Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ BLOGS - Ben Dirs

Archives for September 2010

Classic Ryder Cup encounters

Post categories:

Ben Dirs | 07:06 UK time, Wednesday, 29 September 2010

A few years back, I was chatting to my Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 5 live boxing colleagues over a couple of post-fight beers and they were rather bemused to discover that my favourite event on the sporting calendar was golf's Ryder Cup.

How could someone so fascinated by a sport as visceral, dangerous and gladiatorial as boxing be in thrall to a bunch of mild-mannered chaps in matching v-necks and slacks engaging in one of the most genteel sports of all?

Well, the Ryder Cup might not be dangerous but I would argue it's about as visceral as it gets - and, due to its blow-by-blow dynamics, not entirely un-gladiatorial. Oh, and as I pointed out to my 5 live friends, unlike boxing the Ryder Cup almost always delivers, making it very much 'The Milkman' of sporting events.

Cast your eyes over the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Sport website's greatest Ryder Cup encounters below - and don't forget to let us know about all your favourite memories of the event.

Read the rest of this entry

Cleverly shines brightest

Post categories:

Ben Dirs | 08:41 UK time, Monday, 20 September 2010

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Sport at the LG Arena, Birmingham

If Saturday night in Birmingham was a learning night for British boxing fans, then it was who taught us most.

There were some experts - including former lightweight world champion and now Sky pundit - who thought Karo Murat, out of Germany via war-torn Iraq, would have too much for the 23-year-old from Cefn Fforest.

But Cleverly demonstrated he possesses the heart, stamina and chin to thrive at world level in winning just about every round against his obdurate, if limited, foe.

Read the rest of this entry

Kell Brook - British boxing's next big thing?

Post categories:

Ben Dirs | 22:27 UK time, Wednesday, 15 September 2010

To the nine-year-old Kell Brook, walking through the doors of in Wincobank, Sheffield, for the first time was like walking onto the set of a Hollywood movie - and what he calls "the Wincobank tingle" has been with him ever since.

"I still remember that first smell," says Brook, who in Birmingham on Saturday, "and that smell's still there now - how a gym should smell."

The undisputed star of the gym back when Brook was merely an uncredited extra was former featherweight world champion , a man who could turn a routine training session into something resembling an MTV shoot.

Read the rest of this entry

Hatton's problems are not unique

Post categories:

Ben Dirs | 10:41 UK time, Wednesday, 15 September 2010

has become such a clichΓ© that the news of will have been met with little more than a disappointed shrug by many. Murder, rape, battery, suicide, larceny - boxing has seen it all many times over down the years, to the extent that Hatton's actions seem small fry in comparison, which is not to make light of his predicament.

Only last May, in the wake of Hatton's , Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 5 live dedicated an entire show to the lot of the retired fighter, in which British greats Barry McGuigan, Nigel Benn, Ken Buchanan and Frank Bruno told of their difficulty in adapting to life after boxing.

Some demons are shared - with Hatton and each other - and some demons are their own. But the overriding message is clear - that once the spotlight dims and the roar of the crowd fades, boxers often find themselves in a lonely, bewildering and bitter place.

Read the rest of this entry

Haye-Harrison business as usual

Post categories:

Ben Dirs | 07:20 UK time, Wednesday, 8 September 2010

"Don't care who wins this fight just that it ends in a brutal KO. If it's Haye on the deck he'll deserve to be for fighting this bum. If Harrison ends up on the deck at least it will shut him up forever." ChrisBarnes on the 606 boxing messageboard


In June 1939 the great Joe Louis defended his world heavyweight crown against a fighter called , a man who trained on cigars, meatballs and grog and who was described by one reporter as looking like an "ambulatory beer barrel". Although presumably not to his face.

A crude, vicious brawler, in and out of the ring, the 5ft 9in, 230lb Galento wrestled an octopus, boxed a bear and once, for a bet, consumed 52 hot dogs directly before a fight, prior to knocking his opponent bandy. A character, certainly, but a character described by another contemporary sports writer as an "uncouth, unfunny, unskilled, unethical, and unspeakable braggart".

Read the rest of this entry

Wishing Holyfield would disappear

Post categories:

Ben Dirs | 10:56 UK time, Monday, 6 September 2010

Evander Holyfield admits he finds it difficult to deal with people asking why he continues to fight. HeΒ thinks they are afraid he'll get hurt. He thinks they are afraid he's making a fool of himself.

"Oh Evander," says Holyfield, screwing up his face and pretending to cry as he imitates his concernedΒ fans, "we love you! Why you still fighting? Do you really want to get beat up? You're such a nice guy!"

The truth is more brutal than that. The truth is most people are less concerned about his well-being than they are about the well-being of boxing. The truth is people used to love him but now he has become an embarrassment to the sport. Mention Evander Holyfield and people laugh or they wince or they refuse to believe he is still fighting.

Read the rest of this entry

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ iD

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ navigation

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Β© 2014 The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.