Falling for the hype

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.