BOXING IS DESTROYING ITSELF

I AM a 41-year-old man who has been a football fanatic for my entire life. But the last few years of endless questionable money coming into the game had me turning off.

So recently I’ve come back to boxing. I remember as a kid watching Bruno, Lewis, Eubank lighting up my TV on the weekends. I remember desperately hunting down a VHS of Prince Naseem’s early fights. I loved it. But eventually football dragged me back and I left boxing in my 20s.

So now I’ve been getting back into it. Learning properly about the different divisions, catching up on fighters I’ve missed out on in those wilderness years, watching old fights on Youtube, reading books, trying to understand the intricacies of the sport that weren’t apparent as a kid. As an adult I find the technical aspects so fascinating. The bravery and craft on show is, in my eyes, unrivalled in world sport. I’ve even begun taking a few boxing lessons myself. I feel like a kid again.

Which brings me onto my main point. Why would I watch a sport that is at best grossly mismanaged, or at worst corrupt? It’s the morning after the Taylor vs Catterall fight and I’m still gobsmacked. And more than a little heartbroken for Jack Catterall. In my short time getting back into the sport I’ve seen way too many decisions that have been what can only be described as bizarre, and they’ve left a distinctly sour taste in my mouth. But last night was beyond bizarre. It was a disgrace. Jack Catterall’s entire life has led up to this point and he did exactly what he has trained so hard for. Catterall won that fight and he should have walked away with all of those belts. And to see it taken away from him was disgusting.

So why am I watching? What is the point if nothing matters? When someone performs to the absolute peak of his or her abilities, nails the gameplan so clearly, restricts the opponent to nothing, actually puts the fella on his backside, and still gets called the loser. Why do I bother? And I’m sorry to drag you into this, but why do I have a print subscription to your fantastic magazine? Or subscribe to sports channels? I know it’s not your fault at all, but I want to invest my time (and my money) into something that I believe is fair. And right now boxing just ain’t it, I’m afraid.

It was heartening, at least, to see some open outrage after the fight from the TV crew. But outrage isn’t enough. It needs to change. People need to held accountable for things like this or boxing will see people like me shrugging our shoulders and heading back to the footy.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the sport is also losing lifelong fans with decisions like this. Spectacle can only go so far. Credibility and fairness is what people need to truly invest in a sport. Boxing seems to be destroying itself from the inside out. Johnny Harrington

A SHAMEFUL DECISION

I'M sure you'll be inundated with mail about the daylight robbery inflicted on Jack Catterall after his bout against Josh Taylor. Please do not try to feed us any of the trite and worn-out lines like, "the judges just called it as they saw it", or that over-used favourite, "some of the rounds were hard to score and could have gone either way". Taylor lost in the eyes of any fair-minded boxing fan and lost clearly. Ian John-lewis' score in particular was an inexplicable travesty and his fitness to judge any future bouts must now be called into question. I can only sympathise with Catterall after this fiasco and hope never to see such an awful decision happen in our rings again. Les Carr

AN APOLOGY FROM SCOTLAND

AS a Glaswegian ex-boxer I thought I had to write a letter to express my shame and embarrassment at the decision that was awarded to Josh Taylor following his defence of his numerous belts at The Hydro in Glasgow. As far as I am concerned, that decision left me even more saddened than if he had lost (which he did). As we waited for the judges to finalise their scorecards, I had a horrible feeling that somehow they were going to call it a draw. Even that would have been a shock. But to go even further and award the decision to Josh was the worst decision I have witnessed in the sport.

After the high of Josh's outstanding performance in Las Vegas last year, I fear this decision will haunt him for a long time to come. It's not his fault, he has nothing to do with the scorecards, but these kind of decisions do the sport no good at all. Glasgow will now be known as a place where you need to knock your opponent out to get a draw! We used to slate other nations for that. So, I am sure I speak for many when I offer an apology to Jack Catterall and his team on behalf of the majority of people I have spoken to. I feel sorry for Josh too, as there must have been a tremendous amount of pressure on him to perform well. I for one didn't give Catterall a chance. I underestimated him big time. John Carlin

A SHAMEFUL DECISION

I HAVE defended boxing against a lot of ignorance and prejudice over the years but there is no defending the sport tonight. It's rotten to the core and I am debating engaging with it ever again.

How the judges scored that fight against Catterall is unbelievable, it was either gross ineptitude or absolute corruption and the latter is probably true.

The one plus: Ben Shalom was very forthright in saying he was embarrassed and ashamed. Some honesty at least. Darren Maguire

BUSINESS NOT A SPORT

I THINK the decision in the Taylor-Catterall contest is the saddest I’ve ever felt watching boxing. It seemed to confirm that the business of boxing will always take priority over the sport. Its so damaging. Josh Taylor’s remarkable achievement in becoming undisputed champion is rewarded with a homecoming against an assumed safe, albeit deserving challenger before moving up in weight for more marketable and bigger contests against the likes of Terence Crawford and Errol Spence. But the dedicated and motivated challenger is superb, boxing to a wellthought-out game plan and it’s obvious to everyone, wins the fight.

Shameful. Jamie Moore was correct: Why would any young kid think about getting into boxing when all the sacrifice and hard work is seemingly shown to never be enough? That’s not sport. Darren Spittle

CORRUPTION?

IN the words of Teddy Atlas, “It must be corruption as no one can be that incompetent." I'm obviously referring to the judging at this weekend's fight. How many more times can this happen, how many more times must our intelligence be insulted. All eyes are now on the BBB of C, the ball is in their court. My heart goes out to Jack Catterall and his team. As Jamie Moore said, what kind of message does this send out to all the young boxers out there? Heartbreaking. Gary Hughes