Monday 25 January 2010

Frank Warren's pique at Amir Khan defection will not prove lasting -- The Guardian

By Kevin Mitchell, Guardian.co.uk

The promoter has bemoaned the death of loyalty in sport, but will not let that stand in the way of business.

Frank Warren says he feels "gutted and let down" by Amir Khan, who has followed Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe out the door. "I should have learned my lesson by now," Frank said. "Unfortunately, there is no loyalty in sport any more."

Nor is there a tooth fairy or any chance of West Ham winning the Premier League in our lifetime.

Chill out, Frank. You've got a whole stable of terrific fighters. Not sure what the problem is. Khan was a free agent, he fights for a living and he wants to break the States. Go for it. Don't be surprised, though, if Warren promotes him again in the future. There is a young guy called Kell Brook who'd love to fight Amir.

Well, so would a lot of people – because they'd get the biggest payday of their careers, and they'd fancy their chances in chasing down that soft chin. Dmitriy Salita couldn't find it, though. Nor will Ricky Hatton, if that fight ever happens.

Also, getting weary of the Khan-Hatton speculation. Do the fight, guys, or don't do it.


Murray counters

Andy Murray is big on boxing and has worked out with Amir Khan. But he doesn't reckon the training methods in the gym are much good for his tennis.

"The thing that's a bit different with boxing is that they are quite old-school, the training I've seen them do. I've seen quite a few boxers train and it's just different."

Old school is good. Particularly as his mate Amir trains with Manny Pacquiao who… no, leave it.


Arum the magician

You've got to hand it to Bob Arum. He walks away from the wreckage of Pacquiao-Mayweather (for which he was partly responsible, but let's not go over that again), and finds work for three of his other fighters who are vaguely in that mix around 10 stone.

The disgraced Antonio Margarito has a gig against Carson Jones (24-7-1) on the undercard of Manny's fight against Joshua Clottey in Texas on 13 March, and what a shock that is. Bob clearly has friends in Texas.

He's also trying to get Miguel Cotto to share a ring with Yuri Foreman at the Garden, maybe in June.

Cotto has had it tough lately, beaten up by Pacquiao then losing his father, to whom he was very close. I hope he's getting well paid, because he will probably not be in the right frame of mind for a while yet.


Say it ain't so, Evander

If you were in any doubt as to why 47-year-old Evander Holyfield was fighting 41-year-old Frans Botha in Kampala on 20 February, the answer is coming at you, courtesy of tmz.com, with crushing predictability.

Right. Money. And lots of kids and alimony and desperation and memories. For a guy who is always pleasant, who trusts in God and says he leads a righteous life, Evander certainly lives on the edge.

He hasn't fought since going the distance with Nikolay Valuev in December 2008. Botha's last ring appearance was a snoring match against the 39-year-old Cuban defector Pedro Carrion (8-1-1) in Germany in October in defence of his WBF title. No, I'm not sure why, either.

It can only get sadder.

Source: guardian.co.uk

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