BoxRec

19.08.10

By Patrick Lane

Livefight.com rang up everyone's favourite boxing analyst Steve Bunce, to find out what the great man has been up to of late, plus his take on the British scene, impending fighs between Macklin and Barker - and also his take on Chad Dawson's bubble being burst.


Livefight.com: With the new season about to start, how would you say the state of the British game is at the moment?

"Fantastic, we’ve got the massive show in Birmingham, we’ve got Carl Froch out in Monaco, we’ve got Amir Khan in something, possibly getting Ricky Hatton back, we will have David Haye in something big, maybe not a Klitschko before Christmas, but a Klitschko after Christmas. And we’ve got the GB amateur championships in Liverpool." said Buncey enthusiastically.

"Let me tell you something, I don’t care what people tell you, we’ve got a fantastic 4 or 5 months to look forward too."

Livefight.com: Which British prospect are you hoping can make some real progress in the new season?

"Tyson Fury, and I'll tell you for why. I work for a couple of newspapers, If I call them up, Tyson Fury is only just below Carl Froch, Amir Khan and David Haye and underneath Tyson Fury is another seven hundred boxers.

He's a good talker, he’s a good looking kid, I call him Errol Flynn because that’s what he looks like when he puts a suit on! He can fight, hes got plenty of heart but what happens when he starts to get things right? What happens if he starts doing proper road work, what happens then? Trust me, he's a good fighter Tyson Fury and the British public will really warm to him."

Livefight.com: The first big show of the new season is Frank Warrens magnificent 7 bill in Birmingham, which fight are you looking forward to most on that bill?

"Its a simple one that, and its Macklin vs Barker." stated Bunce.

"We’ve been talking about this fight for sixteen months. We were talking about this fight before Setanta went belly up, I think its a cracker. I keep hearing rumours about Macklin getting hit too often in the gym, keep hearing rumours about Barker not doing enough and wishing the fight was in October not September, rumours left right and centre and you know what, that’s what makes it entertaining, that’s what makes it an attraction.

It's an absolutely fantastic fight and its one that I just hope the British public get behind, and the only way the British public can get behind it is quite simple, the newspapers, so i hope some of my brothers in the newspaper business do their best to back this fight."

Livefight.com: Dmirty Pirog, the newly crowned WBO middleweight champion is a possible opponent for the winner of the Macklin and Barker fight, how do you see a fight like that going?

"Listen, Id fancy either of those two to have a good go against Pirog, no problem at all. Barker's a great fighter on his day, he’s got a lot of history, a lot of form, Id back him in the right frame of mind and Matthew Macklin's no longer a kid who messes up outside the ring, he's got his act together." said Bunce.

"You know what sometimes we rate Eastern Europeans and especially Americans really big, let me explain something ok, there’s a reason why some of these guys aren’t superstars on HBO and Showtime because the experts there decide that there not big enough stars, big enough fighters, there not good enough.

Anyone who’s not in that batch, trust me our boys can go with them, and they make mistakes with people like Chad Dawson. There was a pundit on Setanta called Steve Bunce who for three years was saying 'dont get carried away with Chad Dawson I’ve seen him in the gym' and im not quite sure about him and then I kept getting hundreds of emails 2 years ago in 2008 saying Chad Dawson would knock out Joe Calzaghe!

Joe Calzaghe’s never been knocked out in his life and this guy Chad Dawsons going to knock him out! It was a big mistake HBO made, they believed the hype surrounding Chad Dawson, they wont make that mistake again. Pirog trust me, I'd take Macklin or Barker against Pirog tomorrow, the problem is, Pirog's one of the most wanted men on the planet, not because he’s committing crimes but because every single middleweight out there wants to get him in the ring because he’s beatable."

Livefight.com: Going back to Chad, I along with many others also thought that Dawson was in big trouble against Jean Pascal on Saturday night.

"Absolutely, it wasn’t the case of Pascal beating him - It wasn’t a case of Pascal beating him on the scorecards, but all we’ve heard since is Dawson's complaints and what is really disturbing is that I get a couple of one line companies send me newspaper headlines in the build up to the fight, there were about twelve of them I could print, eleven of them lead with Dawson, after the fight, they still lead with Dawson, now four days later, there still leading with Dawson!

Let me tell you something, whether on tv, in the paper or on the radio, when journalists back someone heavily and that person is brutally exposed and smashed to bits, them journalists do whatever possible to backtrack and keep hold of what he had and make excuses, whereas when I used to get it wrong I would say you know what, I got that 100% wrong.

But what we’re seeing with Dawson is all these apologies, all them supporting him for the last three years are now apologising and making excuses, at the end of the day, he's not as good as we all said he was and that’s forgetting the fact that all of his fans arrive in the same taxi!

I’ve been saying for years, he’s never sold a ticket in his life, let me tell you something, Boxing is a business, its an entertainment business and the reason its an entertainment business is that a fighter comes along like Matt Macklin and in Birmingham he’s a character and can sell some tickets, it works, otherwise what sort of business would we be in, it would be a business of people paying to see people get knocked out, that’s not right.

What we want is people in there roaring, screaming and shouting, Chad Dawson was involved in a big fight last year in a lap dancing club, I don’t mean a fight after hours, that’s where the fight took place and at the same time I’ve listened to idiots tell me both in print and on the internet that he’s the best thing since sliced bread even though he defended his world title in a lap dancing bar, what the hell’s going on! " laughed Bunce


"Steve Bunce's book The Fixer is available now from Amazon"

Read Part 2 tomorrow, where Steve discusses his thoughts on David Haye, the impact of UFC and his own line of work in the near future.

I think Buncey has thrown his hat into the mix for the new Sky boxing magazine show, but feels he aint going to get it.

Whilst his enthusiasm rubs some people up at times, I think he can often cut straight to a point when he wants to.

Sky will probably install some cheer leaders.

Do you know that sky have pumped something like 50 million into every single leading premiership club, yet will allegedly only offer something 100k for a fight like Froch v Abraham or the Magnificent 7.

Boxing is rock bottom of their budget behind football, rugby, motor sports etc.

G0mez wrote:I think Buncey has thrown his hat into the mix for the new Sky boxing magazine show, but feels he aint going to get it.

Whilst his enthusiasm rubs some people up at times, I think he can often cut straight to a point when he wants to.

Sky will probably install some cheer leaders.

Do you know that sky have pumped something like 50 million into every single leading premiership club, yet will allegedly only offer something 100k for a fight like Froch v Abraham or the Magnificent 7.

Boxing is rock bottom of their budget behind football, rugby, motor sports etc.

Sky pay over £3m a game for each live premier league game they show. And they show well over a hundred per season. Its crazy. Even in a recession the football bubble doesn't burst.

A reasonable guess would be that their annual boxing budget is less than 1% of their football budget.

That implies that if you got sky sports subscribers in a room and asked them to choose their number one sport then at best only one would choose boxing for every 100 that choose football.

The reality is though is that boxing can never sell subscriptions because there is not enough of it in airtime terms. Thats where its massively different from cricket, rugby, golf and especially football.

Its a tradegy really as they know there aren't any rivals for the fights now.

buncey is the man. he's like marmite but he tells it how it is and that deserves respect.

I've time for Steve Bunce; he comes across as a fan who has worked at it and done well. It's good to see someone enthusiastic and when you hear that he attended the funeral of an amateur who was successful at junior level nearly 20 years ago; you know that his heart is really in it. I hope he gets a regular shot on Sky; best of luck to him; but that Pirog looked like a very, very strong and confident hitter. He stalked that Jacobs in his hometown and chased him about. I think that Bunce is wrong about him; Pirog can fight and will prove it over the next few years.

'All Dawsons fans showed up in the same taxi'

Whenever i read a piece with Bunce, i imagine him saying it.

hold on, if pirog is beatable - and i'd say we have not seen the best of him yet - then aren't also macklin and barker?

what would priog do to affif belegecham??

pirog smashed jacobs on HBO, and they'll probably have him back next year because he didn't just win, he knocked jacobs' head off.

Neither of them boys are beating Pirog. Buncey is great but he does overate the British fighters just a little bit.

http://www.livefight.com/news.php?news_ ... =2010&m=08

20.08.10

By Patrick Lane.

Part 2 of our Steve Bunce exclusive interview.

Livefight.com: There has been a lot of speculation surrounding David Hayes next opponent, how would you see a fight with either of the Klitschko brothers going?

"I think he can really hit Wlad on the chin, and hurt him early. The shots that dropped Ruiz in the first round, Wlad would still be asleep now, however he can get knocked out by Wlad and he can get knocked out by Vitali and you know why I know that? Because David told me that." said Bunce.


"One of the things that annoy me when people look at David Haye he admits that if those two big guys hit him on the chin then they will beat him. I marvel in the fact that some people dislike him, all he's trying to do is maximise his money because he knows he could get knocked out. I think he’s a fantastic kid and I'd like to see him in with Wlad because he can’t hit him on the chin, with Vitali, we’ve got to wait for Vitali's body to collapse a little bit more before he fights him."

Livefight.com: If his next fight isn’t one of the Klitschko brothers, who would you like to see him in with?
"
"You want one thing out of an opponent, you want people watching it on tv and you want interest. Arreola doesn’t tick any of those boxes, Povetkin doesn’t tick any of those boxes, despite what armchairs warriors tell you, the only fight that ticks them boxes and would be one of the biggest, if not the biggest British heavyweight fight of all time is David Haye vs Audley Harrison. I dont want to see him in with Audley Harrison, I want a young Mike Tyson to come around and see him fight him at Madison Square Garden but that’s a fantasy fight, I also want to drive a Bentley and not have any debt, there two fantasies as well. You’ve got to live in the real world, and let me tell you something, if I put a 1000 people who might buy a ticket to a David Haye fight in a room and I stuck in there a Kangaroo, a lifesize Rat and Chris Arreola naked, they wouldn’t be able to pick out the boxer and that’s the bottom line." joked Bunce.


"What were talking about here is tickets. David Haye doesn’t need to fight someone to satisfy a couple of thousand people online or a couple of thousand experts who say what he should or shouldnt do, I'll tell you what he needs to do, he needs to get on the back pages of the tabloids and it needs to fill out an arena, that is what an Audley Harrison does."

"With Adamek, there are plenty of Poles in London, that could also work but Arreola forget it, Mike Tyson told me and sorry to name-drop but David Hayes a good fighter, hes exciting, he reminds me a little bit of myself but he needs to fight seven more Ruiz's and you know what, Tysons right, David does need a couple more six or seven round rights against hard nuts like Ruiz.

But he wont and I think he will fight either Adamek or Harrison and I hope its Harrison. Let me tell you something, if David Haye fought Chris Arreola in New York, I wouldn’t get sent there, Ive got three kids and a mortgage, I cant deal in fantasy, I've got to deal in facts and what will work and Audley Harrison will work. "

Livefight.com: The fight a lot of people were disappointed couldnt be made was Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao. With Pacquiao looking to fight Antonio Margarito next, who do you think Floyd should look at fighting?

"I thought the Mosley fight was a great fight for Mayweather and that it was great preparation for Pacquiao. I think he might take another six to nine months off and wait for Pacquiao as he will want him down the line. If Margarito proves to be as strong and tough as he is and beats Pacquiao then perhaps he will want Margarito. My gut feeling is that the Pacquiao / Mayweather saga is not good for boxing in any way shape or form. Two guys with great talent, but a lot of arrogance in their respective teams, talking about lawyers, its not good for boxing brother, under any circumstances."

Livefight.com: Floyd and Manny aside, which fight would you like to see get signed in the next season?

"Id like to see Haye against Wladamir, Id love to see Carl Froch against Andre Ward, Id love to see a Carl Froch rematch against Kessler, I want to make sure that Macklin and Barker stay in bed, Id like to see Hopkins do something funny and fight Cunnigham or someone like that."

Livefight.com: With so many big fights not happening and the best in each division not facing each other, do you think MMA could overtake boxing as the most popular combat sport in the world?

"The UFC wont take over, but will the UFC survive? Absolutely. Will the UFC continue to draw bigger gates than boxing? Not on average because there will be major events for boxing that outdraw the UFC, but will the UFC do great business in the box office? Absolutely. The danger is ignoring the UFC and assuming its not a threat, of course its a threat. Will it overtake boxing? of course not and the simple reason is that the UFC is a promotional company. MMA as a sport is just too diverse, there’s too much of it that’s rubbish, the events are rubbish, the competitors are rubbish, that’s not the UFC, just other MMA stuff its just rubbish, it looks bad, its presented poorly and the big thing is, to be a good mixed martial artist, to be one of the top UFC fighters, takes years and years of experience, years and years of dedication for one or more mixed martial arts." stated Bunce.

"With boxing, after a few months in a gym you can be an amateur, to be a pro you need no amateur fights or fifteen or twenty, its a lot, lot easier to be a boxer so there will always be more boxers. What I would like to see is people from the world of boxing acknowledge how good a product the UFC is, because as a product, its unbelievable."

Livefight.com: And Finally Steve, what’s next in your career? With Sky announcing they are re-launching their "Ringside" show is it possible we could see you back on our screens soon?

"I have spoken to somebody at Sky about an involvement with the Ringside show, but I don’t think its going to happen." said Bunce.

I would like to see it happen, I think I could add an awful lot to Ringside but im not in charge of Sky, but I have just started a forty four week run on a new show on ESPN called PTI, its on every Tuesday and is short for Pardon The Interruption. It's an American show, where two people cover and awful lot of sports, they cover boxing for a couple of minutes, swimming for a couple of minutes and so on. I'm still working for The Independent, The Sunday Herald in Scotland, I’ve still got my column in Boxing Monthly, still doing the monthly show on Five Live and still doing a weekly show for the BBC but none of those live up to the money or the fun I was having on Setanta and I think that British boxing is a poorer place for the departure of Setanta.


Steve Bunce's book The Fixer is out now and available on Amazon.

This is a absolute joke everyone in the trade knows that the macklin-barker fight aint happening. So why is everyone pretending it is why dont allegedly come out and tell everyone the truth this is an absolute joke giving boxing a bad name.

bigh wrote:This is a absolute joke everyone in the trade knows that the macklin-barker fight aint happening. So why is everyone pretending it is why dont allegedly come out and tell everyone the truth this is an absolute joke giving boxing a bad name.

If everybody in the trade knew it then it would be all over the net by now....
Quit stirring.

bigh wrote:This is a absolute joke everyone in the trade knows that the macklin-barker fight aint happening. So why is everyone pretending it is why dont allegedly come out and tell everyone the truth this is an absolute joke giving boxing a bad name.

No offence, but I really hope you're wrong on this one. The last thing boxing needs at this point is something like this happening yet again...

Deadendgeneration wrote:Neither of them boys are beating Pirog. Buncey is great but he does overate the British fighters just a little bit.

i mean, just look at what pirog's done in about 20 fights. 1 punch KO for a world title, on HBO.

on bunce's side, he was never impressed by jacobs, and i agree with all of bunce's live criticisms of the american.

bigh wrote:This is a absolute joke everyone in the trade knows that the macklin-barker fight aint happening. So why is everyone pretending it is why dont allegedly come out and tell everyone the truth this is an absolute joke giving boxing a bad name.

Why isn't the fight to happen? Who has pulled out and for what reason? Cheers

barkers injured so a very good source tells me.

is the source the BBBofC doctor?

Everyone in the trade knows ??? Well Me Macklin and Roach dont we working hard to put Mathew back with his titles come Sept 18th !!

up very late at night worrying about it aye joe

all the flying & fartin around. when you could condition him well as what simms is barker.tbh the best ive seen macklin fight is under you & he's still searching & barker is settled & happy with home comforts, this will show.

Deadendgeneration wrote:Neither of them boys are beating Pirog. Buncey is great but he does overate the British fighters just a little bit.

He overrates them more than a little bit.

hurlock wrote:up very late at night worrying about it aye joe

It was 14:39 when Joe posted that, so I think he'll be alright.

"bigh" seems to be enjoying himself a bit too much. is he just twisting the stuff from bunce i.e. that barker wants more time to prepare?

winner of macklin-barker will be a worthy world title challenger/contender, and will give one of the champs a good fight. it's the fighters who don't have the tests on the way up that bomb in the title fights (lockett, jennings). i'm predicting that both rendall munroe and ryan rhodes - who beat 2 contenders apiece - will have their moments when they challenge for world titles. i hope the macklin-barker winner gets a good ranking.

re bunce - great to see dawson lose. depressing that HBO were wasting licence fees on his dull fights. soon as dawson fights someone with a bit of speed and spirit and he's beaten. could be a good rematch, though.

bigh wrote:barkers injured so a very good source tells me.

Thanks :( hope your source is wrong this time

why dont mick hennesey come out and say the fight is defo on then.
anyone out there who knows mick personally get him to come out and say its on then.