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Nice guy Michael Watson said boxing was at an all time low this week – but he couldn’t be further from the truth.
There’s a real buzz about the sport at the moment, and the interest will grow over the next week.
On Saturday ITV will return to screening big-time boxing when I start my exclusive deal with them.
The first show features Matt Skelton against Danny Williams and Amir Khan’s professional debut.
The fights will be broadcast at 9.15pm and it all adds up to a lot of action for fight fans with Sky continuing with their American shows and some domestic action, while the Beeb will show cracking amateur events over the next few months.
Chris Eubank also joined the criticism by laying into Joe Calzaghe for having no charisma.
Eubank did win some big fights against the likes of Nigel Benn and Watson but he also hand-picked a lot of his opponents.
The sport is all about opinion, but I disagree with Watson. He said that fame had gone to Khan’s head and asked what the Bolton lad had actually achieved in the sport.
Well, for a start, he got a silver medal in the Olympics.
I know I praise my fighters a lot in this column, but Khan is a good kid who is very down to earth and doesn’t run his mouth off.
And, although the fight game is famous for it’s fast-talking and the punters love a bad guy, I don’t think you have to be a loudmouth to succeed.
Sure, Chris Eubank and Naseem Hamed sold a lot of tickets on the back of their boasts, but Ricky Hatton is the most respectful fighter you could meet – and he puts more bums on seats than anybody.
Carl Froch and Junior Witter are following the Eubank and Hamed route, running down their opponents and trash-talking.
It’s no surprise they are both with the same management team – but sometimes you can just make yourself look ******.
Froch recently claimed that he was the best sportsman in the country and David Beckham wasn’t fit to carry his kitbag.
But what Froch has achieved pales into insignificance against what Beckham has done.
And who were the Olympic delegates queuing up to meet this week before the vote in Singapore? It certainly wasn’t Froch.
Muhammad Ali was the first man whose mouth helped him make his name – he based himself on a wrestler called Gorgeous George – but he had a certain charm and got away with it.
I always felt Naseem was so over the top because he was secretly severely shy, while Eubank realised his Bertie Wooster English gent routine would get him newspaper space – even if most of what he said was nonsense.
I first met him before he made it big and he spoke with an American accent – he soon dropped that when he discovered jodhpurs and a monocle!
There’s a real buzz about the sport at the moment, and the interest will grow over the next week.
On Saturday ITV will return to screening big-time boxing when I start my exclusive deal with them.
The first show features Matt Skelton against Danny Williams and Amir Khan’s professional debut.
The fights will be broadcast at 9.15pm and it all adds up to a lot of action for fight fans with Sky continuing with their American shows and some domestic action, while the Beeb will show cracking amateur events over the next few months.
Chris Eubank also joined the criticism by laying into Joe Calzaghe for having no charisma.
Eubank did win some big fights against the likes of Nigel Benn and Watson but he also hand-picked a lot of his opponents.
The sport is all about opinion, but I disagree with Watson. He said that fame had gone to Khan’s head and asked what the Bolton lad had actually achieved in the sport.
Well, for a start, he got a silver medal in the Olympics.
I know I praise my fighters a lot in this column, but Khan is a good kid who is very down to earth and doesn’t run his mouth off.
And, although the fight game is famous for it’s fast-talking and the punters love a bad guy, I don’t think you have to be a loudmouth to succeed.
Sure, Chris Eubank and Naseem Hamed sold a lot of tickets on the back of their boasts, but Ricky Hatton is the most respectful fighter you could meet – and he puts more bums on seats than anybody.
Carl Froch and Junior Witter are following the Eubank and Hamed route, running down their opponents and trash-talking.
It’s no surprise they are both with the same management team – but sometimes you can just make yourself look ******.
Froch recently claimed that he was the best sportsman in the country and David Beckham wasn’t fit to carry his kitbag.
But what Froch has achieved pales into insignificance against what Beckham has done.
And who were the Olympic delegates queuing up to meet this week before the vote in Singapore? It certainly wasn’t Froch.
Muhammad Ali was the first man whose mouth helped him make his name – he based himself on a wrestler called Gorgeous George – but he had a certain charm and got away with it.
I always felt Naseem was so over the top because he was secretly severely shy, while Eubank realised his Bertie Wooster English gent routine would get him newspaper space – even if most of what he said was nonsense.
I first met him before he made it big and he spoke with an American accent – he soon dropped that when he discovered jodhpurs and a monocle!
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