getting rejected and then getting beat up by bouncers, a good old fashion house party with 19 yr olds or attend an over crowded theatre where people bring crying babies.
These options makes it  easy for someone like me to stay in and watch 6 episodes of Breaking Bad on a Saturday night.
Lucky for me this weekend 559fights saved me from that routine, and  I brought along my boy 50 to the events because well 50 never says no to fights and I promised him hot ring girls.
On October 6 the concord based Mix Martial Arts promotion hooked it up with over 10 fights at the Dome for the low price of $25.   It was a packed house with a good crowd and the fights were diverse and entertaining.
The Dome is nice venue to hold such an event because it provides general admission and anywhere one sits is very close the action.
In some cases it seemed like the promotion pitted a legit up and coming fighter versus a guy who, well out of respect for his skill, was not  as legit.   Either way it was good work for the up an comer and a  reality check for the other guy.

Some of the highlights of the night:

Submission of the Night went to  Holt Felkins with the Arm Bar.

The kid was looking for the submission early  on , and he almost got it in the middle of the first round but his opponent  narrowly escaped.  He finally was able to submit his opponent with a few seconds left in the first round.

I might be biased but the fight of the night went to Albert "Silver Dollar" Arreola who pummeled his opponent  3 inches inches in front of my face which was pretty cool to see.  Sadly the lighting and their dark silhouettes didn't allow to take better pictures.
 Side note,  I was not going to be the guy who ruins a fight by using Flash in front of a fighter.  Even though it was a split second decision I realized I did not want to be in the bottom of that ground and pound by Albert if I fucked up his fights  so I stayed away from the flash.  Besides I fucking hate Flash.

The Domination of the night is awarded to Josh Powell who  tee'd off on his opponents head till the referee mercifully stopped it 33 seconds into the fight. It was similar  to the Camino bouncers teeing off on a drunk Mexican in the Parking lot before being stopped by their co workers in fear of a lawsuit.  Josh was pumped and  wanted some more.

The Prospects of the night in my eyes were Albert Arreola  and Marcel Cyprian.

Ive never heard of the guy but there was a lot of buzz around the arena for Arreola when he set foot in the octagon.  

People were saying he is undefeated and a great wrestler and he proved it using his wrestling to slam take down his opponent.  But he also proved to be an effective fighter in the ground and pound.  I guess they are saying he will fight in Tulare on October 27, and if it wasn't for the outrageously high gas prices I would go see him fight.

Marcel Cyprian fought a very contested fight and it seemed that he was evenly matched, but the kid showed heart and determination by coming out on top of some dangerous situations.   He is well rounded both in striking and in the ground game made and treated us to a very entertaining fight and came out on top with the decision.  

All in all the event was a good change of pace out here in Bakersfield and I hope that 559fights come back soon. People out here love this kind of stuff so I was saddened to only hear about it the day of.  With a little more promotion the Dome could get more packed and the fights could get filled with adrenaline. 

 Oh yeah their DJ is top notch he kept the atmosphere alive and provided some sick entrance music.

For more info go to 559fights.com and you can e-mail me at JonSalcedo83@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter @Jonsalcedo83