By Terence Dooley
As 2009 draws to a close we have a chance to reflect on an excellent British boxing year. Granted, Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe, our previous flag bearers, have not made an impression this year, Joe has remained retired and Hatton was blasted out by Manny Pacquiao, but we have had Carl Froch, Amir Khan and David Haye pushing forward on the world scene during this past calendar year.
Closer to home, we have seen the emergence of John Murray as the dominant force at 135lb, Kevin Mitchell found fresh focus when given the chance to fight a world title eliminator against Breidis Prescott, Ryan Rhodes annexed the European title by defeating Jamie Moore in a fight that neither man had to take, Jason Booth and Ian Napa have both displayed sublime skills in British title fights this year, Tony Dodson and Tony Quigley also tore chunks out off one another in their British title fight back in March.
It has been a vintage year, and BoxingScene has tried to cover it in as much depth as possible. I’ve sifted through the fights, made as many calls as I could, consulted my fellow UK writers and am about to bemuse our readers by presenting the best, and worst, of 2009.
‘It’s my list and I’ll be biased if I want to’ award for British fighter of the year 2009 - Winner: John Murray
In contention: Amir Khan, David Haye, Ryan Rhodes and Carl Froch
Back in 2006 we travelled to Mosside to meet John Murray, his brother Joe, and trainer Joe Gallagher. After a few winter mornings spent watching John move through the gears whilst sparring Paul Truscott we became convinced that John, who was mixing with Billy Smith and Ben Oddamattey at the time, would come good. A strong showing during sparring sessions with Ricky Hatton in 2007 strengthened this belief.
Murray came good in 2008, hammering Lee Meager in five rounds to pick up the British lightweight title. John had Amir Khan on his radar at the end of 2008 but had to content himself with Lee McAllister back in January of this year, Scott Lawton in June and then, finally, Jon Thaxton in October.
The Thaxton fight, though made too late, had long been a dream for Murray, who had told me on our first meeting that he would be the man to retire Jon. Sure, there were hiccups along the way in 2009, those early rounds versus McAllister were hairy, John lost his title on the scales before hammering Lawton and he took a round to get going versus Thaxton but, in my opinion, his form, performances and sheer will to win have earned him the title of best British boxer of 2009.
Indeed, if we are being honest the ‘British boxer of the year’ should be a Lonsdale belt holder. Murray, with his weight scare against Lawton, thrilled during his weigh-ins also and his desire was also summed up when he knocked out McAllister. Murray, inactive for six months by this point, dropped Lee with a left hook to the body and then threw a celebratory fist at our photographer, Big Al, the crowd and his brother, Joe, in a fit of celebration, rage and exuberance.
For this writer, Murray’s attitude is best summed up by a phone call he made to me after the events at the Lawton weigh in. Murray, now a former British champion, asked me for my take on events, I gave it to him and asked him what he was going to do next, his answer: “I’m just going to smash up anyone they put in front of me from now on!”
Murray had a bit more to say when we caught up with him on the phone to ask him if he’d be our fighter of the year. “Buzzing mate, I’m chuffed,” buzzed Murray. “I’ve had a good year.
“I beat Lee McAllister, who is now the Commonwealth champion, I beat an in-form Scott Lawton, who I took apart, and John Thaxton, who was regarded as the British number one for years. I beat Jon easy that night. I took him apart and was barely out off second gear. It was a top-class year. I’ve had some good, in-form opponents and always said that the better my opponent the more I’d perform.
“I’ve had a lot of criticism when I’ve not performed against lesser fighters but put someone who is hungry and in-form in front of me and I’ll do the job on them. I think I’ve shown just how good I can be. I went in, upped my game and took care of business. I think I can move on from British level now. I’ll get this European chance in February and will move on from there. I want to make an assault on the world stage.”
Knockout of the year – Winner: Carl Froch W TKO 12 Jermain Taylor
Honourable mentions: Cello Renda KO 2 Sam Horton, Matthew Macklin TKO 3 Wayne Elcock and Paul Samuel TKO 3 Cello Renda.
Sure, Taylor wasn’t laid flat out, he was stopped on his feet in the twelfth stanza after being hunted down, hurt and floored by Froch, who had boxed poorly for ten rounds. However, such was Froch’s primal will to win that it would be hard to overlook this one. Throw in the fact that Froch was away from home, making his first defence and had looked terrible in the early going, and you have a clear candidate for the most memorable KO win by a British boxer.
Also, Taylor may have finished the fight on his feet but when referee Mike Ortega jumped in at 2:46 of the final round Taylor had his glove cupped to his face and was, presumably, checking to see if his nose was still attached to it, such was the fury of Froch’s final assault.
We couldn’t catch Carl, ironic given his defensive problems this year, but we managed to get a cryptic message out of one of his spokespeople, see if you can decipher it:
boots, his, Carl, smoked.
Comeback of the year – Winner: Amir Khan
Runner-up: Carl Froch (see above)
Amir Khan looked done and dusted when Breidis Prescott knocked him out in 0:54 seconds in 2008. Sure, Amir was still a young guy but the KO was so emphatic, so shocking, that few saw Khan reaching the heights. Fifteen months on and Khan is WBA light-welterweight champion and looking for fights with Paulie Malignaggi, Juan Urango and, more even more improbably, Juan Manuel Marquez, a mix of canny matchmaking, hard work in the gym and a dollop of Freddie Roach has seen Khan’s fortunes drastically transformed.
His comeback began in December of last year, when he TKO’d the over-matched Oisin Fagin, and it was consolidated in March, with the masterstroke that was the fight against Marco Antonio Barrera, before being given the icing on the cake of two WBA title fights, one a title winning effort over Andrea Kotelnik the other a maiden defence, and icing, of an undefeated boxer in Dmitriy Salita. Quibble over the opposition to your heart’s content, the comeback itself was perfectly managed, and deserving of recognition.
As for Amir, he’ll always be in the ‘next fight’ club, no matter what he does there will be a critic who shrugs, shakes his head and says, ‘He’ll lose his next fight’, it is set in stone. Amir himself sounded happy about recent developments when he caught up with Boxingscene.
“I am delighted with this award,” declared Khan. “I am even more delighted that it is ‘Comeback of the year’ as 2009 has been great year for me, as I’ve become a world champ. I’d like to thank Boxingscene for the award and to tell the readers that hopefully I’ll have an even better year in 2010.”
Fighter we’d most like to see back amongst the titles in 2010 award – Winner: Enzo Maccarinelli
There could only be one, and it is Big Enzo, the popular Welshman who has had the worst year seen by a Welshman since Richard Burton’s last year of his final marriage to Elizabeth Taylor. Stoppage defeats to Ola Afolabi and Denis Lebedev have seen Enzo lose some of his lustre in 2009. However, the big man is generally considered the nicest guy in British boxing and we like to see nice guys finish first, to that end it would be great to see Enzo regain his mojo, regain his rankings and recoup some titles in 2010.
“Thank you very much,” said Enzo when told that we want him back amongst the titles in 2010. “I’m feeling great now but over the last couple of years I’ve had a few problems in and out of the ring. I haven’t performed to the best of my ability but I’m coming back to basics now and got back to what I’m good at. I’m feeling very positive about the upcoming year.”
“Without a shadow of a doubt,” he said when asked if he can regain his former titles. “I’ve got no problems at all. Against Afolabi I got caught. To be honest it reminds me of Matthew Macklin against Jamie Moore, which happened to Matthew because he was out off steam – the same thing happened to me against Ola. Ola has gone onto lost a close fight with Marco Huck and he was barely taking a round off me before I got caught.
“I started thinking of why I was so tired in that fight and think I was concentrating on too many things in training and not getting back to my boxing. No excuses though, the better prepared man won. I’ve tried to change my style and over the last year I’ve forgot what got me to the world titles. I need to spend the hard work training for the fight and using my attributes of being fit and having fast hands. The power and speed were taken away from me and I made mistakes in my preparation.
“Boxing is the best sport in the world but it is also the cruellest sport in the world and everything was taken away from me. I’ve had a bad year and people think I’m finished but I know I will put things right. I am far from finished. I am quite confident and have been sparring some top-class heavies, ranked guys, and causing them problems so I feel that my mind is back to where it should be.”
He added: “I need to get to being a natural fighter. Enzo Calzaghe once said to me that me and Joe [Calzaghe] only get caught when we are thinking. I have to get back to that style. It is all about me now. I’d love to fight those two lads again as I think I can beat them. Everyone said I looked back to myself in the last fight and, with respect, I think it was because [his last opponent] Krisztian Jaksi had not been in my class but he had taken David Dolan and Terry Dunstan the distance a few fights before – I finished him in the first round and with three punches. I’m a world class fighter and I think I can get back to that level.”
The three wise men of British boxing training award for coaching excellence – Coming home from their trip to see Jesus: Adam Booth, Dave Coldwell and Joe Gallagher
Adam Booth’s highest profile moment in 2009 was also British boxing’s high-water mark as he guided his man David Haye to a WBA world title win over Nikolay Valuev. Haye has been viewed with a degree of scepticism during his career, Booth, however, never lost faith in his charge and this faith was vindicated when Haye used his brain, agility and speed to win a deserved decision over the Russian giant. Patience is a virtue, and Booth has reaped its rewards in 2009.
Another member of the Hayemaker boxing brains trust has had a fine 2009. David Coldwell, the head of boxing at Hayemaker, overcame a sticky start to the year to guide Lee McAllister to the commonwealth lightweight title and then broke Salford, and Manchester, hearts by masterminding Ryan Rhodes thrilling win over Jamie Moore in October.
Dave guided to Ryan to British and WBC International light-middleweight titles last year but the win over Moore tops…well pretty much everything. Dave has barely stopped smiling since that memorable night in Bolton; he caught up with us to discuss his fistic year.
“To be honest 2009 started off bad with Esham [Pickering] getting beat by Paul Appleby,” declared Coldwell. “We ended last year with good title wins and I was worried by the Esham loss but the year has picked up great.
“Oh sorry, the next big title fight was a loss again! McAllister against Murray. I remember saying to my missus that I’ve had title wins last year and this one is starting off badly but then Lee came back to win the Commonwealth and obviously I had Ryan. Being over there with David Haye was fantastic as well, a culmination, but the highlight of my year, and career and everything else, was Ryan beating Jamie Moore for the European title. That feeling will take some beating. All our work and preparation came to fruition.
“That was the fight that I wanted for Ryan. We wanted to go in that direction. I’d always asked for that fight as a bit of banter with Steve Woods but I always knew that Ryan could beat Jamie Moore, a trainer knows their fighter. Ryan’s mental strength and physical strength was there and he was pushing barriers every time. When the ref stopped the fight it was absolutely amazing, I still watch it now and it is something that you’ll never forget.”
He added: “When Ryan came to me people thought we were looking for a quick payday and we proved everyone wrong on that. Then there was Germany, amazing; being involved with David Haye’s win was fantastic. Seeing Adam with David and how he’s done it. People have written David and Adam off and they’ve done that with me and Ryan in the past. I sent Ryan a text on the way back saying that I wanted to have that feeling again but from a Ryan Rhodes world title win, and think we’ll get it this year.”
Indeed, McAllister’s mini-revival has been impressive, Murray put him through the grinder only for the Scot to bounce back with wins over Abdoulaye Soukouna, Godfriend Sowah and Charlie King.
“Lee’s dad trains him up there [in Scotland] and he comes and works with me,” said Coldwell. “He’s listening and getting his technique right, which means that he’s punching harder. Lee McAllister winning the Commonwealth against Soukouna was great but I’d like him to move onto the European title next year, fight someone like Willie Limond. People are always screaming about where’s Willie Limond - we’ll fight Willie [Writer’s note: You’ll have to free him (from work) first]. There are plenty of big fights out there and 2010 will be a big year.
“The thing about this game is that I’ve seen it all and one minute you are on top and the next minute it moves to another gym. You had the Ingles, and then it moved to Manchester with Billy Graham and Brian Hughes. There will be times when things don’t go great but do what you are doing and work hard and you’ll get the rub of the green. Things are going our way at the moment and that is down to the fighters you are working with – I’m working with quality fighters.”
He continued: “I’m working with Tony Dodson for the Paul Smith fight, we expect John Watson to push on next year, Lee will move on and we’ll try and get a world title fight for Ryan. Next year could be even bigger than this year. The Ring rates Ryan Rhodes in their top ten right now, flipping heck that is big. Dodson has got a great chance of winning the British. Lee will defend the Commonwealth. Curtis [Woodhouse] fights for a title in his next fight. Turning Curtis from a footballer into a fighter has been quite a good job as well. I’ve got a big start to the year so it could be absolutely massive.”
Finally, Dave laughed when told that he was tied with Booth and Gallagher. “Listen, this is an absolute honour,” he enthused. “Look at what Joe’s done, he’s got a hot camp at the moment and has experienced lads in the likes of Murray and Macklin, who can both win world titles next. I became a big John Murray fan when watching him up close and personal with Lee McAllister, he is underrated and he is improving.
“Adam is someone I’ve been lucky enough to work closely with. We work very similarly and Adam’s knowledge of the game is great, he is a very underrated trainer. Look at what he’s produced with David and what he’s doing with George Groves. To be mentioned alongside them is fantastic, I’m only 34 and the baby of the bunch so, touch wood, I’ll be around for a long time to come and all these experiences will hold me in better stead for when I’m older.”
Gallagher was undefeated as a professional trainer during 2009. John Murray kicked-off the year with his win over McAllister, Joe Murray turned over early in 2009, Anthony Crolla has been reborn under Gallagher’s guidance, Matthew Macklin is looking a world beater and Femi Fehintola is practically living at the Kerry Kayes-owned, Gallagher-run gym. A hectic year, a lot to talk about, and Joe can go some when presented with a microphone.
“It is hard to talk about yourself!” said Gallagher with a laugh. “Yeah, look at what we’ve done in the gym this year, we’ve won British belts, a European, Joe Murray is 5-0 with 2 knockouts, Anthony Crolla has just had the biggest win of his career, Femi came back from the wilderness, we’ve had kids like Danny Randell come through, he had a great debut, and Hosea Burton has had a good year. It has been a hard year but a great year, my best up to now.
“To be considered one of the top trainers in Britain is quite a honour. I grew up looking at Enzo Calzaghe and Billy Graham and they were among the awards for years, you’ve also got great trainers like Jimmy Tibbs. Kevin Mitchell and John Murray are getting linked, John with Amir as well, and it means I am thinking, ‘Freddie Roach! Jimmy Tibbs!’, and looking to pit my wits against those names. We are mixing in the big leagues now and I’m really chuffed with that.”
“I turned professional to have nights were you pit yourself against the best trainers. I did everything I could in the amateur game and turned over to pit my wits against the best coaches in Britain. Going up against Dave Coldwell, with John and Lee McAllister, the Ingles for Thaxton, and the Ingles have had a conveyor belt of talent over the years, the Macklin fight also saw me go up against Asikainen’s experienced people. I’ve been up against Robert McCracken recently for the Murray and Lee Meager fight. These are my cup finals.”
My request that Gallagher should ‘tell us about the one moment that encapsulates 2009’ led to a word-count-killing list of the gym’s achievements.
“John Murray has had three great fights – all different,” declared Gallagher. “We had the excitement of coming behind against Lee McAllister. He failed the weight and then put in a great performance against Scott Lawton. Then there was the absolutely punch perfect performance he put in to get rid of his nemesis Jon Thaxton.
“Macklin, our first fight was the British title, the pressure was on and he wasn’t picked to win but the way he demolished Elcock was fantastic and I still don’t think he’s been given the credit he deserves for that performance. Then Asikainen.
“We also had Crolla against Brodie. I can’t name one. Adam Booth has his stand out one in beating Valuev but I can’t decide between all of them. I’d say Crolla-Brodie was great for the local rivalry, Macklin’s Euro for the title win and all three of John’s fights.”
‘The one you’ve probably scrolled down to first’ award for British fight of the year –Winner: Jamie Moore L TKO 7 Ryan Rhodes
In contention: Tony Dodson L TKO 12 Tony Quigley
Quigley and Dodson was a prolonged slugfest, but there were a few scrappy moments along the way. Moore versus Rhodes was a pure war, two canny boxers distilling all their skill and ability into a seven round battle. Plus, seven is the magic number so it all falls into place for Moore-Rhodes to be named as the highlight of 2009.
Moore came into the fight a favourite in the eyes of many; Rhodes’ best days, it seemed, had gone and his rejuvenation in 2008 was seen as the final flickering burst of flame given out by a candle when it is about to expire.
Ryan, however, had different ideas, he went to war with Jamie, fighting the champion’s type of fight, well, and producing a succulent right hook to floor Moore in the seventh stanza and turn the fight in his favour.
Jamie, as he did in the rubbermatch with Michael Jones, rose from the canvas and poured it on, the crowd, mostly pro-Moore, rose to their feet to acclaim another thrilling Moore comeback, only for Ryan to suck it up and take Moore out at 2:35 of the round. It was a quality fight, it crowned a worthy winner and it was a pleasure to cover. The two men caught up with Boxingscene to relive the bout.
“To be fair I knew it was going to a hard, exciting fight because anyone who fights Jamie Moore is going to be in a tough fight,” revealed Rhodes. “I wasn’t expecting a fight of the year though. Once I got the chance I knew I’d do it. To be European champion twelve years after my first British title win was a bit of a shock. I wasn’t shocked that I did it but that I got the chance to do it.”
“Definitely,” he said when asked if he would move onto world honours. “I’m rated number three by the WBC, number seven by the IBF and obviously Martinez and Williams might tie the WBC up for a bit as they’ll be fighting a rematch to their fantastic fight. I’m in with other organisations so there are other routes. I can see a Euro defence and a world title during 2010.”
Still, it was tragic to see Moore, who had waited in vain for a world title shot to roll along, fall at the final hurdle. Ryan, though, believes that Moore can reach the top. “I think he can, definitely”, he said, “I had six or seven years at that weight and I know that Jamie will do very, very well at the weight. Jamie was a massive light-middleweight so he won’t be a small middleweight. His workrate will make him a force at the weight.”
Moore has been involved in a few British title thrillers; his battles with Michael Jones and Matthew Macklin will stay long in the memory but may have been eclipsed by the struggle with Rhodes. Jamie gave his take on the contest.
“In that seventh round I got dropped and nearly had him so I knew it was a decent fight anyway but when I nearly turned it around I thought to myself, ‘This could be a right comeback!’,” declared Moore.
“It was like the third Michael Jones fight where I got dropped but had him later in the fight. I’ve also had a fight of the year with Macklin so I knew it was one of those nights. I know it there was a legitimate reason for the loss, it was not like I was out-classed, and that softened the blow. It was also a good fight to watch and nice to get fight of the year. It is never nice to lose but I know there were reasons behind it.
“I could tell that my body wasn’t right and I weren’t going to perform well. Even though I was winning the fight I could tell it was one of those nights. Everything looked laboured and I tired but at least it was good to watch and the fans got a good fight. Oliver [Harrison] has told me for the past two years that I’m taking away from myself by staying at light-middleweight but I think I’ll be an animal at middle and you’ll see me box to my full potential.”
‘I’ll just press record on this thing and let you do all the work’ award for most-missed British boxing personality – Winner: Billy Graham
“F**king hell,” declared Graham when told that the fans had missed his output during 2009. “I think you should talk about the real people we’ve lost, guys like Alexis Arguello, Arturo Gatti, Terry Lawless and Vernon Forrest, who I’m really f**king gutted over.”
We’ve done that, Billy, what have you been up to during your lay-off from the sport? “I’ve been reading,” he growled. “I’ve been reading Looking at the greats like Hugh McIlvanney, Graham Houston and the next one in line, Bob Mee. I’ve been reading Martina Cole as well, and relaxing. I’ve missed it though and am going to get back in shape and see what happens.”
Knockdown of the year – Winner: Paul Samuels and Cello Renda’s double knockdown
Although Samuels went onto win this via a third round TKO at one point it looked like we’d have a real life Rocky situation as both men were floored simultaneously by a pair of left hooks during round two of their November showdown. Fans were left agape, the fighters were left bemused and referee Terry O’Connor was left with only one option, he started to count in case one, or both, of them didn’t get back up. It was surreal stuff.
Cello Renda has form when it comes to laying people out, he has also been floored a few times himself, so it is fitting that this happened during one of his fights. The fight laughed when I caught up with and asked him if he remembered the double knockdown.
“I remember the fight well,” exclaimed Cello. “It was partly my fault as I got the tactics completely wrong there. After I beat Sam Horton in the second round I went in the Samuels fight thinking I could do that again, because I know I can bang. I didn’t learn anything from the Horton fight but learned a lot from the Samuels fight, so I see it as a win in that way.
“Sometimes a win can be like a loss and a loss like a win and I feel great that I’ve learned something from that fight. It is a great learning curve. I didn’t lose anything, for it but I learned that you can have a setback if you don’t go in properly prepared. No excuses, it was a great fight but it was brought forward a few weeks and I’d had an injury that prevented me from sparring for the fight. I had to get my weight off a little bit too soon than I should have so it wasn’t ideal. I’m willing to sacrifice Christmas for that rematch as it has been on my mind since. I’ve got no qualms about being able to beat him. I got too big for my boots.”
Cello told me that the realisation that he had been involved in a double knockdown had not hit him until after the final bell. “I was a little bit shocked,” he revealed.
“It was weird. It was a bit of a flash knockdown for me. I got up straightaway and thought the ref was going to count him out. It was more of a flash thing and I thought, ‘What the hell am I doing here!’ and I’d remembered vaguely seeing him on the floor so I wondered what was going on. I didn’t realise what had properly happened until after the fight.
“We are two bangers. When you can bang a bit you go for it in the centre of the ring, no tactics or nothing, and the fans absolutely love it, they can expect excitement when I fight. It is a flip of a coin when two guys are going for it like that. You don’t know what shot will take out who. I’ve got to make sure that isn’t the case next time we fight. I’ll be tactical about it and use the eight rounds. I’ll be a lot better in the rematch as it is constantly on my mind.
“I said the next day that I wanted that rematch. No disrespect to Paul, he is a class operator; he has fought for titles and is no mug. It is my time and I think this is a little blip that you get in boxing. I didn’t have an amateur career so I’m learning as I’m going along and learned something. He was giving it all those press-ups (after the fight) and I knew he was knackered, I knew it after the second round, but he turned it around.
“Now the plan is to get the win that I should have had and move on. I’ve learned a tremendous lesson from that fight. I’ll call back to that fight later in my career when I’m in the tenth and eleventh rounds and need experience to get through a fight – I have that experience now. I want a British title fight and want to become British champion as I have the tools to do it.”
Fan movement of the year award – Winner: www.bringbackbunce.net
Steve Bunce’s Boxing Hour on Setanta Sports became cult viewing during 2008 and 2009. The format was simple, Steven Bunce, ably assisted by his sidekick Andy Kerr, would get as many boxers as he could into their little studio, grab a few more on the phone and then allow them, and his own mouth, free reign for the best part of an hour. The show also broke the mould by showcasing fighters who fought under the Sky and ITV4 banner, a clear break from the pay-no-heed policy of Sky Sports News when it comes to discussing non-Sky TV sporting news.
Indeed, the show went from a little oddity, to a boxing cult, to extinction, thanks to Setanta’s crazy bid to become the home of football, and Buncey himself eventually became a national issue after Marina Hyde, a ‘aren’t blokes/chavs/anyone who is remotely different from me funny’ columnist, put her dainty foot into a cowpat when criticising the website that was set up in order to get Buncey back onto our screens.
Bring Back Bunce.net was an alliterative juggernaught for a while there, it had more quotes than Willy Loman’s final pitch and at one point there was the tangible belief that fans involvement, via petitions and getting ‘jolly well annoyed on a forum’, could make a difference. Alas this was not to be the case, the regular TV channels don’t like to show boxing, let alone people talking about boxing, and we still do not have a boxing counterpoint to the You’re on Sky Sports (but only if want to talk about football) format.
The big man put his tour on the road, the hardcore fans came out and the site is still chugging along. Steve was happy to give credit where it was due when discussing the success of the website itself.
“What they, Longcount ESB and Paddy Cronan, did was incredible,” declared Bunce. “For two months it was the best boxing website in the UK, by a mile. There was never time to do any news but it shows you what would have happened if we’d have done some news, it would have caused a ripple. They did a great job, a brilliant job, and I replied to every person who put anything on there, be it Chris Eubank or Joe Bloggs, something I always did at Setanta.
“It made people aware of what had happened at Setanta but the brutal reality is that it didn’t make Sky, Channel Four or Five or the BBC pick up the phone and call me, you have to be honest, I try to do that all the time. There were over 1.4 million hits, and I don’t doubt that, it got national coverage and it was a brilliant site to look at. It didn’t fail, it just didn’t change anything.”
He added: “For me personally it was fantastic. It showed that what we had done at Setanta was very fan-friendly and interactive, which is something we carried over into the Primetime fight, where we did five hundred emails for the Froch and Dirrell fight. I find it shocking that no TV company could see that. The BBC has a football show on a Saturday night and they’d love 500 emails in a hour, that is a big budget show, we were on Primetime and advertised online and we got 500 bloody emails, that is great.
“It was cult and it was unique, we know that, and it can be resurrected in some shape or form. It would take a couple of things to fall into place to make it happen again. I’m taking something on the road. I’ve got a novel coming out in early April called The Fixer and it was sold before Setanta went tits up so I might do something on that.
“This also takes my fancy, from 1889 to 2009: a complete history of the world heavyweight title, every fight, every challenger and every champion, you can get you teeth into that. Do a bit on Jim Jeffries one night, do a bit on Trevor Berbick another night, there are characters all over the place in that division. Marvin Hart, Tommy Burns, five-foot-two between them, there are great stories there. A lot of the stories we know now are attached to the earlier fighters. Do it in ninety minutes and you have a unique show for people to come out to.
“No sports broadcaster has every gone live in that sort of stand up format and on his own. What usually happens is that you do after dinner speaking engagements, ten pints of Guinness with Ricky Hatton and then get up and talk for ten minutes. I wanted to do something real. I loved it, even if I was just walking out in front of forty or fifty people.”
And that, my friend, is a bona fide Bunce rant, we may not get them on a weekly basis anymore but they are still out there, and there will be more to come when he takes the show on the road again. Keep an eye on www.buncelive.com/wordpress for details.
‘Did we miss him while he was gone?’ award for sticking to his word in 2010 – Winner: Joe Calzaghe
Joe Calzaghe retired last year after, finally, fighting and defeating Roy Jones Junior, the two men left it a little late to tackle one another and the fight itself was a massive anti-climax. It started brightly, Jones floored Joe in the first with a forearm smash only for Joe to take control. Calzaghe, once he had established control, was happy to hotdog his way to the final bell, rather than hitting Jones on the chin and, as experience shows, knocking him out by doing so.
No, Joe went out with a whimper rather than a bang, his record has come under increasing scrutiny since that night and there are many, this writer included, who do not miss those exciting nights against the likes of Evans Ashira, Miguel Angel Jimenez and David Starie. Still, Joe has his fans, though it must be said that they often fail to mount an adequate defence of their man, perhaps they are hamstrung by the absence of the raw materials needed to make an argument.
There is one fan, however, who is more than capable of playing devil’s advocate on Joe’s behalf. Step forward Enzo Calzaghe, who disagreed when asked if his son had failed to consistently reach the heights.
“People say, ‘You know who I am, you know who I am?’, and I say, ‘No, who the f**k are you?’ and they say, ‘I’m the world champion’, and think they can cut corners – Joe never did that,” roared Enzo Calzaghe.
“You get some guys who have world titles and they can’t even fight – you can’t say that about Joe. Joe never cut corners. Maybe he got a bit complacent at one stage in his career, when he had a few issues around the Robin Reid fight but they just made him go back and train like a champion. From the [Omar] Sheika fight onwards he never looked backwards. Joe changed his attitude and never, ever, cut any corners, that made him special.
“The word ‘pride’ doesn’t sum it up at the time until you look back at what he achieved, and you can do that now he’s retired. There was something special there. People know how special he was now he’s retired. We won’t see his like for year’s time. If you’ve got something special in you you’ll make it, no matter who you are, you have someone like Maradonna, Pete Sampras, boys who are completely dominant in their sport.”
Still, surely Joe could have stayed around for a few more years? By the time he fought Kessler he was just starting to become a little bit interesting, the snoozefest with Hopkins is still talked about to this day and the Jones fight, for all its flaws, was an event, surely Joe could have given us a few more fights?
“Joe’s retirement was a joint decision,” declared Enzo. “He is 46-0, beat every fighter out there and generated a lot of money and acclaim. You get to the point where no matter what you do there will always be another fight and people will always have something to say. ‘He hasn’t had an outdoor arena fight’ – well he did that. Or they’ll say, ‘He can’t beat that rock’ – there is always something to say.
“Joe doesn’t like to lose and never got stale, in his nineteenth world title fight he went out and battered Lacy, you tell me what was left to do, f**k me. Joe won 46 fights and still gets criticism. I’m not questioning people’s opinions but Hopkins has won fifty fights and half the people he beat were never seen again, same with Roy Jones. Just look at the records and you’ll know what you are looking at, look at the record. Joe beat what was out there, Robin Reid, Richie Woodhall, Eubank, Jones, Kessler, Hopkins and Lacy, what else could he have done?
“Joe deserved that pound-for-pound world title slot as well. If Joe beating Kessler for all the titles doesn’t deserve to get him that then I don’t know what does. People can look back on his career and say, ‘Oh, he hasn’t boxed everyone out there’ - tell me who he missed? Who, who?”
Carl Froch perhaps?
“Listen, I don’t want to hear about Carl Froch, that is not the point of this issue, if Carl Froch calls for Joe then I don’t blame him as he’s trying to get to the position that Joe has already achieved,” argued Enzo.
“Carl struggled to win the title and has struggled in his defences. Joe won it and maintained it against the best but Carl struggled with Jermain Taylor, who was struggling at middleweight. Carl Froch would have lost that title if Taylor could have hung on for a moment or two. Joe made 22 defences so when Carl gets to ten title fights then start talking about him along with Joe, the guy is a novice compared to where Joe is.”
Another charge levelled at Joe is that he waited too long to travel for fights with Hopkins and Calzaghe. Enzo had a difference take on this one. “Joe wanted to box Hopkins,” he declared.
“Listen to this, Bernard Hopkins chickened out of the first fight [a proposed contest earlier in the decade]. Frank Warren had it set up and Hopkins wanted more money and didn’t accept it, the fact is the fact, he was offered good money and said no, so who’s fault is it that the fight didn’t get put on? So Joe had to wait and then won and every says Hopkins is finished, oh, so who was that battering Kelly Pavlik, someone who people said Joe should have fought. If you carry on fighting there is always someone else they’ll say you haven’t beat, so how can you ever finish? Joe got out on top, and stayed out.”
‘Sod comeback of the year, this was the comeback of the decade’ award for perseverance and dedication:
Step forward Ryan Rhodes, alone this time, and take a bow. Eleven years on since his first British light-middleweight title win, after roughly nine years campaigning at middleweight and against all odds, Ryan came all the way back this year and is now sitting on the cusp of a world title shot. You couldn’t make it up. As this article winds to a close it is fitting that Ryan should be given a chance to let out a big, fat “I told you so!” and send it on to all the critics out there.
“It was about proving it to myself, my family and my friends, big thumbs up to all them. Training with Dave Coldwell and the team as well, as it is not a one-man team, it is a complete team, so a big thumbs up for them. And to all my critics – I told you so!” laughed Rhodes.
“I’d just also like to say thanks to the readers at BoxingScene for their support and wish everyone a happy 2010!”
‘I really should do a conclusion but this guy is still on the phone so I’ll leave it to him’ award for services to British boxing verbiage – Winner: Buncey
“I’ll tell you what, Tel, this has been a great British boxing year,” declared Buncey as our proposed two-minute phone call wound to a conclusion. “The personal highlight was David Haye. That wasn’t a Rocky-style fight but it was a brilliant tactical performance and great to be there. I’ve been staggered by some of the press coverage as it was a British boxing fairytale. A kid has done it on his own; he’s in control of his own career and that is a great highlight of the boxing year, any boxing year.
“Kevin Mitchell against Prescott was absolutely brilliant. I’ve enjoyed Cleverly this year. I’ve enjoyed that whole Tyson Fury, John McDermott, Sam sexton and Martin Rogan stuff, which has been brilliant. All the Olympians turning over have been brilliant. Then you have the likes of Ronnie Heffron turning over. It has been a great year. 2010 is going to be unbelievable.
“But this year has been all about Ryan Rhodes beating Jamie Moore. Here is a kid in Rhodes who twelve years after winning the British title for the first time is back and winning a fight like that. This has been a bumper year, mate, and we are spoiled if we don’t realise that.
“Haye will get past Ruiz, unless he cuts corners, and then he gets a Klitschko sometime next year. We’ve got Froch against Kessler and then he’ll fight Abraham with Ward left in the wings. Even if they find two people like Kotelnik and Salita for Khan it is still an event. And we’ve still got Ricky to come out, outdoor or indoor that is another twenty thousand sell-out. You take all that there and put it in any era, the seventies or eighties, and they’d be pleased.”
Amen to that, big man, and thanks to BoxingScene.com readers for their support during 2009.
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