By Frank Warren
They say lightning doesn’t strike in the same place twice- but I don’t believe it after being hit with a thunderbolt for the second time in a few weeks and now having to again postpone the WBO middleweight title fight between Andy Lee and Billy Joe Saunders which had been re-scheduled for Manchester on October 10th.
A cut eye caused by a sparmate’s stray elbow now rules out a gutted Billy Joe for this date after the original postponement and switch from Limerick, when Lee went down with a virus.
It is no joking matter – though I could be forgiven for thinking there might be a gypsy’s curse on this much-anticipated scrap between the two Travellers.
However it will definitely go ahead as soon as the injury has healed sufficiently for Billy Joe to resume full training.
The surgeon who examined the wound said it would not be advisable to do any sparring for a while. So Billy Joe has to keep himself fit and in condition for a fresh date.
Such is life in the boxing business. It’s a pain the backside buy you tend to get philosophical about such setbacks.
I feel or both boxers, particularly Billy-Joe, because this really is the unkindest cut of all after the original postponement.
Cut eyes in sparring are rare, but they do happen, despite the use of headguards. Probably the most notable occurred when George Foreman’s ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ with Muhammad Ali had to be delayed for six weeks. And David Haye also suffered a similar injury when his proposed fight with Tyson Fury was shelved on the first of two occasions.
As I say, these things happen and you just have to live with them, but I have to admit it’s been a bit of a wretched year in terms of postponements, with Frank Buglioni’s bout against Fedor Chudinov having to be put back until September 26th because the Russian broke his nose – also in sparring. Sometimes you wish they’d stick to shadow boxing!
However the important thing is, the Manchester Arena show goes on - and it is still a massive one with two scintillating world title fights.
Local hero Terry Flanagan faces a highly dangerous first WBO lightweight title defence against tough hombre Diego Magdaleno, the number one contender, and Liverpool’s Liam Smith has the biggest test of his fast-rising career for the WBO light-middleweight title against American artist-on-canvas John Thompson, the fighter with the paintbrush left.
The cracking bill is packed with more title fights featuring some of the best up-and-coming home-grown talent, including Jack Catterall, Luke Blackledge and new signing Jimmy Kelly, plus what should be be a corker between Tom Stalker and Craig Evans for the vacant WBO European lightweight championship. And we are working on another title fight to replace Lee v Saunders.
Strictly out of order
Peter Fincham. ITV’s head honcho, has a beef. He complains it is unfair for the BBC to pitch the new series of Strictly against ITV’s X-Factor on Saturday nights, claiming it's not good for viewers to have to choose between them.
Really Mr Fincham?. You didn’t seem to have a problem when progamming ITV’s recent boxing telecasts against BoxNation or Sky.
Why does the phrase double standards spring to mind?