Degale - worst PR ever?

[whiskey]

Degale's alright.

I don't see any malice in him - sure he is a bit of a prat at times, but it did set up the fight nicely and stoked the interest up.

James (and Groves) have had major publicity from this occaision which ever way you split it.

Thats a good PR thing for either party in my book.

[stujones]

Jeez, he's being treated like a war criminal. Ali said far, far worse and hid behind his smile and good looks. Hopkins has acted worse. James may have known deep down that George was going to put this plan into play and wanted to goad the guy into a fight. The pre-fight signs point to this.

Ali's first pro defeat saw 'The Greatest' blame the result on racism (less said about Spencer Fearon's thoughts on DeGale-Groves the better) and/or a desire to keep him in his place. Hopkins hardly covers himself in glory when he speaks but gets away with it in the main. The less said about Tyson the better.

Worst PR ever? Not even close.

Good points and very true. However, a part of the "disaster" of Saturday was the disrespect Degale showed towards Groves at the end of the contest. Could have done himself many favours had he just extended his hand. Whilst Ali would blame things etc - he would though show his opponent a great deal of respect, whether he won or loss after the fight.... untill a rematch was on the cards, then the respect was gone pre-rematch.

[Boxing Pirate]

Jeez, he's being treated like a war criminal. Ali said far, far worse and hid behind his smile and good looks. Hopkins has acted worse. James may have known deep down that George was going to put this plan into play and wanted to goad the guy into a fight. The pre-fight signs point to this.

Ali's first pro defeat saw 'The Greatest' blame the result on racism (less said about Spencer Fearon's thoughts on DeGale-Groves the better) and/or a desire to keep him in his place. Hopkins hardly covers himself in glory when he speaks but gets away with it in the main. The less said about Tyson the better.

Worst PR ever? Not even close.

Completely disagree.

The insults coming out throughout the duration of the build up were disgusting, ok not the very worst but pretty dam close to it.

[stujones]

He was bitter, but not really directed at Frazier (until rematch talk began). He congratulated Frazier for a good performance and credited him with a terrific shot..... he said both were tired, Frazier being more so otherwise he was should have stopped him. I think Groves did go to extend his hand, and Degale brushed him aside - its things like that, that stick hard in the memory of the fight fan. First thing my old man will told me about Duran vs Leonard 1 (and he was a fan of both) was Duran pushing Leonard and not showing respect at the end of the final bell.

[Boxing Pirate]

Some of the worst hype jobs or build ups to some fights have always ended up the loser being gracious in defeat and the winner not kicking the backside out of victory, the dissapointing thing is Team Degale could not bring themselves to be reasonable and for that it will be a long long road back on the PR front.

[BobD'Mello]

Jeez, he's being treated like a war criminal. Ali said far, far worse and hid behind his smile and good looks. Hopkins has acted worse. James may have known deep down that George was going to put this plan into play and wanted to goad the guy into a fight. The pre-fight signs point to this.

Ali's first pro defeat saw 'The Greatest' blame the result on racism (less said about Spencer Fearon's thoughts on DeGale-Groves the better) and/or a desire to keep him in his place. Hopkins hardly covers himself in glory when he speaks but gets away with it in the main. The less said about Tyson the better.

Worst PR ever? Not even close.

Or rather, if you think about it, Ali's pr has been better because of the way he is perceived now.

De Gale's actions pale into insignificance when compared to Ali's and Hopkins' antics and words, but his public perception is far worse...

[n1ebf]

Thinking about it, he didn't get the best reception before the Barrera fight, but he was fighting "everyman's" favourite fighter for what he did in 2001.

I think most fighters will get some boos from the fans of opponents.

Barrera came out first and got a 7 or 8 out of 10 reception if you like. Then Khan entered and it went up a notch or two. I was quite surprised. Personally I like Khan but Barrera was the reason I went, not Khan.

....as regards booing oppo. I've never booed any fighter at any match. It's a wanker's game is booing boxers. I've had family in the ring and as weird as it sounds I've applauded every opponent both into and out of the ring. I might not have been jumping up and down for 'em, just a few respectful claps is all it takes. They stand to lose their health inside that square ring - it is the very least one can do to acknowledge this. Booing is what morons do.

[Syntax Error]

When you think about it, James Degale is a very gifted fighter - skilful, exciting to watch - who won an Olympic gold for his country and the British title in nine fights, entering the Lions' Den to do so.

So how on Earth has he managed to become so unpopular? Serious question. No criticism whatsoever is implied of those that manage and promote him. I just wonder why it is that his personality has made him so extraordinarily unpopular with the public.

I think that his conduct throughout the build-up to the Groves fight was embarrassing and childish. But there must be more to it than that.

Anyone got any thoughts about why everything has so gone so wrong for him (in terms of PR)?

PS i still think he's got the talent to be a world champion but he's got a lot to learn in order to do so

From my point-of-view, I can take a gobby fighter, but when a fighter decides to go down the gobby route, they damn well better deliver.

DeGale, unfortunately did not deliver against Groves.

He made the build-up ugly & told us all he was going to totally outclass Groves, then he did nothing of the sort.

I wouldn't put him in the Parcel Force Harrison league, as clearly he is a talented guy that has shown promise, but he really needs to start backing up his gob with performances in the ring to match, otherwise the comparisons with the dreadful Harrison will come thick & fast.

[miraz]

Fighters get away with trash talk with their reputation intact because they are either
genuinely funny (like Ali) and/or have a sense of theatre/showmanship (Haye, Naz, Hopkins etc). If they mix thes qualities with the trash talk then they get away with a bit of nastiness and arrogance. Unfortunately, all you seem to get with Degale are the negatives. I'm sure he's a nice lad underneath and I'll be willing to give him a chance if he learns from his mistakes and starts to show a better attitude.

[miraz]

Even Tony Bellew has a kind of cartoon humour about him - he's like something out of a Tarrantino movie - if Tarrantino made movies in Liverpool...maybe not

[TJ77]

I remember watching him on hatton's god awful.tv show Ricky was in Vegas and degale was in the studio not long after the Olympics and I thought he was a proper numpty I think Ricky offered some advice and degale virtually rebuffed it .And I was looking forward to seeing him fail however having been in the echo arena and heard the boo's he got before the smith fight and seeing that performance I was impressed and regardless of the trash talking I'm a fan .Groves won that close fight but degale will benefit on the pr front from.being taking down a peg if he comes back in the right manner .He will be the underdog in the casual fans eyes

[Dioufy]

DeGale isn't funny, intelligent or even remotely likeable. He isn't a war criminal but jeez, he's just a moron - a moron who failed to back up his talk.

I don't hate him. I find him funny - to laugh at, I mean.

MORON X15.

[don't call it a comeback]

Warren as a manager - rather than promoter - has always been a bit of a black hole for guiding fighter's pr personas as far as I can see. He's got no feel for it and seemingly little interest in it. Its all about the fights as far as I can see. Someone like Degale should be getting proper advice on how to build up a public following outside boxing circles and how to conduct himself not just how to generate interest with a bit of twattish trash talk.

Arguably Audley Harrison did a great PR job and was genuinely popular for a while - but his useless performances in the ring and his absurd justifications ultimately eroded that popularity. Hatton's early PR success was all down to him and his Manchester thing rather than any PR that Warren did. Calzaghe for years floundered under the radar with a mediocre PR strategy. I'd argue that someone like Barry Hearn has a much better understanding of all round PR skills than Warren despite's Warren's much bigger experience.

[Autobarn]

The counry breally does want to get behind the Olympic heroes but Audley, Khan and now DeGale have been booed. It's a shame but these men need to be told that a little bit of charm will get them more fans and bigger purses.

To be honest, I think Khan is working on it and has turned it around to a degree.

When did Khan get booed? The Prescott fight?

Audley was fighting that sawn off cruiserweight on the UC, he got booed the entire fight. There were still some residual boos but nothing really directed as such.

a lot of that was surely out of the fight's excessive tedium (if it's the fight i'm thinking of) and audley's inability to finish the smaller man (arias?).