Manny Pacquiao-Jessie Vargas fight energizes Thomas & Mack Center
The Kats Report Bureau at this writing is ringside — the splatter zone — at the Thomas & Mack Center for the Manny Pacquiao-Jessie Vargas WBO welterweight title bout. The Thomas & Mack is a great fight venue, and this card reminds of the effective partnership of the venue and Wynn Las Vegas, co-promoting the evening’s fistic activity.
This arena evokes myriad memories. Ages ago, I covered the Oscar De La Hoya-Pernell Whitaker “Pound for Pound” WBC welterweight bout in April 1997. That September, it was De La Hoya-Hector “Macho” Camacho in “Opposites Attack” — another great handle for a fight — again for De La Hoya’s WBC title.
About all I recall about that first fight is neither of those guys seemed to land a clean punch, though Whitaker was credited with a knockdown in the ninth round though it looked like one of those slip-down deals. In the De La Hoya-Camacho bout, “Macho” had promised to cut the famous spit curl that hung on his forehead if he lost. He lost. Like, every round, pretty much. But afterward, Macho Man refused to cut that lock.
“He didn’t knock me out,” Camacho said after the lopsided loss, “‘so he don’t get spit.”
On nights like these, we miss the Macho Man, win or lose.
More from here and elsewhere:
BUFFER’S COLLECTION
I caught the attention of legendary ring announcer Michael Buffer a little bit ago. He’s a very clean sort. I asked him the obvious: “Do you still have your car collection?”
“I have four cars right now,” he called out, “but I’m not really a collector.”
Over the years Buffer has owned a few genuine American classics, including a 1932 Ford “deuce coupe” and Fords from 1951 and ‘52. Buffer is 72, astonishingly, and a 2009 report from ABC news placed his personal wealth at $400 million, as he trademarked the catch phrase, “Let’s get ready to ruuuumble!” His announcement for the undercard bouts is the less-familiar, but similarly insistent, “Let’s get this party started!”
SHARP ACT
As we talk of potentially dangerous physical activities, Brett Loudermilk of “Band of Magicians” at the Tropicana especially impressive as he swallows an assortment of swords – and this is not sleight-of-hand or sleight-of-throat deception. It’s a learned skill, and one of the show’s more entertaining moments, full of suspense and slobber and such.
Loudermilk is familiar to Vegas audiences as a member of the cast of “Vegas Nocturne” at the Cosmopolitan. After the opening of “Band of Magicians” on Thursday night, he mentioned his guest-starring role as a fill-in act for “Absinthe.”
It seems you never really leave the Spiegelworld operation, which is akin to a family, where one of the cousins might carve the Thanksgiving turkey — then devour the knife.
MORE SPIEGELWORLD ACTION
Oddly enough, one of the producers invited to pitch ideas for the “Sharknado”project to Caesars Entertainment was Spiegelworld founder Ross Mollison. As one might anticipate, the comic sensibilities of Mollison’s company did not blend well with the musical adaptation of the shark-tornado-adventure-comedy franchise.
WAIT, HE DOESN’T VOTE
During an interview last month to preview his Nov. 14 show at the Smith Center, I asked Ringo Starr for whom he was voting. “I was born in Britain and live in L.A.,” Starr said. “That’s all you need to know.” Then I remembered: Ringo is still a British citizen. We just dropped that line of questioning …
WAIT, HE DOES VOTE
We had something of an editing glitch in my Thursday column and it had a yuuuuuge effect on the great Donald Trump impressionist John Di Domenici this week. Know this: Di Domenici is a registered voter who does vote. In fact, he took part in early voting last week in Clark County.
A WHOLE THING
If ever a business was appropriately labeled, it is Stoney’s Rockin’ Country yee-haw fortress at Town Square. Under the operation of Chris Lowden (son of former Hacienda and Sahara owner Paul and Sue Lowden) Stoney’s was the setting for a roaring performance by Montgomery Gentry on Friday night. More than 1,000 folks jammed the club as Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry (proud Americans, these two) threw down such hits as, “Something to Be Proud Of,” “My Town,” “Where I Come From,” “Hell Yeah” and “Hillbilly Shoes.”
The show coincided the PBR Finals at T-Mobile Arena, and Stoney’s was was smokin’ for sure, which is not uncommon: The venue is open Wednesdays through Satrudays and typically tops 800 on peak nights. The cover for locals is $5, $10 for those out of state, with prices varying for big-name artists — M.G. tickets started at $25 in advance, $35 at the door. Business killed, and so did the show.
RUMER ‘N’ MORENO
Rumer Willis appeared for the first time at Cabaret Jazz at the Smith Center on Friday night, inviting Frankie Moreno to the show to sing with her on “Fever.” Moreno also broke out the harp, as a kind of tribute to Willis’ father, Bruce Willis, who is a pretty fair harmonica/harpist himself. Sadly, Mr. Willis, who recorded, “The Return of Bruno” in 1986, was not in the house.
GREAT VISUAL
The cutout of the Elvis tribute artist at the early voting station at the Regional Transportation Center at the Clark County Government building. I don’t know about his immigration stance, but his Elvis stance was a winner.
John Katsilometes’ column runs Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday in the A section, and Fridays in Neon. He also hosts “Kats! On The Radio” Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on KUNV 91.5-FM and appears Wednesdays at 11 a.m. with Dayna Roselli on KTNV Channel 13. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
