Canelo Alvarez vs Daniel Jacobs

Where there’s a fight, there’s a poster, and this one was a big one! It was big because it was of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (Canelo is cinnamon in Spanish. He’s cinnamon because of his hair…). He is in the top 10 of highest paid athletes in history after signing with DAZN (pronounced da-zone, like in da-zone) for $365 million dollars.

The assets were for the official poster and all the marketing material leading up to his first big fight since signing. A middleweight championship fight against Daniel Jacobs at the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas. So these images had a lot of weight on them (no pun intended).

We also captured editorial & behind the scenes imagery to use for social, PR and other various uses, during filming of the commercial being produced the same day. The shoot itself took place in Los Angeles, the last stop of a multi-city press tour promoting the fight.

During the multi-city tour, no stop was longer than 24 hours. From New York, to Mexico City, then finally Los Angeles. With the time changes and demanding schedules, not to mention the add-on of fatigue, language barriers, fighter’s entourages and a BUFFET of personalities, it made for an interesting day. But nothing that we haven’t faced before.

The shoot was inside a boxing gym. Cramped was an understatement, especially with both photo + video teams!

The task and the atmosphere can be quite daunting when you think about the weight and magnitude of the shoot. Our most valuable asset is the ability to not only shoot fast, but to shoot fast well. Having worked in world championship boxing for over a decade, the experience definitely helps (and some would say necessary)! From directing, to knowing the boxing jargon, to simply being able to navigate the different characters/dynamics in this crazy world of combat sports.