It felt significant because all the relevant pieces were there. All the sounds, the smells, the mise en scène. You had, for starters, Neil Diamond singing “Sweet Caroline”, the prologue to something big, and dancing to it were three scantily-clad women soon joined by a fourth who did cartwheels down the runway. You also had an MC, or hype man, who was off camera to begin with but could be heard shouting “People, let’s see some fingers up!” as two drummers accompanied the dancing girls and played Bhangra music. What followed was a loud “BRAAAP!” and our first glimpse of the boxer, dressed in a red robe, who had by now appeared alongside his hype man, holding a mic and wearing sunglasses indoors.
Do ringwalks have a different meaning in the age of the show-off?
