Requesting Interviews

[The_Don]

Hi there everyone,

My name is Don Caputo, I'm a writer for BS.com and a Sports Journalism student. I understand that a lot of you are involved in the fight game in some way, so if anyone has something big coming up and would like an interview, please contact me and we can set something up.

My E-Mail address is [email protected]

I am also trying to build up my contact list, so if you're a fighter, trainer or even a fellow writer please get in touch. I would really appreciate hearing from you, even if you have nothing going on at the moment.

By the way, how many of you are going to the elephant & castle show this saturday? I'm covering it for a website, so should be ringside. I havn't really seen too much of Fry, but am expecting him to pull it out on the basis of his ametuer pedigree.

I'll leave you with an article I wrote for the upcomming Harrison-Williams clash (which was up and BS), just to give you a feel of my work.

Hope to hear from some of you soon, thanks.


Last update: 10-27-2005 Submitted by Don Caputo

The Battle of Britain - Audley Harrison vs. Danny Williams
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By Don Caputo

On a frostbitten morning in Cardiff, Wales, Frank Bruno was a man infused with the spirit of a nation.

Resolute and utterly fired up beyond a mere mortal’s boundary of comprehension, a career best performance looked to be reaching a stunning crescendo as he forced his man against the ropes with a jolting stream of ramrod lefts. The punch, his most potent weapon, cut through the icy air in the outdoor arena and found its mark with the accuracy and force of a homing missile.

‘Keep pumping the jab, everything comes off the jab,’ the cerebral fighter reminded himself. Disciplined adherence to that fundamental fistic rule, he was discovering, has a habit of paying off. Thudding right hands swiftly followed, and we held our breaths in anticipation and exuberance as ‘Big Frank’ moved in to close the show against his fellow countrymen and bitter rival. With a furious barrage of punches, a decade of hurt was being washed clean away.

Two failed world title attempts, both of which left him crushed physically and mentally, were about to be wiped from his memory bank and replaced with the joyous image of his hand being raised in the most significant British battle in the heavyweight division since 1971, when Henry Cooper and Joe Bugner punched it out for domestic supremacy.

Surely he sensed how close he was. For the briefest of moments, the storybook ending that Britain’s most beloved sportsmen so thoroughly deserved looked within clutching distance. Then, without even the faintest hint of warning, the lights dimmed and he found himself in a lonesome and familiar darkness. A darkness that refused to subside until after his dream became, agonizingly, reduced to rubble once more.

Lennox Lewis, giving us a somewhat early indication of his eventual and undeniable greatness, produced a left hook that contained pure, hellacious dynamite. The blow caught poor Frank completely unawares, and temporarily destroyed the link that exists between brain and body. His muscular frame slumped on impact and wobbled fatefully. A few moments later, the fight was over.

For Lewis, victory was snatched from the jaws of defeat. Once again for Bruno, defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory.

On December 10, at the ExCel Arena in London, the latest ‘Battle of Britain’ is scheduled to take place between Olympic Gold Medallist Audley ‘A-Force’ Harrison (19-0 14KO’s) and ‘Brixton Bomber’ Danny Williams (33-4 28 KO’s).

With no title at stake, it is set to be a strictly territorial affair – a fight for the right to call himself the best in the land.

Williams, an affable, blue collar sort, has harboured a deep routed and conspicuous resentment against Harrison – who he has labelled a ‘celebrity boxer’ – for a good few years now, and with such hostile feelings apparently being mutual, fireworks are expected when the pair finally meet in the ring. But who will have the Great British public in his corner when the opening bell chimes?

It is fair to say that Harrison has not done a very good job of enamouring himself to the (literally) millions of fans he brought back with him from Sydney. Marching to his own beat every step of the way since embarking on a career in the professional ranks, many in the business are of the condemning opinion that his Olympic triumph laid seed to a hubris that has resulted in him going from hero-to-zero in the eyes of the general public.

Never was his lack of popularity on these shores more evident than when the BBC unceremoniously dumped him at the end of their existing contract, and then promptly turned its back on boxing altogether after the scathing experience of being bombarded with vitriolic criticism every time Harrison graced the screen. Looking on the bright side though, at least now he can proclaim that he was the sole reason the BBC ended its short-lived liaison with the sport – something to tell the grandkids, eh?

No, Danny Williams is most definitely the Frank Bruno in this scenario. He, like Frank, is modest, jovial and innocuous. Harrison, on the other hand, is outspoken almost to a fault and has put more than a few backs up with his fierce independent streak. He is the master of his destiny, no one else. To some small minded people that, unfortunately, makes him a narcissist.

Williams, a lovable loser (remind you of anyone?) who was so breathtakingly brave against Vitali Klitscko in his one and only title fight, is the man who I suspect the average Briton will be rooting for on fight-night. I suppose the logical question should be then, will the support of a nation give him an advantage?

Put it this way; if public affection won boxing matches, Frank Bruno would have whipped Tyson, Holyfield and Lewis on the same night. It’s nice to be cheered though.

[DavidPayne]

Nice piece Don.

Reach me at [email protected]

[John]

Resolute and utterly fired up beyond a mere mortal’s boundary of comprehension,

A wee bit flowery for my taste, mere mortal boundary of comprehension, shurley comprehension has a limit, but boundary ?

Accurate homing missiles, huh, too many boxing writers use painfully contrived allegories where their powers of description fail them.

[MightyWarrior]

A J Liebling - "The Sweet Science"

"Watching a fight on television has always seemed to me a poor substitute for being there. For one thing, you can't tell the fighters what to do. When I watch a fight, I like to study one boxer's problem, solve it, and communicate my solution vocally. On occasion my advice is disregarded, as when I tell a man to stay away from the other fellow's left and he doesn't, but in such cases I assume that he hasn't heard my councel, or that the other fellow has, and has acted on it. Some fighters hear better than others - for example Joe Louis. "Let him have it Joe!" I would yell whenever I saw him fight, and sooner of later he would let the other fellow have it."

[DavidPayne]

All true, but encourage the lad Shep.

[Slapsie Maxie]

With my commissioning hat on, I have to agree with John Shep, Don

It's not a bad piece but I think you need some economy of language

"the cerebral fighter kept reminding himself"

"adherence to that fundamental fistic rule"

"both of which left him crushed physically and mentally, were about to be wiped from his memory bank and replaced with the joyous image of his hand being raised in the most significant British battle in the heavyweight division since 1971,"

"The blow caught poor Frank completely unawares, and temporarily destroyed the link that exists between brain and body."

But, I enjoyed reading it and I don't say that about many things these days


Slapsie

[DavidPayne]

Poor lad.

I think I'd have preferred it had Don actually done a perspective on the Lewis fight with Bruno....because as a predule to a totally different fight it was overkill, as a the beginning of a article on that fight or one of the fighters featured it was more interesting.

Oooh....ya bitch.

So Slapsie what kind of work do you commission then?

[Slapsie Maxie]

Book publisher

Some health & fitness, Music & Film, Gift and MBS

Slapsie

[ABA Boxing]

To many big words for me in this Post!

[Phenomenal-Nutrition]

A J Liebling - "The Sweet Science"

"Watching a fight on television has always seemed to me a poor substitute for being there. For one thing, you can't tell the fighters what to do. When I watch a fight, I like to study one boxer's problem, solve it, and communicate my solution vocally. On occasion my advice is disregarded, as when I tell a man to stay away from the other fellow's left and he doesn't, but in such cases I assume that he hasn't heard my councel, or that the other fellow has, and has acted on it. Some fighters hear better than others - for example Joe Louis. "Let him have it Joe!" I would yell whenever I saw him fight, and sooner of later he would let the other fellow have it."

A good thing he gave Joe that idea to let him have it he would never have figured it out by himself

[The_Don]

Wow, you fella's really know how to knock a guys confidence. :(

I don't mind criticism, by all means tell me if you think I'm rubbish.

Mr. Payne, thankyou very much for your comments, I am a big fan of your work and any advice you can throw my way will always be greatly appreciated.

Don

[stujones]

Wow, you fella's really know how to knock a guys confidence. :(

I don't mind criticism, by all means tell me if you think I'm rubbish.

Mr. Payne, thankyou very much for your comments, I am a big fan of your work and any advice you can throw my way will always be greatly appreciated.

Don

Its not bad Don, you certainly have a wide vocabularly and my slight criticism is that you are tending to "show off" your vocab a bit.

As someone said - A bit too many big words.

It would be good if your were a writer for Eddie Butler and his previews (Rugby and the unusual Olympic sports). If you have heard them, for me it read a bit like them.

[DavidPayne]

You have my email Don. I'm still learning mate. Keep at it.