What a way to spend a Sunday! by Kerry Duffy May 22nd 2006

Having spent Friday evening watching a replay of Ricky Hatton's victory over Luis Collazo, Saturday evening witnessing Amir Khan's latest pro victory and then waking up on Sunday morning to find Marco Antonio Barrera draw and then win, was I really ready to spend a whole Sunday in the company of and watching boxers? You bet! Eschewing the usual delights of a Sunday spent with my parents, a cup of tea in bed, roast dinner with all the trimmings and general laziness, myself and my father set off at around midday for the east end of London. First port of call however, was the Golden Lion pub in London Colney, where the Home Counties Ex-Boxers Association hold their monthly meetings. This month it was decided that they would spend the time supporting the Irish-born but locally based prospect, Andrew Murray. It was to be his sixth professional contest and a minibus had been laid on to take us to York Hall to watch Murray and a bill that included Julius Francis and was headlined by Peter Haymer, whom I didn't know much about, except that I had seen numerous pictures of him. Is it me, or is his mug everywhere? Nice mug though. Arriving promptly, we walked into the Golden Lion to find club president and former world middleweight champion, Terry Downes cutting a cake, a boxing ring of course, in celebration of his 70th birthday. In attendance were several former boxers, the aforementioned Downes, Terry Rees and Dave Williams. After a few drinks and the obligatory greetings, we piled into the minibus, and I do mean mini. It's amazing how quickly a vehicle packed with 16 men and little old me can soon resemble a coffin. It's times like these that I wished I carried some brown paper bags. As we travelled along at speed, I was transported back to my school geography field trips. Staring out of the steamed up windows and listening to the latest gossip. Instead of hearing about who fancies whom and what teacher they hate, it was all boxing, boxing, boxing. It never fails to amaze me how these great fans of the sport manage to retain the minutest of details with regard to fights going years back. I couldn't remember what I had for breakfast yet these aficionados were reeling off statistics quicker than John Motson at a world cup final. I could've listened to them all day, and I nearly had to as we got caught in traffic at Tottenham. After what seemed like an age, we eventually pulled up outside York Hall, Bethnal Green. Now, I don't know what I was expecting but I was almost disappointed not to see Ronnie and Reggie Kray at ringside and Barbara Windsor greeting me at the door. There was not a Mauser pistol in sight! Joking aside, I was very much looking forward to going to York Hall. I imagined it would be much bigger than it actually was and so was surprised at its relative intimacy. I am what you might call an observer of people, which is most annoying when trying to watch boxing on TV. I invariably miss the first round trying to see if there are any famous faces at ringside. I was in my element at the bar before the bouts. “Is that Billy Schwer?” I whispered to my dad. “Yes it is.” Some young woman behind me confirmed. Discreet I am not. I also spotted Mickey Duff holding court. We had an afternoon of boxing to look forward to and as I sat on the balcony I had a great view of the action. I also had a complimentary hair wash thanks to the leaking roof. The boxing began with Ashley Theophane getting the decision over Billy Smith, followed by Steve Gethin losing to Mark Alexander. An interesting bout between Ervis ‘Iron Man' Jegeni and Istvan Kecskes saw the Iron Man emerge victorious after forcing Kecskes to turn his back several times, presumably trying to find the exit. A blast from the past, Julius Francis was not at all happy to lose the decision, quite rightly I might add, to Scott Lansdowne. A bad loser, he was out of the ring before it was officially announced. Top of the bill, Peter Haymer stopped opponent, Varuzhan Davtyan after 58 seconds of the 4th round. After chasing the knockout, Haymer's relentless pressure proved too much for Davtyan. Closing the bill was the popular Jamal Morrison who added a second win to his one draw no loss record by out pointing Geraint Harvey, who may I add sported a handsome pair of black velvet shorts. Very fetching. At the end of the evening it was decided that we would convene at former world flyweight champion Charlie Magri's pub, The Victoria. Of course, as we came as a group we had to leave as a group and as we rounded up the troops, news filtered through that our minibus had been broken into and the Sat Nav had been pinched. Thank goodness for small mercies, we may get lost on the way home but at least the broken window would let some much-needed air circulate. We spent the next few hours happily ensconced in The Victoria. I was surrounded by some very successful fighters. Terry Rees, Colin Dunne, Sean Murphy, Billy Schwer and of course Charlie Magri. I don't think I've ever felt safer. It would be a foolish man to start trouble in there! After some ‘interesting' karaoke from Terry Rees and Sean Murphy it was time to leave for home. I might not have had a bite to eat all day but the headache was worth it. I think I a may have overdosed on boxing this weekend but at least I've got a couple of days to sober up before Friday comes and again it starts.

Go back Comment on this article | Send to a friend | Print

There are no comments. Click here to be the first who comment on this article.