Is Barry Mcguigan selling his arse?

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 09 Apr 2007, 07:03

I do agree with the consensus, but I actually thought last weekend was the most he spoke his mind since his move.

Had a massive pop at the judging, had a pop at Terry O Connor.. spoke of his dissapointments of the efforts of both Gunn and Manfredo. Normally, he would be saying stuff like "look what Calzaghe is doing to a top ten rated guy who came to win" etc.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 09 Apr 2007, 09:04

jimglen wrote:and McGuigan said ; "he (Calzaghe), might just be the Greatest British fighter EVER... EVER is it any wonder I research the past!

harrygreb - "boxing media in this country badly needs someone who tells the truth." too right...it's not just hard to listen to, it's effin' sickening and most of all COWARDLY!

the Selling of Souls...God help us!

I agree mate, trouble is most of the boxing media dont look back further than John Conteh when rating Britains best... if you mentioned Owen Moran to them they'd probably think you were talking about a Yank...
Calzaghe is not even better then Eubank or Benn imo....

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 09 Apr 2007, 09:07

stujones wrote:I do agree with the consensus, but I actually thought last weekend was the most he spoke his mind since his move.

Had a massive pop at the judging, had a pop at Terry O Connor.. spoke of his dissapointments of the efforts of both Gunn and Manfredo. Normally, he would be saying stuff like "look what Calzaghe is doing to a top ten rated guy who came to win" etc.

I was very disapointed in Mcguigan and him having a pop at the ref was low when he's usually always going on about boxers safety.... if a guys taking loads of shots on the ropes and not punching back whats the ref supposed to do??... Manfredo only had himself to blame... he didnt turn up basically... Lamotta my arse!...

Rocky Balboa · Post by **Rocky Balboa** » 09 Apr 2007, 11:03

tonyevs wrote:I thought it was very insulting to the real top guys of the division how McGuigan claimed Khan was already better than them.

Who has done more than Thaxton to deserve where he is?

He also said within 18mths Khan will definitely win a world title

McGuigan is nothing short of embarrassing...a total sell out to SN/ITV.

People never forgave Buncey for selling out with his Audley Harrison praise when he worked for the BBC...who can ever take McGuigan seriously again??

I was furious when Khan said: "I am the best lightweight in Britain and very soon, I'll be the best in the world".

It wasn't so much as to what he said, but the way he made the comment, the way it came across. Very arrogant. Khan is a special talent, no doubt, but I feel he's developing an arrogant nature. He should be careful because if does escalate, then the tide could soon turn and more people will want him to lose, rather than do well.

If Khan is so assure of himself, then let's see the fights happen against the figthers he feels he better than. Not a chance yet. Allegedly allegedly will not allow them to happen at this stage.

KOJOE90 · Post by **KOJOE90** » 09 Apr 2007, 11:09

Unfortunatly for Khan his career has come in the wake of Audley Harrisons career, another hugely hyped, high TV exposure, Olympic medal winner. Boxing fans have recently had their fingers burnted, badly and are in no mood for it to happen again.

Khans PR people should have been aware of this and directed Khans public image more down the confident but modest persona (such as Ricky Hatton for example).

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 09 Apr 2007, 11:09

Rocky Balboa wrote:
tonyevs wrote:I thought it was very insulting to the real top guys of the division how McGuigan claimed Khan was already better than them.

Who has done more than Thaxton to deserve where he is?

He also said within 18mths Khan will definitely win a world title

McGuigan is nothing short of embarrassing...a total sell out to SN/ITV.

People never forgave Buncey for selling out with his Audley Harrison praise when he worked for the BBC...who can ever take McGuigan seriously again??

I was furious when Khan said: "I am the best lightweight in Britain and very soon, I'll be the best in the world".

It wasn't so much as to what he said, but the way he made the comment, the way it came across. Very arrogant. Khan is a special talent, no doubt, but I feel he's developing an arrogant nature. He should be careful because if does escalate, then the tide could soon turn and more people will want him to lose, rather than do well.

If Khan is so assure of himself, then let's see the fights happen against the figthers he feels he better than. Not a chance yet. Allegedly allegedly allegedly will not allow them to happen at this stage.

He may well have a WBU title in 18 months but who cares??!... I see a long run of WBU defences against 35+yearold featherweights etc for Khan... Warren has already proved that he can take fighters to 'world titles' without them even fighting the best in Britain!... nice buisness if your the one minting in it, shame for boxings credibility though!....

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 09 Apr 2007, 11:13

KOJOE90 wrote:Unfortunatly for Khan his career has come in the wake of Audley Harrisons career, another hugely hyped, high TV exposure, Olympic medal winner. Boxing fans have recently had their fingers burnted, badly and are in no mood for it to happen again.

Khans PR people should have been aware of this and directed Khans public image more down the confident but modest persona (such as Ricky Hatton for example).

At least Audely actually won a Gold... you'd think Khan had won at the Olimpics the way his people carry on, ...and as for that 'rematch' with Kindelan... I can still smell that one... after seeing that I realised that Warren wasnt going to let proper fights stand in the way of Khans success...

harrygreb · Post by **harrygreb** » 09 Apr 2007, 17:25

yea true - that one was rank. wa\rrren is full of it

The Blade · Post by **The Blade** » 10 Apr 2007, 19:34

steve689 wrote:McGuigan is a sell out and a yes man since he left SKY, enough said.

total utter shite. Barry is the best

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 11 Apr 2007, 04:28

Barry is crestfallen because The Contender was exposed as bollox. Barry is linked with the show, training the UK team. When Sports Network v Contender is shown on TV, the audience may already be turned off after last weekend's farcial fights.

Max Molyneux · Post by **Max Molyneux** » 11 Apr 2007, 04:50

KOJOE90 wrote:I agree McGuigan was WAY off saying Calzaghe may well be the UK's greatest ever Boxer, very misleading thing to say.

In my opinion anyway.

I know most fighters are rated off opposition but there hasn't been a British fighter that good even against low opposition.

dondada · Post by **dondada** » 11 Apr 2007, 13:30

stujones wrote:I do agree with the consensus, but I actually thought last weekend was the most he spoke his mind since his move.

Had a massive pop at the judging, had a pop at Terry O Connor.. spoke of his dissapointments of the efforts of both Gunn and Manfredo. Normally, he would be saying stuff like "look what Calzaghe is doing to a top ten rated guy who came to win" etc.

It's easy to have a pop at the ref, judges, etc. I'm afraid Barry has, in my eyes, lost a great deal of credibility of late.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 11 Apr 2007, 13:47

Final Fight wrote:Barry is crestfallen because The Contender was exposed as bollox. Barry is linked with the show, training the UK team. When Sports Network v Contender is shown on TV, the audience may already be turned off after last weekend's farcial fights.

I disagree, the contender series will be relatively evenly matched fights, not anything like this debacle.

I actually think Barry was right to point out that the ref stopped it too early, of course, he could have also mentioned this fight was a big mismatch, and played a part in the referee's decision. The ref obviously saw how negative manfredo was being, and decided to act sooner rather than later. Poor from the crowd's perspective, but I do wonder, had it been a more competitive fight to that point, would O'Connor have stepped in? I doubt it.

emma · Post by **emma** » 11 Apr 2007, 14:25

Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:
stujones wrote:I do agree with the consensus, but I actually thought last weekend was the most he spoke his mind since his move.

Had a massive pop at the judging, had a pop at Terry O Connor.. spoke of his dissapointments of the efforts of both Gunn and Manfredo. Normally, he would be saying stuff like "look what Calzaghe is doing to a top ten rated guy who came to win" etc.
It's easy to have a pop at the ref, judges, etc. I'm afraid Barry has, in my eyes, lost a great deal of credibility of late.

exactly!

Taki... · Post by **Taki...** » 11 Apr 2007, 14:30

One look at some of the crap Steve Bunce came out with on the BBC (as resident pundit) puts McGuigan's efforts into perspective: Could be better, but could be much worse.

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 11 Apr 2007, 18:32

Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:
stujones wrote:I do agree with the consensus, but I actually thought last weekend was the most he spoke his mind since his move.

Had a massive pop at the judging, had a pop at Terry O Connor.. spoke of his dissapointments of the efforts of both Gunn and Manfredo. Normally, he would be saying stuff like "look what Calzaghe is doing to a top ten rated guy who came to win" etc.
It's easy to have a pop at the ref, judges, etc. I'm afraid Barry has, in my eyes, lost a great deal of credibility of late.

Yes, it is - but its not done often enough IMO. What Teddy Atlas did after the Burton vs Augustus fight - now thats what you call commentating.

I remenber Steve Bunce defending John Keane's stoppage of Harrison vs Bonnin citing the fact that a fighter had died when Keane was reffing once as a "valid" reason for why Keane stopped the fight. Sorry, this might sound harsh, but if a fighter or referree cannot get over the loss of a fighter/opponent and its effecting them then they should be doing the job. Its not an excuse really.

I agree with you generally Ian, Barry for me has lost a fair amount of credibility with his SN propaganda... However, I did think last Saturday was one of his better nights since his move. Thinking back to other nights he didn't even say "well, maybe in hindsight Jeff Lacy was too inexperience and overated" (which it was). However, he did say Manfredo put in little effort, but still should have been given the chance to continue (and I agree with both).

Look how often you hear Piper with his BBBoC hat on when it comes to a dodgy decision in a fight sanctioned by the BBBoC. Have it in the US, and he's a completely different commentator - slagging of Vegas judges left, right and centre.

When Barry has done stints on US TV he has had alot of plaudits, no agenda there.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 12 Apr 2007, 06:49

It's fear of being skint is all.

McGuigan told me when I spoke to him before, that he basically has very tight deals with the Daily Mirror and ITV, if he pisses either off by going too far off message, he's out of a job. After the horrors he had with Eastwood and then the Lloyd's underwriters (he was one of the Lloyd's'NAMES' wasn't he?) it's entirely understandable I think.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 12 Apr 2007, 07:17

Maybe he should have stayed with Sky then??.... always sad to see someone selling themselves out and I'm afraid thats what Barry has done on ITV.....

dondada · Post by **dondada** » 12 Apr 2007, 07:25

Taki... wrote:One look at some of the crap Steve Bunce came out with on the BBC (as resident pundit) puts McGuigan's efforts into perspective: Could be better, but could be much worse.

I hear what you are saying. It's a minefield for the likes of Buncey and Barry.

Bunce, by the way, was brilliant on BBC radio on Saturday. In rhetoric borrowed from Marc Anthony's burial speech, he praised the 'event' that Saturday night's bill was but completely distinguished the 'event' aspect from Calzaghe-Manfredo being a competitive fight.

Steve outrightly said it wasn't and went further, saying he was ashamed of some of his boxing writer colleagues who had promoted it as such.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 12 Apr 2007, 07:30

Yes Ian, but lest we forget, Bunce himself Lauded Audley as the future of the division on the one hand, then slated him in his regular column for the Independent.

It seems that they are all prepared to dumb it down and talk the talk for TV, after all, I am sure it is very lucrative.

Perhaps the blame lies with our broadcasters production values, with the TV stations telling them to hype every single promotion, and not criticise the fayre on offer, lest the viewers develop a critical eye themselves.

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 12 Apr 2007, 07:31

jamesmcdonnell wrote:
Final Fight wrote:Barry is crestfallen because The Contender was exposed as bollox. Barry is linked with the show, training the UK team. When Sports Network v Contender is shown on TV, the audience may already be turned off after last weekend's farcial fights.
I disagree, the contender series will be relatively evenly matched fights, not anything like this debacle.

I actually think Barry was right to point out that the ref stopped it too early, of course, he could have also mentioned this fight was a big mismatch, and played a part in the referee's decision. The ref obviously saw how negative manfredo was being, and decided to act sooner rather than later. Poor from the crowd's perspective, but I do wonder, had it been a more competitive fight to that point, would O'Connor have stepped in? I doubt it.

Sure the UK v USA were good fights by all accounts. But the Contender series - the regular one - thrives on the ROCKY dream that you can go from being a club fighter to a star. This notion took a severe beating on Saturday when the whole world saw that Manfredo was useless. Will the Contender recover from this?

harrygreb · Post by **harrygreb** » 12 Apr 2007, 12:39

it does seem they say different things depending on the media they use.
bunce has not impressed me very much on the telly but is much more
sensible in print.
journos like a lot of things seem to be have been better in the past.
i'm thinking of frankie taylor, gutteridge etc... Mcllvanny was a good boxing writer

harrygreb · Post by **harrygreb** » 12 Apr 2007, 12:41

if "the contender" doesnt appeal to as big a boxing nut like me then it has to be rubbish

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 12 Apr 2007, 13:57

Wasnt Taylor a decent boxer in the 60s... I seem to remember reading about him...

BunglesFingers · Post by **BunglesFingers** » 12 Apr 2007, 16:58

I think we all know that Barry knows his stuff but he is paid by ITV so what is he supposed to do - tell everyone their fights are a joke?! Thats a great way of getting his arse canned. He does go a bit OTT but he's just doing his job as a boxing PR man. When he is in the studio talking about fights I'm sure we'd be hearing a different story but how many people will slag off the people who pay their wages and keep their jobs? If you dont want to hear him, turn the volume down.