The Third Man In

We've all heard the expression, "The third man in the ring". Man people who don't follow boxing don't realize how important that third man is. When I saw Arthur Mercante Jr. step into the ring and saw that black arm band, it really got to me. His dad, Arthur Mercante Sr., went to school with my father and I met Sr. 40 years ago. There is no doubt in anyones mind that he was the greatest boxing referee of all times. He was the class act, nobody better. When Arthur Mercante Jr. took charge of the Cotto- Foreman fight, it was amazing. He never let the control slip away from himself. Like his father before him, he handled himself properly, like a gentleman, and with the power of his convictions. There was no doubt in my mind that Arthur Sr. was looking down with a gigantic smile on his face and was so proud of his son. I take my barret off to both of them.

Photos © Dylan DiMaggio

Not The Outcome We Wanted

June 5 2010 will go down as a day I watched two people I genuinely care about lose their fights; James Moore and Yuri Foreman. That's the bad news. The good news is they both fought with tremendous courage and pride and neither one of them gave up. The first thing they teach you at the University of Missouri School of Journalism is to never get involved with the people your photographing or filming on any level, period. I've not only believed it but I've told scores of other photographers and filmmakers the same thing. What a hypocrite I must be, I did everything I could do not to get close to either one of these guys. Even though the relationships are radically different, I would've loved to had seen them succeed in their goals. Success is a good thing. Winning is a good thing but I guess we all have to learn from our non successes. I can't use the f word because failure is not an option- it's never an option. I've spent 5 years working with Harry Keitt, James Moore, Yuri Foreman and several other very bright, talented people.

Alexis Iacono

Oh my god, I'm going to say it again, I'm one of the luckiest guys in the world. Over the years I've had a very good friend by the name of John Iacono who has a beautiful wife, by the name of Nancy and an extremely beautiful daughter who is now acting, modeling, and doing voice over's- pretty cool stuff. I remember many years ago having Alexis as one of my models for a photographic ad for one of the camera manufacturers. I believe we used 5 or 6 young people but even then at age 10,11, or 12, Alexis was head and shoulders above the rest not only in beauty but in presentation in how she acted and reacted under pressure. You don't have to be much of a visionary to know that this girl is going a long way. And what a great sense of humor; she said in her last email, "But like Marsha Mason says to Richard Dreyfuss in the Good Bye Girl 'Ask an actor a question and he gives you his credits.'"

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1477266/

http://www.yarnaudioworks.com/

http://vimeo.com/11076595

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/cataclysm/

June 5- Yankee Stadium

I remember Floyd Patterson beating Ingemar Johansson, then it was Cautious Clay (Muhammad Ali) against Sonny Liston. I think a lot of people will remember this fight- Yuri Foreman against Miguel Cotto. As most of you know, I've been working 5 years on a documentary and Yuri Foreman is the main protagonist along with Harry Keitt, James Moore and several other players.There hasn't been a fight in Yankee Stadium since 1976; Mohammad Ali against Ken Norton. In my opinion, the key to any great sport's photograph is timing, shutter speed, timing, and yes, timing again. You study a boxer and you know he throws combinations of 3 lefts, 1 right, 2 lefts, 1 right, and then a hook to the body. You try to time it. Peak action is absolutely critical. There's a point where a glove moving very quickly stops for a millisecond on a person's chin. In a perfect word, that's what your looking for. As a photographer and former photojournalist, you're not supposed to root but that's hard not to do. On the evening of June 5th, I'd love to see 2 people win, James Moore and Yuri Foreman. A simplification of

peak action is 2.8 and be there. Yes it's a take off of F8 and be there. Joe D

Photo© Joe DiMaggio