Comments for The Cruelest Sport

Comment on DIRTY POOL: On David Haye, Dereck Chisora, & Frank Warren by thenonpareil

thenonpareil — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:37:21 +0000

@FunkyBadger Hi MW,
Believe me, I’d like to say more about Warren, but he is a very litigious fellow and I can’t risk having a writ thrown at me!
For me, the fight itself–if it had the blessings of the BBBoC–is no big deal. Worse characters than Chisora and Haye have made a living as fighters. It is the legal limbo that bothers me most, not Haye or Chisora.
As you say, what happens after this? The bareknuckle example you bring up is interesting because there’s a fellow in the States, Bobby Gunn, who has been trying to revive that very “sport!” Of course, no commission in its right mind would sanction that, and Gunn was forced to fight under Native American jurisdiction (sovereign land under U.S. law) last year. There is an underground network of “fight clubs” in America–a pretty big one in New York, in fact–and it defies logic that anyone would actually try to take boxing back to those sports slums.
Maybe I’m overreacting, but if another jurisdiction is allowed to license fighters just for paychecks, boxing will be in trouble. Let’s assume the Luxembourg folks are nice, upstanding citizens. How do we know the next EU member will be? And so forth….I have read somewhere, I can’t recall where, that the Luxembourg contingent will be paid 1 million pounds just for rubber stamping this fight.
As for the “glassing” stuff, it was Chisora who felt he was glassed, and I’m going to defer to him on this one! The German officials may have been lax in following up with Haye, but that doesn’t make it right, although I could be making too much of it.
Deakin has a club foot? Good grief…even in America, which has several inept commissions, he would not be allowed to fight….I should hope.

Comment on DIRTY POOL: On David Haye, Dereck Chisora, & Frank Warren by FunkyBadger

FunkyBadger — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:54:31 +0000

Forgot to add, Robin Deakin’s sort of brilliant – there’s an interview with him floating around the internets somewhere, he first comment on his record “I’m not as bad as it reads”.

And he’s got a club foot. No, really…

Comment on DIRTY POOL: On David Haye, Dereck Chisora, & Frank Warren by FunkyBadger

FunkyBadger — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:47:41 +0000

Great stuff, Carlos – but I think your dislike of Haye’s boorishness is obscuring the more important points about Warren.

What on earth are the legal implications of all this – is it too hysterical to think bare-knuckle tv-shows aren’t too far away?

Haye was nowhere near was no-where near “glassing” anyone, in the commenly accepted usage – its unfair to suggest he was. No one’s trying to “catch” him either, zero arrest warrents issued, the Munich police responded to the whole circus with a resounding “meh”.

As to the fight itself? I think you’re right about Chisora – he’s (as Haye put it) a decent club fighter, and would be better than that if he could bother getting in shape seriously. But he does appear to be completely unhinged. Haye’s developed a very “boring” safety first style, which makes sense if you’ve got iffy stamina, no great chin, excellent head movement and knockout power in each fist… Booth’s hand at work, I suspect.

Comment on DIRTY POOL: On David Haye, Dereck Chisora, & Frank Warren by thenonpareil

thenonpareil — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:53:20 +0000

@safesideOTR Hi Harrison,
Thanks for writing. Yes, the BBBoC is really in a bind here thanks to Warren, whom I admire greatly for his lean, mean hucksterism over the years. If he is opening the doors for mercenary EU license vendors to operate haphazardly in Britain–or anywhere else in Europe–then we are talking about a pretty scary precedent. If money is the big deal here, then standards of licensing will drop precipitately. No country needs that, and Warren has, I believe, gone overboard this time. Although I think this is a mistake, it’s a folly Warren will likely win, because he is as good in court as Jimmy Wilde was in the ring!
To me, this fight is neither here nor there (as a fight). Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think Chisora can fight a lick, and Haye is often dull, so it looks like a negative toss-up. I do believe that Chisora is genuinely cuckoo, so I guess some of his behavior is understandable, but I don’t view that as a reason to find a fighter interesting. This is a dreadful event and one that may have serious ramifications in the future.

Comment on DIRTY POOL: On David Haye, Dereck Chisora, & Frank Warren by thenonpareil

thenonpareil — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:39:38 +0000

@jet79 Hi JT,

thanks, man. I’d say there are too many rodents to wage war against. You ever see that movie “Deadly Eyes?” It’s about mutant rats that threaten to take over Toronto. They attack and eat poor Scatman Crothers.
Anyway, the funny thing about this fight is that neither Haye nor Chisora are actually worth seeing as prizefighters. Haye is often dull despite his bombast, and Chisora, well, I would like someone to point out more than four or five clean shots he landed against Klitschko. So I’m not really sure they’ll even manage to punch each other in the face, despite how much each man deserves it. Two middling heavyweights have created an absurd stir just by being the oafs that they are. I can understand if it was two dynamic fighters getting all this hype because of their shenanigans, but Chisora? Even Tyson Fury beat him! Whatever. I’m interested in the regulatory aspect of this renegade matchup–how the promotion will play out, legally–but as a fight, it’s pretty much worthless.

Comment on DIRTY POOL: On David Haye, Dereck Chisora, & Frank Warren by thenonpareil

thenonpareil — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:29:24 +0000

@JohnPaulFutbol
Hi JPF,
I don’t know why, but for years I confused Luxembourg with Lichtenstein. And I’ve actually been to Lichtenstein! Just remember: one is a Principality and one is a Duchy.
As for the Luxembourg Boxing Federation–a reliable source told me that actually trying to find the LBF is like trying to find Bob Dylan’s secret gym!

Comment on DIRTY POOL: On David Haye, Dereck Chisora, & Frank Warren by safesideOTR

safesideOTR — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:53:37 +0000

Warren’s letter to the board: http://www.britishboxers.co.uk/2012/05/frank-warrens-letter-to-bbbofc.html

A colostomy all round this. The board get a slap and look impotent. They also miss out on the most lucrative bout held on these shores all year (I seem to remember a similar rift with Nigel Benn around the time he’d put himself in position for moolah making bouts with the remnants of Leonard, Hearns and Duran).

I feel it a bit for Chisora (only a bit mind you). The first heavyweight in years to have a pair of balls dangling down where they should be, he should never have been thrown in with V Klit after only a handful of fights. He may be cracked up top but he’s shown guts. Haye has shown nothing in recent years – marketing savvy aside. He plays the media like a drum and, impartiality aside, I’d be happy to see his ego take a beating.

I actually favour Chisora here. He’ll make Haye fight – and Haye doesn’t like fighting. He barely bothers doing it often and his sucker punch attack stank of fear. Chisora worries him and he’s suffered before from the effects of nervous energy in fights. It isn’t wise to back a proven loser but I’m keeping one eye on the odds for this one.

Comment on DIRTY POOL: On David Haye, Dereck Chisora, & Frank Warren by jet79

jet79 — Wed, 16 May 2012 03:37:43 +0000

Hi CA,

This is really great stuff, very informative. None of these shenanigans are surprising of course, except it’s somewhat puzzling that, given its long history, boxing hasn’t managed to patch all the holes that let the rodents in.

As for the fight, I can’t get up for it. Haye doesn’t throw punches at heavyweight, and Chisora is getting too much mileage out of trying to get beat up by Vitali Klitschko (though, kudos to him for actually trying, I suppose.) They’re a couple of chuckleheads trying to parlay boorish behaviour into financial gain, and it sounds like it’s working. When all else fails, appeal to the lowest denominator.

Both guys are milking the last of their appeal with this one, and it’s telling that it took bottling and death threats to secure interest. Desperate times for Haye. As for Chisora, he needs a psychiatrist.

If this fight doesn’t come off I won’t care, but I’ll watch it if for no other reason than to see both guys get punched in the face. They both have it coming.

Comment on DIRTY POOL: On David Haye, Dereck Chisora, & Frank Warren by JohnPaulFutbol

JohnPaulFutbol — Wed, 16 May 2012 03:20:09 +0000

Hi Carlos, do you have the contact info for the Luxembourg Boxing Federation?

Comment on FAST COMPANY: Floyd Mayweather Jr. W12 Miguel Cotto by thenonpareil

thenonpareil — Thu, 10 May 2012 00:53:46 +0000

@Zekiel HI Zekiel,
thanks for writing. As I mentioned to Dennis, above, Diaz seems to have made some notable improvements in Cotto’s punching technique. Some trainers, like Robert Garcia, take over fighters and nothing obviously improves, but Diaz has clearly had an effect. Cotto looked very good and, as you say, he fought a smart fight.
I think you’re right about Khan and his potential power at welterweight. I think he hits fairly hard at 140-if, if, he has the right opponent, one who will allow him to be a little more flatfooted. But he does throw too many arm punches when he’s on the move, and worse, he is straightup (with his chin exposed) when he rattles off combinations. Mayweather, I think will counter between all that and wreck him.