Category: Opinion

Boxing ~Crowd Trouble on The Rise

As a boxing fan this week has been a week of anger and disappointment but sadly after hearing a 19 year old lad had lost his life after being stabbed at a boxing event in Walsall I was not surprised . Gradually over the past 2 years I have seen first hand crowd violence at boxing events get worse at  an alarming rate , to a point where you actually comment when things don’t kick off in the crowd .
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The first time I was caught up in any crowd trouble was at Crolla v Linares 1 in the MEN in Manchester . Where I was sitting ,there seemed to be a load of groups of young men who had been clearly drinking all day . The place did feel on edge the full night , there was a feeling that one spark was going ignite the place into carnage . Things stayed like that until the end of the main event and Linares won on the cards , well that was the only excuse needed . I witnessed people trying to storm the ring , then sporadic fighting breaking out inside and outside the arena , in fact after the event I said unfairly

“I will never attend an event in Manchester again”

Fast forward a few months and it was time to go see Ricky Burns take on Julius Indongo in the SSE Hydro in Glasgow . Just as people are getting seated and ready for the main event we see  a mass brawl kick off at the other side of the arena ,which seemed to last for a while with security struggling to get to the culprits. I learned afterwards that Tommy Allen of the Boxing Asylum and his father where caught up in the carnage , with Tommy’s dad being assaulted in the process .

On TV I witnessed boozed up West Ham Casuals start a mini riot at the copperbox on a frank Warren card forcing TV chiefs to pan the camera out to and censor what was happening in the crowd , but in this age of social media there was plenty of footage going round to show what was happening . Even the glamorous WBSS event couldn’t escape the violence, when George Groves took on Jamie Cox the main event was ruined by upwards of 40 men according to Fight Talks Craig Scott , Spencer Fearon also put a video on instagram showing just how wild it got in the crowd  .

What can be done ?
Well the common denominator in all these instances seems to be young lads who have been drinking all day , so is the answer to ban alcohol from event’s  ? . Well I’m not convinced this alone would work as most of these yobs have already been drinking all day and small shows rely on money made from the bar’s . There could maybe be a drink limit system set up with something like 4 drinks MAX at a show , but again i think the affects of this would be limited . For me a major factor is the time in which Main Events actually start , I think bringing main events forward to 8 PM instead of 10.30-11PM would have a massive affect , especially if there was also a drink limit . It’s time for boxing promoters to stop trying to please everyone and make boxing events for boxing fans instead of accommodating football and rugby fans as well . Boxing events are no longer a place to take young fans because of a percentage of this generation’s casual fans who only see these events as a place to drink , they don’t care about the the sport . I would rather have family friendly events that will bring youngsters into the sport for years to come rather than have this quick fix of idiots who are turning real fans away from boxing .
Steven Donnell

Boxing Has A Chance To Right A Wrong With Ortiz

So another month passes and boxing has again managed to embarrass itself , yes I’m talking about WBA Champion Luiz Ortiz testing positive for banned substances for a SECOND time in a test conducted by VADA/WBC as he was preparing to take on Deontay Wilder . In this article i hope to show people that this man is not ” Innocent ” or ” A victim ” here , a theory that has gathered some pace on social media .
Ortiz’s Past : 

This is not the first time Luis Ortiz has tested positive for banned substances , back in 2014 Ortiz tested positive for steroids after he fought Lateef Kayode ….now let that sink in , he tested positive for steroids after a fight  , so to put it another way , Ortiz was loading his gloves with muscle illegally to hurt a fellow a pro . Now let me take you back to the Roberto Duran vs Davey Moore undercard where a young prospect Billy Collins jnr fought a very decent gate keeper in Luis Resto . Resto didn’t just stop the youngster he ripped that boy apart only for Collin’s father to notice after the fight tha Resto and his trainer Panama Lewis had took the padding out of Resto’s gloves . Resto went to prison for two and half years and Panama got a lifetime ban from boxing , whilst Billy Collins fell into deep depression and took his own life . So using logic and any sort of moral compass we should expect anybody cheating like this to face a lifetime ban , maybe criminal charges ?  No Ortiz got an 8 month lay off , which is an insult to clean athletes and shows complete disregard for boxers safety. For me it doesn’t matter what side of the glove is loaded , you are going out there to hurt another human being illegally .

Collins vs Resto Full Fight

What did he test positive for this time : 

Now to be fair to Ortiz this time he has NOT tested positive for a PED, instead he has tested positive for chlorothaizide and hydrochlorothiazide , substances that can be used to mask or hide the use of PED’s . Now both of these substances can be found in a lot of different medications and in this case Ortiz claims it is from his  Blood Pressure mdeication and this is all a complete misunderstanding . Nope sorry i don’t buy this , Luis Ortiz is an apparent professional athlete getting ready to fight for the WBC Heavyweight title ,who work in partnership VADA in an attempt to clean up boxing . Knowing what the WBC are trying to do why would Ortiz not declare ALL and ANY medication he had took , especially already being part of “Boxing’s Hall of Shame” , surly he should be extra carful , and for that reason i personally will not give him benefit of the doubt .

What should happen next :

Well boxing has a chance to right a wrong here and kick Ortiz out of the sport for good , now i might hear some say ” that is harsh after all it could be an innocent mistake ” . Well that might be , but a FAIL is a FAIL and we will never know if he is innocent but if we look back to the case in 2014 , he was willing to juice up and hurt someone so can we really afford to take the chance and hope he is telling the truth .I’m with Tony Bellew here who has consistently called for drug cheats to be banned for life . A zero tolerance approach to doping is what boxing needs , the sport has to get serious about getting this cancer cut out . Screen Shot 2017-10-04 at 14.56.37.png

 

 

Just to finish up i think we should spare a thought for Deontay Wilder who again has been let down by a fellow pro . Only last year he went to Russia to fight Povetkin only for the Russian to test positive . This Ortiz fight was his second attempt at legitimising his career and its happened again, another camp paid for , another load of unhappy fans to deal with . Wilders biggest mistake in his career maybe winning that WBC belt due to there clean boxing programme .

Steven Donnell

Linares vs Campbell -Review

Saturday night seen Luke Campbell push Jorge Linares in a way I didn’t think he had in him. The Ex-Olympian really put in a coming of age performance and was unlucky not to bring the titles home.

Linares vs Campbell

From the start as you would expect these two started very tentatively in the first round ,bur even this early you could see the tactics Luke Campbell was going to use to try and and keep the technician Jorge Linares off him . As i said in the preview Luke Cambell has a very good jab to work off , but we could see early that Campbell was also using jab to stop Linares getting close enough to go to work.

In the second round it was a bit of more of the same Jorge looking busy , but Campbell was  doing well  to minimise Linares’s work by good movement and judging distance relatively well ……well that was right to the the off the round when a momentary lapse in Campbell’s concentration let him down . As he was backing off Linares he made the mistake of coming back in a straight line , a mistake a man like Linares will punish given the chance . Linares landed a beautiful lightning quick  combination that sent Campbell to the canvas , although Campbell didn’t look hurt it was a warning for him that mistakes like that , at this level will be punished .

For the next few rounds where much better for Campbell , but without picking up any rounds on 0n my scorecard, but instead of getting his head down after the knockdown , he done the opposite ,Campbell cut out the mistakes and really started to use his jab brilliantly, keeping Linares at bay and really frustrating him as the rounds went buy , after 6 rounds i had 5-1 Linares (plus Knockdown so 6 points up)

Going into round seven and Campbell himself really looked to be growing in confidence . Not only had Campbell stuck to his game plan but he was moving round the ring and following up the jab , landing some nice shots . Jorge Linares was looking more and more frustrated , he just couldn’t get close enough to Campbell to make anything count , and when he was getting close he was being tagged by that Campbell jab . Round eight was more of the same , Campbell was really Starting to enjoy himself in there . I said in the preview that Campbell had never really impressed me since turning pro , well on Saturday he looked like he belonged in there with the best in the division .

Round nine was a close round ,and a round where Linares had changed his tactics . Instead of going for the lightning quick combos , Linares had started landing single shits when inside then getting back out as up until that point Campbell was catching him very regularly . It was a funny round Linares clearly took the early  stages but Campbell had his moments before a decent end to the round for Linares .In round ten we could definitely see Linares’s workrate going up , but Campbell was still in there plodding away with that jab but not as much work coming behind it now. Linares was mixing it up a bit more , but still only looking to land single shots at a time .

Going into the last two rounds Jorge Linares looked to have found a second wind just as Cambell may be starting to feel the pace . Campbell had fought a very well disciplined fight but maybe he was just slowing down ever so slightly which was giving Linares the chance to get inside more regularly , but make no mistake Jorge Linares really needed to up the pace when he did . Going into the final round you could see the respect Linares had for Luke Campbell , both men met in the middle of the ring with raised smiles before going to war for one last round . In the end Campbell went out to try and fight fire with fire , and did have successes in the round but most of the the eye catching stuff came from the champion Linares .

(DjayBoxing Card 7-5 Linares + knockdown 116-113)

So to the score cards we go and after last weeks debacle I’m sure there where a lot of nervous people in that arena Victor Laghlan 113-115 Campbell……Max Deluca 114-113 Linares , Zac Young 115–112 Linares and for me the right man won , god knows where Laghlan got that card from.

Now just before i leave you guys i would like to just say a massive well done to Luke Campbell . The news broke today that his fathert had passed away a couple weeks ago , for that lad to go out there and be that focused and push a guy like Linares to the very limit just shows how strong the lad is mentally .

Steven Donnell

Sweet and Sour ….GGG vs Canelo Review

So what a weekend of action and  controversy , yet again it was things outside the ring that stole the show in Las Vegas .

GGG vs Canelo at T-Mobile Arena ,LV

This was the fight that all boxing fans have been dreaming about for the past 2 years and my god it delivered . From the very get go in this fight you could see that these two had styles that would put together and make a fight . Early doors you could feel the tension, and for the first couple of rounds at least the underdog Canelo just looked to be that bit quicker on his feet and to the punch but without landing anything to significant . Canelo definitely looked the more fluent of the two but in the third round that changed , GGG started upping the pace and although i thought Canelo won the round he wasn’t getting a break between exchanges , GGG was certainly making Canelo throw more and testing that gas tank . Into the fourth i had it 2-1 Canelo (scoring on my fourth time watching it due to excessive alcohol consumption) but GGG really started to get the jab going, he also cut the ring off very well stopping Canelo moving ,trapping him on the ropes but instead of opening up , GGG was patient , not giving Canelo a chance to counter any big shots, instead choosing to keep Canelo on the of his jab .

The story was pretty much the same for the next couple of rounds . Now anybody that follows me twitter will see i have a go at Abel Sanchez quite lot , but on Saturday night Sanchez was fantastic, When he was telling GGG to fight for  the full 3 min of a round and to stop letting Canelo have a break on the ropes, his advice was to get Canelo on the ropes and keep him there making him work every second . Going into the seventh round i had it all square, Canelo showing superb work and skill off the ropes in the Sixth but it really was a hard round to score and GGG’s work rate was really starting to have an affect on Canelo . For the next two rounds GGG’s jab just took him to another level , what a weapon to have your disposal and it was making the Mexican have to think constantly .As Canelo was starting to slow down , GGG was finding the mark a lot  more regular with his jab. Canelo on the other hand was looking to load up in rounds seven and eight and apart from a lovely uppercut ,he just didnt have an answer to that GGG jab .

Now the Ninth for me was the most interesting round ,it was like Canelo could see the fight getting away from him and decided to try and turn up it . Coming out at the start Canelo was doing a lot of shoe shinning but again that GGG jab was grinding him down, that was until Canelo timed GGG coming in and caught him with a monster of a overhand right, and to GGG credit he didn’t even blink before charging forward again . This round for me stopped the rot for Canelo but it was very close as GGG jab was a constant factor, so i can see an argument for both winning this round . The tenth was more of the same, Canelo maybe landing flashier shots but that GGG jab was constant throughout the fight .

In the eleventh round Canelo really surprised everyone, he came out like a guy knowing he needed these last two rounds to keep it close, and for the first time in 5 rounds he was outworking GGG , maybe not catching clean but definetly catching the eye . The twelth round was pretty much the same with Canelo knowing he needed the round he came out to take it . What we must say is that Canelo was throwing what he had left at the older GGG , yet GGG looked like he could do another twelve rounds , this man is a machine .

As the fight ends i have GGG winning 7-5 (canelo rounds 2,3,5(sr),11,12)(GGG rounds 1(sr),4,6,7,8,9,10(sr) , this fight was superb, the skill on show was unreal , both showed they are made of something special but GGG’s work rate was Canelos undoing and the diffrence between the two …….So then comes the first scorecard “Byrd scores it 118-110 Canelo” ……Oh my fucking god , the biggest fight in years by two warriors and this happens AGAIN . The other two judges cards (Moretti 115-113 and Trella 114-114 )i don’t really have a problem with , but that Byrd card is down right corruption , there is no other word for it , its an embressment to the sport .

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Due to the way this battle ended the fight itself has been forgotten , i think Canelo proved a lot of people wrong as did GGG . I thought maybe age would have caught up with GGG , and in some ways it has but anybody who can fight with that intensity and have that jab can still do great things in this sport . As for Canelo his defence and counter punching was a thing of beauty, also he managed his gas tank well to have enough left for a late flurry , we just didn’t see enough over the twelve rounds for me to give Canelo the win . That 118-110 score card has robbed Canelo of any credit in this fight, it has also robbed the fans who’s paid a lot of money out of any legitmacy in this result . This result will damage Canelo’s reputation and if he doesn’t get back in the ring soon for the rematch i don’t think it will ever recover .

Steven Donnell

Breaking Taboo -Boxing and Depression

It is often said boxing is a sport like no other , a sport that can give the ultimate highs and the deepest lows .Whilst the world celebrates and looks to join In with these warriors in there success ,the fighters at the other end of the spectrum are ignored and all to often left to face there demons alone , which can have tragic consequences .

I have got to an age now where my hero’s of the the ring have all but disappeared from the sport . One of my all time favourite boxers was Ricky Hatton , who has long since hung the gloves up after becoming a superstar within the sport in this country . After reaching the dizzying heights of boxing , Hatton knew when it was time to bow out , but as is so often the case with boxers, knowing when to hang them up is one thing , dealing with it is another . Ricky Hatton had a very pubic breakdown, battling drink,drugs and deep depression ,Hatton even admitted to trying to take his own life on several occasions. This once iconic warrior brought to the edge by a mental illness which Is rife throughout boxing but is hid like a dirty little secret  .

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I tried to kill myself several times,” Hatton said in an interview aired on BBC Radio 4.”I used to go to the pub, come back, take the knife out and sit there in the dark crying hysterically..”

Boxing has already lost so many young men who over the years just couldn’t cope with life outside the ring ,going back to Sonny Liston, Billy Collins jnr or more recently Arturo Gatti  all died young men struggling with depression , yet this epidemic is still rarely talked about withing the sport .A superstar like Iron Mike Tyson admitted to having severe depression whilst still fighting and going on a mission to destroy himself, yet across the press and boxing world he was ridiculed at the time .Just recently we had Nick Blackwell be very heavily criticised for sparring just months after being told he could never box again due to a bleed in the brain,which he picked up in his fight with Chris Eubank jnr . Now on one hand yes it does seem stupid to risk your life and it should never have been allowed , but take a step back and look at this from a different perspective . Nick Blackwell had his career taken away from him whilst still being a young man , all those years of work just taken away in the blink of an eye , surly that would be hard for any man to accept ? surly this spar should be seen as a cry for help .

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Mike Tyson: I used to equate sickness to blisters and dripping not psychological

So what’s the solution ?
When I was  interviewing Alex Arthur we spoke about his battles with depression when he gave up boxing , he agreed that boxing needs a better support structure for boxer’s suffering from depression after there final round is over. Boxing like society has to face up to this problem ,between fans,promoters and the boxers themselves setting up some sort of support network should be easy enough to fund . Boxing could learn from the British Army, when young soldiers are leaving the military they have the option of resettlement training which the army picks up the bill , rather than throw young boxers on the scrap heap why not give them the option to redirect there life . Most importantly I think boxing has to do more to acknowledge the problem itself as far to often guys like Ricky Hatton , who gave us some of the best nights of our lives ,are left to fight these battles alone  .

Steven Donnell

“The World Boxing Super Series” Is Fantastic For Boxing

We are now a month away from the start of one of the most eagerly anticipated sporting events in recent memory, I am of course talking about The World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) .On the face of it this tournament has everything fight fans want to see spread across two weight divisions. The cruiserweight division has the best of the best including Olecsander Usyk and Mairis Bredis willing to put it all on the line, whilst the Super Middle Weight division might be missing some of the division’s champions but still throws together guys like George Groves and Callum Smith, among other top Brits,which must be exciting for fans in the UK with the potential of massive domestic match ups to see  who will take the Mohammed Ali Trophy home .

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This tournament comes at a time when boxing is on a high, but whilst fights like Floyd Mayweather vs Conner McGregor are looking to cash in on the sport ,the WBSS Is looking to promote boxing and take it to another level .I have big hopes for this tournament, this is a chance for us boxing fans to see the best fight the best ,and hopefully throw up a few battles in the process .The WBSS has the chance to raise the bar and expectations of boxing fans so no more will we just sit back and accept the fights that some promoters want to spoon feed us ,and with fights taking place all across Europe it will open more fans eyes to the world of boxing and not just events in our own backyard.

Even though the WBSS hasn’t kicked off yet it has already showed its trying to be different . At its launch event in Monte Carlo, it had the feel of an Oscar’s ceremony until the seeded contenders appeared on stage one at a time to select an unseeded contender then have a face off , it was superb TV ,especially when George Groves selected Jamie Cox ……I loved it

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So roll on September 9th when we can get this tournament started when Usyk takes on Huck in Berlin, a fight I will be attending . It is early days yet but I am predicting the WBSS to be a massive success .
Steven Donnell (@DJayBoxingblog)

Follow The World Boxing Super Series @WBSuperSeries

Trouble In Paradise : Is this the Beginning Of The End For Matchroom/Sky Partnership ?

For years now the Matchroom/Sky Sports partnership has been at the heart of most major events in UK boxing but now with the competition starting to get its act together, are we now seeing cracks beginning to appear in their marriage? The alarm bells really started going for me last year when at first Kel Brook, then Tony Bellew both became Eddie Hearn’s latest fighters to move from Sky Sports Saturday Night Fight shows to PPV, leaving a very weak stable to fill the sky sports shows .

Whilst the rest of the boxing world has flourished in 2017, Sky Sports has found itself struggling to find headliners. We have went from guys like Tony Bellew and Kel Brook headlining for Sky Sports, to guys like Martin Murray and Frank Bugglioni and no matter how you dress it up are Domestic to European level at best. Recently we have also seen one of Eddie Hearn’s top prospects, Ohara Davies take on Josh Taylor in a fight which saw him quit like a dog  on a card shown on C5 (free TV) which has put most of Sky Sports cards in 2017 to shame .

“There is only one person who can take the blame for this and it has to be Mr Eddie Hearn”

There is only one person who can take the blame for this and it has to be Mr Eddie Hearn. For too long, Hearn and sky sports had the monopoly in the sport in the UK and with compitition weak, Hearn knew the power he had and used it as a weapon within the sport. As Boxnation (Frank Warren) struggled along and Cyclone (McGuigans) had to work with C5 on small budget shows. Eddie Hearn was the the top of the pile with the might of Sky behind him….what could go wrong?

Eddie Hearn’s biggest mistake has has came from his own success in the PPV market. With Anthony Joshua being a marketing phenomenon and with Hearn making fights  like GGG/Brook and Bellew/Haye, he was printing cash but neglecting non-PPV fighters. Whilst Hearn was concentrating on the cream, Frank Warren had signed a very lucrative deal with BT Sport and right away Warren went about signing all the best young talent in the country, even taking guys like Warrington and Nurse from Hearn. Warren had seen the the standard of Sky Sports shows had dropped and made his move to strike. When BT have went head to head with sky sports, it is sky who looked to be struggling to keep the pace. We have also seen Cyclone finally get a formula that works for them, promising to put on closely matched fights on free TV, with guys like Carl Frampton and Josh Taylor signed to them, they must be taken seriously in the business now. At the same time, Hearn has been told by Sky they want more and more PPV shows (worrying when you think Eddie is struggling to fill Sky Sports slots) and Kel Brook – A PPV Fighter, has just came off two losses, quitting in both .

“Why would AJ need Matchroom to take a big lumps of cash if he could keep the lot “

There is one final crack that must be looked at by Eddie Hearn. A small crack just now but one with the potential to bring his empire down. It’s looking more and more likely that Anthony Joshua is looking to step into the management/promotion side of things. Joshua Buatsi has already signed with the Heavyweight champion and as AJ signs more and more talent the need for Matchroom becomes smaller. Why would AJ need Matchroom to take a big lumps of cash if he could keep the lot? If Joshua did split and go it alone, I would be confident Sky Sports would want to deal with AJ rather than Hearn. After all, he is the biggest star in sport in the UK .

Steven Donnell

The People vs Paul Smith, Eddie Hearn and Gilberto Mendoza

The good people of the jury, I intend to prove beyond all reasonable doubt, that the three accused are bringing the good name of Boxing into disrepute through what can only be described as corruption, blackmail, bullying and down right fascisim .

I will start presenting my case with Paul “The Unworthy” Smith . This man is in line to fight for the WBA Super Middleweight Title (Regular) by doing nothing of any relevence since taking on Andre Ward in 2015. Even then, Smith missed the 172lbs catchweight by a massive 4.4lbs, drawing P4P superstar Ward to call him “unprofessional”. Not that it made any difference of course, as Andre Ward took him to Skool before stopping him. Since then, Paul Smith has had 3 fights (sorry not just three fights but three 6 round fights) with his opponents, having combined losses of just 68, and Smith still managed to take one of those fights to the scorecards (recompose after laughter). To me and most other people, Paul Smith is a domestic level fighter. This is not an insult, in fact Paul Smith WAS a really good domestic level boxer, but the pinnacle of his career was in the 2014 Title fight against Arthur Abraham. He put in a good account of himself and lost the fight on the cards but since then had been in rapid decline until a few weeks ago, when the most remarkable thing happened .

Now lets have a look at Mendoza and the WBA’s role in this crime. Whilst I was on the WBA website, seeing how high a good friend of ours David Brophy was ranked at Super Middleweight, after David went to Australia and stopped Zac Dunn (a top 10 ranked guy with 4 governing bodies) there it was staring me back in the face ……No5 Paul Smith? Two places above No7 Arthur Abraham, five places above commonwealth champion No10 David Brophy. Now ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I know what you must be thinking “its obviously been a mistake” as I thought this myself “how can a guy who’s done nothing in years be ranked so high?”. In this digital age, you may even have thought that the WBA had been hacked and this was a hilarious prank by some cyber geek (again this had also crossed my mind). Fast Forward a few days and ALL becomes clear from this cloud of corruption. Whilst going through my timeline on twitter, I see the news has been dropped

“Super Middleweight Champion Tyrone Zeuge will take on Paul Smith jnr”

Now usually with things this shitty in boxing, you get angry, then that turns to laughter. Not this time. After seeing this, the anger turned to rage . Seeing what guys like David Brophy go through to get ranked, in the hope that one day the phone will ring with an offer to go fight for a World Title. For all the sacrifices made in and out the gym to not only go unnoticed but actually treated with contempt by a Governing body and there President, by giving Paul Smith his third shot a title. Now it has took me so long to bring this case against the WBA as Mendoza had said on Twitter that the WBA where going to review this fight. I had hoped a bit of sense and fairness would come through in the end, but then Mendoza’s twitter went cold. He’s not only ignoring the 1000’s of tweets asking about this fight , but he actually took to mocking fans of the sport by quoting there tweets and calling them “bitches” (paraphrasing there) .

Now that takes me on nicely to Mr Eddie “Adolf” Hearn , who may be last up in my case  but he is certainly the mastermind behind this racket. Mr Hearn is the leader of one the five families of boxing (the other 4 being WBA,WBO,WBC and IBF) who’s power and reach should not be underestimated. If you are not a boxing fan you might not have even heard of this fight, that is because the mainstream boxing/sports media dare not speak up against Hearn or Matchroom. You can say what you want about Eddie but he does put on some of the biggest sporting events in the UK today, and thats his biggest weapon . If the media speak out against Hearn he does have the power to ban them from these shows and there build ups, which is usually are events in themselves . He treats the press like dogs. They do something for him they get a treat, they do something against him they get punished . Eddie Hearn does have one major flaw that this fight has exposed over the past few weeks and thats that he cannot accept any sort of criticism. On Hearn’s last IFL he went on a half hour rant about Tommy “Guru” Allan and Brian King, personally attacking both because they asked co-accused  Gilberto Mendoza to justify Smiths ranking . Then it was my turn, Adolf Hearn had tweeted “anything is possible” and I replied “Paul Smith fighting for a title proves that’. He then went on the attack about how I am a “shit journalist” (for the record I don’t break the news I comment on it, that makes me a commentator) and even after I baited him with Paul Smith name and credentials, he didn’t come forward to his defence. I guess even the mighty Eddie Hearn can’t sell this one to the British public .

Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, in the court of public opinion, I feel I have put forward the most compelling case …..how do you find the defendent ?

Below i would like to enter Exhibits A,B,C,D as evidence)

 

Steven Donnell

It Might Be Harsh, But It’s A Quit

Since i was a young lad I’ve always looked at the top boxers in the world as superhumans , watching guys like Evander Holyfield fight Riddick Bowe in amazement, wondering to myself  “How can these guys still be standing” ,also  every boxing fan who’s worth there salt loves Ward/Gatti , Barrera/Morales and more recently Salido/Vargas . These guys put everything on the line, for them quitting was not an option, sorry , it is an option but its not one they would consider . Now as harsh as it sounds ,i think you have to say Kell Brook quit ,to say otherwise disrespects what what these other warriors stand for .

It was not worth “Risk v Reward” ,which i will not have a go at him for.

Now I’m not going to sit here and say “I would have fought on” infact the opposite is true , a soon as i suspected there was a serious problem, i would have stopped . Brook fought on , but with the fight getting away from him due to Spence’s energy sapping shots and Brooks eye swelling up , Brook decided with a suspected broken orbital bone , that it was not worth “Risk v Reward” which is fine, infact  i thought Bellew’s comments after the fight where a bit much as every man has his limits .

Am i saying Brook is like Nick Walters, no chance.

Since the fight has ended i do have a problem with the lack of respect from some fans for the guys who would put there life on the line rather than quit . If you think this way ask yourself this , If Brook thought he was well ahead of Spence , would he have quit ? …would he fuck . These other people, like Brooks trainer calling it an injury and trying to devalue Spence’s performance  , sorry i don’t accept that, Brook did not twist his ankle or pull a hamstring , sustained punishement from Spence broke the bone then made Brooks mind up that he could not continue . As i have said i grew up looking at boxers as superhumans ,we all love guys like Smoking Joe Frazier, who fought some of the all time great heavyweight whilst being blind in one eye, we have seen boxers fight with dislocated shoulders ,broken hands ,we have even seen Ricky Burns fight 10 rounds with a broken jaw . Am i saying Brook is like Nick Walters ,not a chance but by calling this a “quit” it really emphisises what the true warriors of the sport are willing to give in the ring .

Steven Donnell