Ignorant residents of South Kensington need a history lesson

It's not often I get really riled by something I've read in a newspaper but when I came across this story yesterday I almost fell off my chair.
This morning's Sun newspaper carries the headline: RESIDENTS BATTLE TO KO HALL PLANS
It begins: Local residents are fighting to stop boxing returning to London's Royal Albert Hall.
Ah, "local residents". Having worked as a reporter on a local newspaper I know this phrase all too well. I can't count the amount of stories I've written about "local residents" opposing a new development or "local residents" having a moan or "local residents" saying "that's all very well but not-in-my-back-yard".
Now the "local residents" of South Kensington, one of London's most affluent areas, have got their knickers in a twist over plans to return boxing to the Royal Albert Hall. If any of these residents had lived there for longer than ten years they would know that boxing has always taken place there. Well, at least since 11th December 1918 when the Welsh flyweight legend Jimmy "The Mighty Atom" Wilde appeared on the card.
Boxing has been staged at the Royal Albert Hall as recently as 1999 when Julius Francis defeated Danny Williams for the British and Commonwealth heavyweight title and a certain Ricky Hatton featured on the undercard. In fact, most of the great British fighters of the past 90 years have fought at the Hall at some point in their careers. Lennox Lewis, the 1988 Olympic gold medalist, made his professional debut at the Royal Albert Hall in 1989. British heavyweight champ Joe Bugner fought at least a quarter of his 83 bouts at the Hall, Frank Bruno fought there, as did Sir Henry Cooper and greats such as Jack "Kid" Berg, Randy Turpin and Ken Buchanan. Nigel Benn defeated Anthony Logan in a classic tear-up at the Hall in 1988.
What this all boils down to is simple prejudice. As one of the residents says herself: "The type of people attending boxing matches aren't going to be your average Prom-goer". So it's alright for people to attend classical music concerts, or even tennis matches, but not boxing. There is an underlying belief that people who choose to watch boxing are "undesirable" types. Now, it may be true that boxing sometimes attracts a noisy element, witness Hatton's traveling army of fans, but are they really any worse than people attending a rock concert? And what if they are? Haven't they paid their taxes the same as everyone else? Millions of pounds of public money are poured into "the arts" every year for events which frankly, have limited public appeal. A British or World title fight at Royal Albert Hall would have been in the past and could be in the future, one of the highlights of the sporting calendar.
In fact, the only reason boxing hasn't been held at the Hall in recent years is because of a clerical error on the part of the Hall's management who simply forgot to tick a box when reapplying for a license in 2005.
Let's hope Mr Justice McCombe, who is hearing this appeal, sees sense and throws it out without a second thought.

Boxing idioms go the distance

You wouldn't know it today but the sport of boxing has had a huge influence on our culture. In the period between the wars and in the 'golden age' of the Fifties and Sixties, boxing was perhaps the only sport which crossed national, class, and racial boundaries. That is the reason that people like Muhammad Ali are truly global stars in a way that Pele, for all his fame in footballing circles, could never be ('soccer' has never captured the popular imagination in North America).
However, one area where boxing's enormous impact is still felt is the English language. It occurred to me the other day when I heard someone with little or no knowledge of boxing talking about "throwing in the towel". I wondered if she knew where the expression came from or whether, as seems more likely, it has just become a part of our everyday language. So, sad as it seems, I sat down to compile a list of all the boxing idioms still in use today.
Here goes:

on the ropes
out for the count
saved by the bell
to come out swinging
to take it on the chin
to beat someone to the punch
blow-by-blow
down-and-out
glass jaw
to go the distance
to have someone in your corner
to describe somone as a "heavy-hitter" or a "heavyweight"
below the belt/low blow
in-fighting
KO
TKO
knock-out
to describe someone as a "lightweight"
to give someone "the old one-two"
to pull your punches
punch drunk
to take a ringside seat
to roll with the punches
sparring partner
sucker punch
to square up / square off
the gloves are off
to throw in the towel
to throw one's hat in the ring (apparently this was how early fights started)

If you can think of any more to add to the list, then let me know. I'm sure there are loads I haven't thought of.

Boxing namesakes

"Norton retains his British and Commonwealth titles" - ran the boxing headlines on Saturday morning, yet, sadly, the Norton they referred to was not me but British cruiserweight Rob Norton (pictured above right).

The Stourbridge southpaw fought out a lacklustre draw with his British rival David Dolan, less than a year after beating him on points in a bruising encounter back in February 2009, to hold on to his belts. Norton improved his record to 32-4-2, very respectable it has to be said but at 38 years old it's hard to see where he can go from here.

A far more illustrious namesake from boxing history is of course the former heavyweight champion and boxing hall-of-famer Ken "Jaw Breaker" Norton (pictured left).

Norton inflicted only the second defeat of Muhammad Ali's career when the pair met for the first time in 1973. Norton broke Ali's jaw in that fight - hence the nickname - to take the old NABF heavyweight title. Norton went on to fight Ali twice more, losing both, although their third fight at Yankee Stadium in 1976 is one of the most hotly disputed decisions of all time.

Norton was a tough guy, and went on to have a brutal encounter with Larry Holmes for the WBC title in 1978, again, losing on points. His son Ken Jr enjoyed a highly successful career in American football.

The excellent website boxrec.com lists four boxers actually called Tommy Norton (that's my name in case you hadn't guessed) although sadly they don't have a single victory between them.

Berto cancels Mosley fight after Haitian tragedy

One of the first big fights of the year, 'Sugar' Shane Mosley against Andre Berto, has been called off after Berto lost several members of his extended family in the Haitian earthquake. The news left him physically and emotionally drained and unsurprisingly he couldn't find the motivation to train or focus on the fight.
Tragedies such as that which has befallen Haiti, already a country on its knees, certainly put sport in perspective.
Mosley, coming off the back of an impressive win over Antonio Margarito (albeit almost a year ago) may now face Floyd Mayweather after the latter's superfight with Pacquiao hit the buffers earlier this month.

You can donate to Disasters Emergency Committee here.

Taylor pulls out of 'Super-Six' tournament

Showtime's Super Six round-robin tournament, a rare example in boxing of managers and promoters putting aside their differences for the good of the sport, has been dealt a blow by the news that Jermain 'Bad Intentions' Taylor has pulled out of the tournament.
The 31-year old lost his first and only fight in the competition, a twelfth round KO to Arthur Abraham in Germany and was also on the receiving end of a quite stunning twelfth round stoppage to Britain's Carl Froch - who was losing on points at the time - in a pre-tournament fight back in April '09.
His withdrawal gives organisers a headache because the tournament now has an uneven number of fighters and points have already been awarded to Abraham on the back of his victory over Taylor.
Possible replacements have already been mentioned including the Australian Sakio 'The Scorpion' Bika who fights Allan Green on the 5 February, Green himself should he win that contest and Lucian Bute, the undefeated IBF title holder.
Whoever replaces him will, I suppose, start at the bottom of the table alongside fellow group stage 1 losers Andre Dirrel and Mikkel Kessler.
Kessler's fight against Carl Froch is set for April 17 in Copenhagen and promises to be the biggest bust-up since the world's politicians descended on the Danish capital for climate talks last year.
Taylor meanwhile has some rebuilding to do after four defeats in his last five outings including two demoralising reversals to Kelly Pavlik.

Calzaghe in 2007: "I'll never fight Roy Jones"

Hold the phone! More stunning revelations from Calzaghe's autobiography 'No ordinary Joe' which I'm reading at the moment. First there was the shock disclosure, within the very first chapter, that Joe would "never" appear on Strictly Come Dancing now in chapter 8, or 'Round 8' as it's called in the book I came across this:

"By this stage (2006) Roy Jones had been knocked out by Glen Johnson and Antonio Tarver and, although he's still active, I would never want to fight him now. He's not the same fighter and I'd have nothing to gain by beating a shadow of what he once was. Jones was a great fighter in his day and a great name, but he's been knocked out twice, knocked out cold. What would I gain by knocking him out for a third time?"

Fast forward to November 2008 and a 39-year-old Jones was still dangerous enough to put Calzaghe on his backside in the first round of their clash at Madison Square Garden before Joe went on to win convincingly on points in what turned out to be his last fight. In the book Calzaghe insinuates that Jones's demise was due to steroids or the lack of them after the revelation that he had failed a test some years ago. Jones was recently knocked out for the third time in his career by Australian journeyman Danny Green in what may, if he has any sense, be his last fight. But if the Calzaghe book proves anything it's that in boxing you should never say never.