BoxRec

One thing that also annoyed me was the post fight interview with Manfredo. He slated Joe's power saying 'I've been in with bigger hitters than Joe' why didn't the interviewer call his bluff and ask who?? As from his record I can't see who it could be?

I would have liked to ask him why he didnt hardly throw any punches??... if Calzaghe is such a weak puncher why did Manfredo look like a rabbit caught in car headlights?.... he was very poor all round really... I had thought he would go out and give it a go and try and pressure Joe... as it was the fact that he said in the post fight interview that 'I'm just glad to be here!' about three times, says it all really I think... I dont think he was exactly heartbroken that it was stopped when it was!... as for his comparisons to Jake Lamotta!... the only resemblance is the nose and thats it!....

There is no comparison with Manfredo's nose. He has 2 of them!

dopey wrote:One thing that also annoyed me was the post fight interview with Manfredo. He slated Joe's power saying 'I've been in with bigger hitters than Joe' why didn't the interviewer call his bluff and ask who?? As from his record I can't see who it could be?

How often do ringside interviewers ask any awkward, interesting questions these days? Almost never.

KOJOE90 wrote:

dopey wrote:One thing that also annoyed me was the post fight interview with Manfredo. He slated Joe's power saying 'I've been in with bigger hitters than Joe' why didn't the interviewer call his bluff and ask who?? As from his record I can't see who it could be?

How often do ringside interviewers ask any awkward, interesting questions these days? Almost never.

Certainly not on ITV it seems.... their interviews make the BBC's seem positively intellectual by comparison.... :x

Bring back Garry Newbon (spelling?)

KOJOE90 wrote:Bring back Garry Newbon (spelling?)

The way ITV are going I have to say bring back STEVE BUNCE!!!.... never thought I'd say that but there you are!!... at least you'd get a bit of honesty and home truths mixed in with all the verbal posturing and dribble...

Please correct me if I am wrong as I am purely going from memory here but I am sure on a number of occasions Gary Newbon gave novice pro's such as Lennox Lewis and Nigel Benn etc a few hard questions in the early years about when are they going to up the class of their opponents etc. I also remember him complaining about one round mismatches to the fighters and managers faces on live TV.

I can't imagine that being allowed to happen these days, sadly.

KOJOE90 wrote:Please correct me if I am wrong as I am purely going from memory here but I am sure on a number of occasions Gary Newbon gave novice pro's such as Lennox Lewis and Nigel Benn etc a few hard questions in the early years about when are they going to up the class of their opponents etc. I also remember him complaining about one round mismatches to the fighters and managers faces on live TV.

I can't imagine that being allowed to happen these days, sadly.

I remember that as well, ....he used to be a bit over the top as well sometimes, I remember him having a go at Errol Christie after Christie had lost to Charlie Boston I think... but yes he was definately miles better than anyone working the boxing for ITV now... he actually had some understanding of boxing for a start and was brutally honest mostly...

silkov wrote:

KOJOE90 wrote:Bring back Garry Newbon (spelling?)

The way ITV are going I have to say bring back STEVE BUNCE!!!.... never thought I'd say that but there you are!!... at least you'd get a bit of honesty and home truths mixed in with all the verbal posturing and dribble...

I think its a case of absence makes the heart grow fonder... Steve Bunce called Audley Harrison and Rachel "The Dutch Sonny Liston" Hersia, World champs.

He said the John Keane (I think) stoppage of the Bonin vs Harrison fight was spot on (arguably worst than Calzaghe vs Manfredo).

After Audley had a contract extension all Woodhall and Bunce did was kiss arse.

KO Artist wrote:A marginal sport like boxing getting live terrestrial coverage in prime time, and you get people complaining.

Why dont you guys get a promoters licence and put on a few shows?

Come on now, that's a pretty weak argument isn't it?

so none of us can criticise unless we put a show on ourselves.

At the end of the day Sports Network, and Calzaghe, both made a mint from what was, in terms of the actual offerings to the paying public, a very poor bill of boxing, with little entertainment value, and given that it was on prime time TV, did boxing something of a disservice. Now I am not saying of course that either that Warren is alone in offering poor bills, nor that he has not offered good bills in the past, or will not in the future, but on this occasion, the offering was dire, so one sided as to be virtually pointless.

The stoppage of Manfredo was very poor, and Manfredo clearly had no business being in the ring. The fact that Calzaghe didn't even get to impress by even stopping him convincingly was down to the referee, who made a very bad judgement call, although the fact that Manfredo absolutely no offence whatsoever didn't exactly do the contest any favours.

This whole bill was merely a showcase exercise for Calzaghe and Macca, which does not make for good viewing for the punters, does nothing to enhance ITV's coverage, and little or no good for the sport overall. In fact, everyone I spoke to who watched it, most of whom were non boxing fans, were more turned off by it than anything, so boxing may actually have lost more fans than it gained that night.

silkov wrote:I would have liked to ask him why he didnt hardly throw any punches??... if Calzaghe is such a weak puncher why did Manfredo look like a rabbit caught in car headlights?.... he was very poor all round really... I had thought he would go out and give it a go and try and pressure Joe... as it was the fact that he said in the post fight interview that 'I'm just glad to be here!' about three times, says it all really I think... I dont think he was exactly heartbroken that it was stopped when it was!... as for his comparisons to Jake Lamotta!... the only resemblance is the nose and thats it!....

Manfredo came with all the ambition of Donald Trump at a dollar a hand poker game. All his big talk beforehand was just bollocks to sell the fight, I don't think he believed for a second he could win, or if he did, any confidence he had evaporated under the bright lights over the ring.

It was a pretty awful effort from Manfredo, not Calzaghe's fault, but at least had the referee allowed Joe to bash him up, Calzaghe would have gotten some plaudits from the fight. Manfredos lack of offence probably convinced the referee to be merciful earlier rather than later.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:

KO Artist wrote:A marginal sport like boxing getting live terrestrial coverage in prime time, and you get people complaining.

Why dont you guys get a promoters licence and put on a few shows?

Come on now, that's a pretty weak argument isn't it?

so none of us can criticise unless we put a show on ourselves.

At the end of the day Sports Network, and Calzaghe, both made a mint from what was, in terms of the actual offerings to the paying public, a very poor bill of boxing, with little entertainment value, and given that it was on prime time TV, did boxing something of a disservice. Now I am not saying of course that either that Warren is alone in offering poor bills, nor that he has not offered good bills in the past, or will not in the future, but on this occasion, the offering was dire, so one sided as to be virtually pointless.

The stoppage of Manfredo was very poor, and Manfredo clearly had no business being in the ring. The fact that Calzaghe didn't even get to impress by even stopping him convincingly was down to the referee, who made a very bad judgement call, although the fact that Manfredo absolutely no offence whatsoever didn't exactly do the contest any favours.

This whole bill was merely a showcase exercise for Calzaghe and Macca, which does not make for good viewing for the punters, does nothing to enhance ITV's coverage, and little or no good for the sport overall. In fact, everyone I spoke to who watched it, most of whom were non boxing fans, were more turned off by it than anything, so boxing may actually have lost more fans than it gained that night.

that's what I predicted when the fight was announced. Though I had an image of Manfredo quivering on the canvas having been half murderised.