BoxRec

I dont know about you guys but when Baz used to analyse for wire TV back in the day & more recently Sky the guy was not afraid to speak his mind and cut thru the bullshit and be brutally honest. He was a proven tough ex-world champ and he had earned the right to state when a fight was shit, when a title was bollocks and when an opponent was a bum.

But since joining ITV he seems to have had his testicles castrated & im getting really tired of his endless shilling of Amir Khan and defending each opponent without a hint of objectivity or honest. How the frick can this guy keep a straight face when claiming opponents with zero or near to zero knockouts were 'dangerous' or a guy with a 9-1-1 (0) who obviously could not box at all was a 'good' opponent because he had won 9 fights? Peter McNeeley won 28 straight fights before Tyson mushed him but that didnt alter the fact he was a bum.

I know you guys will probably call it sour grapes but i dont like the glee he took in ripping into Fraudley after his loss & all his opponents yet Amir Khan who IMO beats up on even worse stiffs cant put a foot wrong it all seems very fishy to me like ITV has banned him from addressing the facts.

I agree really but will always have a soft spot for Barry because of his great career. To be fair in the past he has pointed out that some of Khans opponents belong to lower divisions to Khan... at the end of the day Barry is surrounded by so much hypocritsy and incompetance he has probably just made his mind up to do his job, play the game and go home... if he really spoke his mind he could possibly lose his job and he still has a family to feed...

I'm a Barry fan as well and there is a wider picture here. With Boxing properly back on terrestrial TV for the first time in ages there is a chance that the game might actually be popular in the mainstream again. The last thing you want to do is turn new fans off by constantly slagging off the product. We got our cynicism through years of experience and new fans will find their own way.

If he was standing there and calling the WBU or IBO title a real world title or trying to build up Skelton - Williams as a fight between world class boxers then I would be more unhappy with him but overly criticising a virtual novice because of the quality of his opposition is for the time being unneccesary. If he's fighting the same level guys after 6-7 more fights then fair enough.

Slagging off Harrison-Williams was justified and Barry certainly didn't hold back then.

He does talk Khan up a bit, but was pretty realistic when it came to the Heavyweights recently.

I lost all respect for him when I meet Barry about 10 years ago, what a arrogant "little" tosser.......the man has some serious issues with people who he doesent think are good enough to talk to him

He obviously thought I was good enough to talk to him - was staying in the same hotel as him for the Calzaghe v Lacey fight and he was as nice as pie.

I also found him charming and approachable when I stopped to talk to him. At the end of the day, Barry has a family to feed, and without the money from TV and the daily mirror who pay his way, he would be skint. Sadly he lost all his boxing money (wasn't he one of the Lloyd's names?), and so therefore he who pays the piper and all that.

I think he is genuinely excited by Khan and is perhaps glossing over the issues, but as said, is it helpful to slag off all his fights? Listening to Steve Holdsworth doing his 'eurovision boxing contest' commentary is hardly inspring is it?

Bazza didn't hold back about Danny Williams the other night, but then Danny is hardly the 'future of british boxing' I guess.

Hagler2k6 wrote:I lost all respect for him when I meet Barry about 10 years ago, what a arrogant "little" tosser.......the man has some serious issues with people who he doesent think are good enough to talk to him

You musta have caught him at a funny time - he was fantastic when I met him. Back stage at a show he was giving some words of encouragement to a boxer who had just got smashed up for his first loss.

When he had finished raising the lads spirits, I interjected and asked him for an autograph for my old man, who comes from nearby Barry in Ireland.

He made a few jokes about inter-county rivalries and was very cordial throughout our brief meeting, despite the pressure he was under as it was a live Sky Sports show.

I was first introduced to boxing when watching Barry with my old man; often times your heroes can be a let down when you meet them in the flesh but Barry was a first class gent all the way!

On the point of Barry's objectivity I think that he is between a rock and a hard place - he wants to give his opinions on the boxing but is also duty bound by his employment to speak in generally favourable terms about 'the product' where possible.

I think he does a reasonable job of this - he pointed out areas of Khan's style that were still weak (his over relaince on movement, pointless flurrying etc) but failed to criticise the level of opposition.

I think he is there to critique what he sees in the ring, which he does a good job of, he is not there to act as some independant voice calling for tougher matchmaking or to criticise the promoter/TV channel.

Can't help but think that Khan is seen as the future for British Boxing. We all went boxing back on terrestrial TV and to bring back as many fans as possible.

Almost all prospects are fed a diet of no-hopers early on.

Yes he really tore a new A-hole for the spit fountain that night.

Poor old Roy, one of the ugliest men to walk the face of the earth, the spitting image puppet of him used to make me piss myself. Well that and the special brew.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:Yes he really tore a new A-hole for the spit fountain that night.

Poor old Roy, one of the ugliest men to walk the face of the earth, the spitting image puppet of him used to make me piss myself. Well that and the special brew.

Oh rank his puppet used to squirt water out of its mouth when it spoke didn't it?

Ever thought Khans been protected will help him climb to the top? Hes very young and will get better and better, if hes thrown in too deep early he'll drown like many a young prospect. He already has world class speed, stamina, technique and footwork - but he lacks some professional skills that should come. Hes also seems allot stronger than when he first started - this will improve over the years too.

We all used to rip Ricky Hatton for been protected, but he went on to beat Tyszu at the perfect time, if he'd been thrown deep to the likes of Harris, Mitchell, PBF, Witter, Cotto Pre-Tyszu he may have lost and not had the shot at Tyszu.

Lets hope Khan gradually gets slightly more competant opponents to gradually bring him along, he doesnt need to be thrown in deep just yet though - hes not ready. Boxing fans are impatient but I'd like to see him fight top10 in Britain lightweights this year

PS Barrys always seemed like a genuinely nice bloke to me.

Terrence, he wasn't the best colour commentator on the probox days (early/mid 90's) although he has obviously got more experienced since then.

The Roy Hattersley/Barry McGuigan debate was re-shown a year or two back on the BBC learning zone. I thought BM were wrong in their analysis of the show. They claimed that while they sided with Barry clearly, they thought that Roy put his argument across better (saying he has better debating skills). I didn't think that at all.

Terence wrote:
I've had a fair few debates and when the other guy gets emotive, as Hattersley did, it is game over. Barry stayed calm and respectful and clearly got the point across better.

That's how I saw it. Barry did a great job.

I recall reading an intersting post in the doghouseboxing forum, and there was quite a scathing attack on McGuigan regarding his knowledge of the current game.

Normally I wouldnt pay much attention to it, but when it comes from journalist who knows his beans, then you do sit up and pay attention.

I was quite surprised that he jumped ship from SKY to ITV and there is without doubt a lot of hype/waffle coming from Bazza's mouth in regards Khan - Then again there is going to be, Khan means so much to ITV and their boxing coverage that even when some critiscm should be voiced...it isn't going to be encouraged.

Oh and who can forget him calling Danny Hunt the English Oscar De La Hoya.

Terence wrote:

stujones wrote:Terrence, he wasn't the best colour commentator on the probox days (early/mid 90's) although he has obviously got more experienced since then.

The Roy Hattersley/Barry McGuigan debate was re-shown a year or two back on the BBC learning zone. I thought BM were wrong in their analysis of the show. They claimed that while they sided with Barry clearly, they thought that Roy put his argument across better (saying he has better debating skills). I didn't think that at all.

I've had a fair few debates and when the other guy gets emotive, as Hattersley did, it is game over. Barry stayed calm and respectful and clearly got the point across better. It was a good show for boxing as I saw it then, clearly the anti-boxing brigade had jumped onto a bandwagon hitched to something they did not understand and they pay the price every time. These people are, mostly, idiots.

A mixture of Barry getting better and the poor ITV standard at this time would probably make Barry a really engaging choice for the colour spot although the point you raise always interests me, some guys are good at analysis and some at blow-by-blow (adopts loud Adam Smith yell) WHY IS THIS?!

I see Barry more as a Teddy Atlas type than a blow by blow, though a bit more enthusiastic than the monotone Atlas, who at times is the Mark Lawrenson of boxing.

Mcguigan and Watt would be a good combination, though a scrap might break out as the two of them tried to out nasal drone eachotherrrrrrrrrr.

Twinkle Toes wrote:I recall reading an intersting post in the doghouseboxing forum, and there was quite a scathing attack on McGuigan regarding his knowledge of the current game.

Normally I wouldnt pay much attention to it, but when it comes from journalist who knows his beans, then you do sit up and pay attention.

I was quite surprised that he jumped ship from SKY to ITV and there is without doubt a lot of hype/waffle coming from Bazza's mouth in regards Khan - Then again there is going to be, Khan means so much to ITV and their boxing coverage that even when some critiscm should be voiced...it isn't going to be encouraged.

Oh and who can forget him calling Danny Hunt the English Oscar De La Hoya.

Just to qualify this, the journalist in question is I seem to recall involved with Fight Academy, and was responding to McGuigan's questioning of the wisdom of Hatton leaving Warren....so although there may have been truth in that comment, it may also have been biased invective, I am not aware which, but just thought I'd leap to Bazza's defence.

Even a fighter who doesn't follow the current sport much, is still going to know way more about the business end of fighting than a journalist, no matter how well read and researched they are. A journalist might have a wider scope of knowledge overall of the sport and it's history, but in terms of understanding the mechanics and the emotive side of being in the ring, there's no comparison.

Problem is that many ex boxers are horifically biased towards fighters who emulate their style, are bitter about something, or are simply bumbling inarticultates who are incapable of imparting their knowledge effectively. Bazza doesn't seem to suffer from any of these problems.

Terence wrote:

Ezzard wrote:

Terence wrote:
I've had a fair few debates and when the other guy gets emotive, as Hattersley did, it is game over. Barry stayed calm and respectful and clearly got the point across better.

That's how I saw it. Barry did a great job.

About time someone agreed with me I'll enter this into my diary, once I've started one. Top name BTW.

C'mon Terence - you are not fooling anyone.

'Ezzard' is quite clearly your on-line alter ego..

Terence wrote:

jamesmcdonnell wrote:

Terence wrote: I've had a fair few debates and when the other guy gets emotive, as Hattersley did, it is game over. Barry stayed calm and respectful and clearly got the point across better. It was a good show for boxing as I saw it then, clearly the anti-boxing brigade had jumped onto a bandwagon hitched to something they did not understand and they pay the price every time. These people are, mostly, idiots.

A mixture of Barry getting better and the poor ITV standard at this time would probably make Barry a really engaging choice for the colour spot although the point you raise always interests me, some guys are good at analysis and some at blow-by-blow (adopts loud Adam Smith yell) WHY IS THIS?!

I see Barry more as a Teddy Atlas type than a blow by blow, though a bit more enthusiastic than the monotone Atlas, who at times is the Mark Lawrenson of boxing.

Mcguigan and Watt would be a good combination, though a scrap might break out as the two of them tried to out nasal drone eachotherrrrrrrrrr.

I see your point, I have a few fights where Atlas does his business and he is good but sounds like he is squeezing out a shite between words. All...those...dramatic......pauses.

I quite like Barry McGuigan, he is a bit companyish but he seems the type of guy I'd like to talk boxing with.

People always have an agenda and it is hard to get to the objective view but for me both Barry and Jim Watt are very good, Watt at times reads the fight how it should appear in his head and when he says (at a rounds end) "X is getting back into the fight" you know he will score everything for X for at least two rounds but he is alright. He just doesn't seem to score round by round. I got told by a few people in the know (allegedly in the know) that Jim gets his info fed to him pre-fight and that may be but he comes up with good analysis in the fight itself so must know the business. Cossell used to get the colour handed to him on a plate.

I had a chat with Watt at ringside a while back, forget which fight now, but he was talking with great glee about Calzaghe's beating of Lacy, and how he had backed Calzaghe to win it. He said "Yae knooo, it's nae vaerrrry often ourrrrr fighterrrrrrrs get tae stick one right up the yanks" as he gesticulated with his rolled up program which he demonstrated and upward stuffing up the arse motion. He looked happy as a pig in shite.

After listening to Steve Bunce's punditry on the BBC, I don't see how anyone can seriously moan about McGuigan.

Terence wrote:

TerribleTerry wrote:

Terence wrote: About time someone agreed with me I'll enter this into my diary, once I've started one. Top name BTW.

C'mon Terence - you are not fooling anyone.

'Ezzard' is quite clearly your on-line alter ego..

Fooking hell! Rumbled again

I can do with a rest after you ripping the piss out of me all week

Or was that 'Varc?!

Not guilty.

Must be the other fella..

I am looking forward to getting outside this wkend and going a nice shade of lobster red in this fine british summer weather we are having.

Fill your boots Terence - the grey clouds only break over Manchester for around a week a year as I understand it.
8)

Taki... wrote:After listening to Steve Bunce's punditry on the BBC, I don't see how anyone can seriously moan about McGuigan.

Correct.

His Audley nut huggery was a million times more insulting and nausiating than McGuigan's praise for Khan.

The low point for Bunce however, was that he was full of praise for Audley on the beeb, and then wrote a (relatively speaking) hatchet piece on him in the Telegraph. That's a dangerous game and is a good reason why journalists do not good pundits make, it's a difficult balancing act to pull off.

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:Ever thought Khans been protected will help him climb to the top? Hes very young and will get better and better, if hes thrown in too deep early he'll drown like many a young prospect. He already has world class speed, stamina, technique and footwork - but he lacks some professional skills that should come. Hes also seems allot stronger than when he first started - this will improve over the years too.
.

Your not going to develop a world champion by continually matching him with opponents with no power from the featherweight division who cant remotely test him. Amirs being built up by false confidence how is he goinbg to deal with a live body who wants to make an argument of it when hes beating up on stiffs & being hyped to shit by the media for it?

They tried step him up the other month with that fella & amir look knackered & very shaky hes no future champ just another Audley waiting to happen yet despiet his zero charisma people seem to like him at least Audley doesnt drive recklessly & break civilians legs.