Last night I
was conned.
I was taken in by the story but left disappointed by the ending.
If you’re not
familiar with boxing, then you should probably stop reading now. But last
night, Tony Bellew beat Nathan Cleverly in what was the most unspectacular
fight I’ve witnessed in quite some time. And to make things worse, I paid £15
for the pleasure of watching it.
This wasn’t a
world title fight. In fact, these fighters aren’t even competing at a world class level at the moment. And I wouldn’t predict a big future for either of them off
the back of this fight.
There were
world title fights on the bill, and some of Britain’s brightest prospects. But
these were the support act.
This was a
story more important, more compelling than world titles and world class
fighters.
This was a grudge match.
A bitter
rivalry built up over months, even years by sound bites, media coverage and
press conferences (often punctuated with pushing and shoving, and quick
intervention by security guards).
The story so far
Cleverly and
Bellew first fought in 2011 as up and coming, and unbeaten super-middleweights.
That day, Cleverly won on a split decision, but the scene was set for a great
story of two closely matched fighters that hated each other.
Their careers
followed each other closely – both rising to the top of their division, both
suffering crushing knock-out defeats, both having to re-create themselves in a
different division.
The scene was
set for another showdown, carefully manufactured by promoter Eddie Hearn – a
man who knows how to create the stories that are putting British boxers on a
world stage (think Froch vs. Groves).
Both boxers moved
up to cruiser weight. They fought on the same bills. With every win, the other
was there taunting and threatening from ringside.It was just a matter of time.
And then the
fight was agreed.
Roll-on
months of build-up – television programmes with the boxers growling across a
table at each other; press conferences all over the country; features from
inside the training camps. And of course, the sound bites…
“I’ve spanked
this guy once, I’m going to spank him again,” rattled Cleverly.
"When I fight Cleverly, I'm going to retire him," said Bellew.
Over-billing, under performing
Unfortunately,
this time, the fighters and so the fight couldn’t live up to its billing.
I’m not
saying that the animosity was fake. But you can’t deny that it is key in
selling the event and putting it on a far bigger scale.
If this was a
fight purely about ability or about its sporting significance, it wouldn’t have
cost £15 to watch and attracted the millions of viewers that it did. That was the price for taking part in the story – who would
come out on top of this brutal rivalry?
Unfortunately
the last chapter didn’t quite live up to the billing. And I’m not sure I would
be so interested in a sequel. But the story telling in boxing is what makes it
such a compelling sport to follow, in a way completely different to any other.
