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Boxing: Nobody gets out on their own terms, not even Hopkins

October 17, 2011 by David Payne

It was sad to see Bernard Hopkins, a fighter who has battled the boxing establishment, its promotional and managerial cartels and the perceived wisdom that tried to dictate to him for twenty years finished by one of the sports unshakeable truths; nobody leaves the sport on their own terms.  Bernard has spent the past decade and specifically, the last 5 years selling his resistance to the ageing process. Alas, a cruel injury may snatch the crescendo he still pursued from this curious if inexplosive tale. Continue Reading »

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Boxing: Fur Coat and No Knickers? David Haye retires

October 11, 2011 by David Payne

Any consideration of David Haye’s career is usually accompanied by a track from my internal Jukebox. It isn’t McFadden and Whitehead’s Aint No Stopping Us Now; his entrance tune, nor is it From Russia with Love, primarily because his nemesis was Ukrainian, I tend to hear the chorus from Natalie Imbruglia’s Torn representing as is does the conflict between his achievements and failings. Continue Reading »

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Boxing: “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” Heavyweight rigor mortis continues; Mormeck v Wladimir

October 10, 2011 by David Payne

Look around any garden centre, walk-in bath store or drug rehabilitation unit and you will probably find a big lug willing to suggest he remains a contender. Many of them will be unfamiliar in appearance. Don’t let their seeming impotence, age or lack of vim discourage you. Embrace your quarry when you find them, ignore their venerable state, gloss over their lack of lucidity or form because within your arms you likely hold the guy Wladimir Klitschko will pursue after 39-year-old Jean Marc Mormeck collects his pension annuity in December. Continue Reading »

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Boxing: Reassembling a defeated fighter, Kevin Mitchell begins to convince

June 1, 2011 by David Payne

The winning of a prizefight is decided by a complex equation. Combining as it does the unquantifiable x and y’s of the scientific and the visceral, the physical and the emotional. Each aspect of a fighter’s make-up contributes to his equilibrium and the tipping point between winning and losing. These variables are infinite and even at a fight’s conclusion, the outcome can remain subjective and the underlying building blocks for success and failure only ever partially revealed.

Continue Reading »

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Old school, new school? Cleverly and Bellew spat

May 19, 2011 by David Payne

For those of a certain antiquity, the increasingly ubiquitous press conference rumpus between world-class Light-Heavyweight contender Nathan Cleverly and champion of the Commonwealth Tony Bellew will have proven distasteful. Others of more recent vintage will be torn. Nurtured as we were on the polarised demeanours of the ever urbane Lennox Lewis, the pantomime charm of Frank Bruno and the caustic atmosphere of all things Benn and Eubank, it is hard to either embrace or condemn the two ‘headline’ novices. I’m caught between the conflicting etiquettes I grew up with. Continue Reading »

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What a tangled web we weave: Tarver and Fury

March 10, 2011 by David Payne

There is a hierarchy to everything. Whether it be a pack of wolves, heavyweights or journalists. No demographic or social organism exists without either a class system or a distinct pyramid of significance or achievement. In the wild, the theory of evolution demands this hierarchy is structured upon one simple principle. ‘Survival of the fittest’. Thus, the alpha animal remains so while ever he has the strength to repel younger aspirants. Continue Reading »

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The Truth? You can’t handle the truth: WBC, Hatton and Alvarez

March 9, 2011 by David Payne

The truth has always been an elusive quarry in the world of boxing. A paradox given the earthy honesty which surges through those who lace up the gloves. Their virtue has always attracted the righteous wordsmith and the devious chancer. Continue Reading »

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Boxing: Its unofficial, Haye v Harrison is on

July 30, 2010 by David Payne

Now some would say I know precious little about boxing, others are less flattering, but one thing I do know for certain is – it takes two to make a fight. By my reckoning, and with some reliance on my Casio fx-100c, I am able to announce the inevitability of a clash between David Haye and irksome veteran Audley Harrison later this year. This isn’t based upon any inside knowledge, just the inescapable truth that all other roads are now closed for Haye. Continue Reading »

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Boxing: Vitali Klitschko to fight Shannon Briggs, the prosecution rests

July 29, 2010 by David Payne

I wrote recently in at least partial defence of the brothers Klitschko. Excusing some of their benevolent matchmaking as the inevitable by-product of their misfortune of being resident in arguably the weakest era in living memory. Following on with the theme of that piece, I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry at the announcement by Shannon Briggs that he will suspend his acting career long enough to tackle Klitschko the elder in Germany in October. Thankfully, Briggs can punch. Because he brings no other discernible form or currency to the match. Continue Reading »

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Boxing: Sakio Bika, a ghost from Calzaghe’s past returns to the fore

July 29, 2010 by David Payne

Debate about the substance of Joe Calzaghe’s career will enthrall boxing fans for decades to come, his standing will ebb and flow with the passage of time and in all likelihood forever divide opinion thus – he was an all-time great who dominated his division for 10 years or, alternatively, he was a great fighter with a weak resume who ‘cherry-picked’ his way to retirement. When I look back on his career as Donald McRae in-depth interview with Calzaghe for Boxing News encouraged me to this morning, I don’t point to the Lacy fight, the Kessler war or the Hopkins victory as the night or nights which define Joe the fighter, nor do they provide helpful synopsis of his career. I think for so many reasons his brawl with Cameroon-born Australian hard man Sakio Bika epitomised his career more than any other single fight. Continue Reading »

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Boxing: A sport of humans, not robots; chin up Tony Jeffries

July 27, 2010 by David Payne

I met British Super-Middleweight champion Paul Smith at the weekend, Paul and I have exchanged opinions, messages via various internet methods for a year or two but there is no facsimile for meeting someone in person. True, Paul proved as generous and humble with his time as the virtual discourse had suggested he would but putting the flesh to the on-screen skeleton of that connection reminded me of two things. Continue Reading »

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Boxing: Laugh or cry, matchmaking with the Klitschkos

July 23, 2010 by David Payne

As a boxing traditionalist, the Klitschko brothers prove something of a troublesome enigma to me. Resplendent though they are at the top of the heavyweight mountain, their individual and collective resumes feature nothing but a procession of mediocrity – some of whom the physically gifted Ukrainians have conspired to lose to. But I cannot always count defeats against them, as an advocate of risk taking, defeats are the inevitable byproduct are they not? Risk? What risk? You see, for every argument I make against them, there is objective counsel to the contrary. News Sam Peter may replace the perpetually injured Alexander Povetkin in the Wladimir Klitschko’s September 11th defence yet more evidence to pour over. Do we laugh or cry, empathise or chastise? Continue Reading »

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Boxing: Harrison v Haye – why it should happen

June 30, 2010 by David Payne

Despite David Haye’s protestations to the contrary the prospect of this unlikely heavyweight prizefight remains the talking point of the day in the dungeons of the internet’s boxing forums. Audley Harrison has, afterall, already sacrificed the European title in the belief that he will secure the all-British world heavyweight title fight he and television network Sky Sports appear to crave. Debuting his guest column, John Cascells reflects on the fight; why it may prove to be more challenging than the cynics presume and why he is sure it will make for must-see television. Continue Reading »

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Boxing: Long and winding road. Six years since the BBC dumped Audley

June 25, 2010 by David Payne

Precious few heavyweights polarise opinion in the way Audley Harrison does. Maybe that is part of the fascination with him. Maybe that enigmatic quality is what draws observers back to the story despite a series of tame defeats to mediocre fighters. The Mona Lisa is neither the most beautiful subject nor the most technically perfect painting but it endures as the most famous artwork in history (arguably) because of the interpretation her expression is open to. It isn’t definite. It has depth beyond the brush strokes da Vinci swabbed across the canvas. Much like Harrison, who has conjured few moments of brilliance during his own career on the canvas and yet holds a depth of fascination few others can match. However, despite the critics and the years completed since his first low point of being dropped by the BBC he is on the brink of the title shot he told us all along he would get to. Continue Reading »

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Boxing: Tyson Fury 270 pounds for McDermott rematch

June 24, 2010 by David Payne

Big Tyson Fury was bigger than ever ahead of the much-anticipated rematch with John McDermott. Weighing in at 19 stone 4, eclipsing his debut weight 18 months ago and 23 pounds heavier than in the first contest. McDermott looked more trim despite a characteristic weight of 18 stone 2, or 254 pounds. Surprisingly Fury, who attended in typically jovial mood seemed in reasonable shape but the weight doesn’t suggest his preparation for this fight has been as intense as it should have been. McDermott certainly appears fixated on victory this time and with McDonnell in his ear, may yet find the resolve and self-belief to make the final step. Continue Reading »

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Boxing: Whats wrong with boxing? Adding the letters P, P and V to Tua v Barrett.

June 24, 2010 by David Payne

I like David Tua. I shared the dream once. I threw him up as another fighter Tyson ducked in his shambolic 1990′s reincarnation. He shook up heavyweights, he was fast, dangerous and busy. Obviously, that was all before he got his mandatory ranking, hibernated and then froze versus Lennox Lewis – since then he’s been dormant, injured, uninterested but is now repackaged, remotivated and back in the lucrative American market, or so he hopes we believe. But Pay-Per-View at $24.95 against Monte Barrett, the guy who lives in a tent in front of the heavyweight top 25 towers, is available on 24 hour call out and has a key emblem on his nightwear? Really? Continue Reading »

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Boxing: David Haye in Orwellian about turn; Audley not Vitali or Wladimir next?

June 23, 2010 by David Payne

It was meant to be different. That was the tag-line. The sedentary waters of the heavyweight division were to be purified. David Haye wanted to fight the best heavyweights straight away, he didn’t want to procrastinate, to manoeuvre. He just wanted to know if he was the best, prove it or fail. Money was secondary. Challenge was everything. Boxing’s downtrodden masses craved the Utopia Haye was selling. He evangelised about bypassing promoters, side-stepping sanctioning bodies and the established order. Boxing is about the fighters not men in suits he might have said. He founded this alternate reality. Hayemaker. Fighters flocked to his rallying cry. Pretty girls flushed, forums hummed, fans cheered. Now, with a portion of the establishment in his possession – the WBA belt - and an unexpected level of renown that now enables him to accumulate £1-3 million pay-days for the type of rudimentary defence he once denounced, the urge to corner a Klitschko in a ring, or even at the top of an elevator has evidently subsided.

Continue Reading »

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The Entertainer – Bradley Pryce back at Welterweight against Bami

June 23, 2010 by David Payne

Bradley Pryce is arguably the United Kingdom’s best value for money fighter, a telling attribute in these austere times and he will next month return to something approaching his most productive weight class when it is reported he will tackle veteran former European champion Ted Bami at the classic 147 pound limit. Despite his less than pristine personal life as a young professional Pryce has always left everything in the ring come fight night from back in his days as a string-bean Lightweight, his fatigued victory over Gavin Down at 140 pounds, his compulsive dust-up with Michael Jennings  through to his victory over loud-mouth Anthony Small at Light-Middleweight. Pryce has dug deep countless times, snapped unbeaten records when ‘booked’ for defeat and at 29, still has time to do more with his talent. Continue Reading »

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Maloney: “As far as we know, Tyson Fury is OK for the fight”

June 18, 2010 by David Payne

Throughout Tyson Fury’s embryonic boxing career he has embraced and wrestled with more media attention than his exploits in the ring have thus far merited. In part due to his eye-catching name, part due his back-story as a 6 foot 7 inch giant from travelling stock and in no small part to the potential he showed. On the surface, Fury has revelled in the attention and seemed naturally quotable whenever a camera was pushed in his face. Youthful charisma or an arrogance waiting to bite him on his not inconsiderable posterior? Depends how you like your fighters, respectful and humble or brash and loquacious? In the run up to his much required rematch with John McDermott the normally omnipresent Fury has been uncharacteristically quiet. A cause of some concern to Frank Maloney, who has to sell tickets for the clash and for fans, who want to buy them. Continue Reading »

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Exclusive: Tyson will not fight Holyfield says David Payne

June 16, 2010 by David Payne

I’ve consulted with my much ignored common sense, accessed with the help of a strong mug of Yorkshire tea and low-lighting, and I can confirm that this fight is not going to happen, I’d encourage you all to breathe, take stock and have a similar internal conversation. It will save you time and energy for other more credible activities, like washing the car or painting the back-bedroom. And please don’t read or believe anyone who tells you different because they’ve probably got an accomplice entering your home through the back door to rifle through your purse. In other news, Prince Naseem Hamed will not be returning to fight Justin Timberlake at catchweight,  Joe Calzaghe will not be fighting Robert De Niro (though he is old enough) at Light-Heavy and Ricky Hatton is as likely to share a ring with Floyd Mayweather again as he is to play wide-right for England on Friday.  I think my work here is done. Continue Reading »

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