Parker vs Whyte: Out Of All The Negativity Came Something Very Special:

Parker vs Whyte: Out Of All The Negativity Came Something Very Special:

Even before the announcement of the undercard there was almost unprecedented criticism about the decision to make the Joseph Parker and Dillian Whyte fight a PPV event for UK viewers. The criticism increased when the undercard fights were announced and intensified further when Kell Brook withdrew from his scheduled bout and then attempts to get the likes of Chris Eubank Jr and Joe Joyce proved unsuccessful. Then late replacement Sam Eggington himself withdrew from the show and calls to make the card a non-PPV event grew louder, not that those voices would ever be heard. of course

But sometimes when the expectations are low and negativity is in the air we get something quite unexpected, something special and at the O2 in London on Saturday night we got that in abundance, a truly special night.

Even though I always suspected the main event would send everyone home happy and those that purchased the PPV would quickly forget what came before, it was the undercard that set the bar very high for the main event. Even then you feared that Parker and Whyte had an almost impossible job to top what came before them and they to delivered on a night that nobody will quickly forget.

To be fair I could understand the negativity, when we already have to pay subscriptions to Sky Sports, BT Sport and BoxNation to watch the Noble Art then when we are being asked to pay additional monies to watch the sport we love, we expect, demand even something special. From a personal viewpoint, I don’t just want to see a decent main even preceded by a series of WWE style ‘squash’ matches by the latest rising stars.

The UFC get it right the majority of the time, stacking their PPV offerings with meaningful fights that have real meaning, fights where we don’t know who will win. Far too many times I have had to sit through PPV shows where there is very little drama, who wins we virtually know beforehand, and despite being called a ‘casual’ it’s not what I deem value for money.

But what we got at the O2 was a card where everything clicked, everything worked and for the UK fans, we got the ending we wanted, the storybook conclusion you could not have written the script any better.

Anthony Fowler started the evening against a live opponent, and the night had begun well enough. Then the perceived perennial loser Dave Allen stepped into the ring, another supposedly stupid career move, another short notice call up that would end in defeat and probably retirement to follow. But one big right hand changed everything and set the tone for the evening.

Joshua Buatsi in the only ‘squash’ fight looked every inch the future star his promoter believes he is. Conor Benn won but his victory raised more concerns about his future in the sport but we got a fight, the evening had begun well, way above expectations.

Katie Taylor showed again what a class act and the talent she is, maybe underappreciated but the respect will surely come.

By the time Dereck Chisora and Carlos Takam entered the fray we had already had enough entertainment to satisfy our need, but they gave us an unforgettable war, the sort of fight that a piece of them is left behind in the ring. Chisora soaked up plenty and despite landing plenty himself always looked the one likely to wilt first. Chisora after all always loses the big fights. But this time he had other ideas this time he would not be denied, this was his night and so it proved.

Parker and Whyte had an extremely hard to follow but they matched what came before. I tipped Whyte to win based on the fact I thought he was the one with the greater hunger the fighter who might want it a little more and that I believe was what saw him home. But even the last round where Whyte only had to remain standing to win had to give us one last dramatic ‘Rocky’ moment, on a night like this we couldn’t really expect anything less, drama to the last. A desperately tired and hurt Whyte got dropped and even seconds from a famous win he seemed on the brink of losing what he had fought so hard to get.

It brought back memories of an exhausted Frank Bruno in the last round grabbing hold of Oliver McCall trying to survive all those years ago at Wembley Stadium, Whyte survived and that greater hunger and desire was the difference.

On a night where we expected nothing, we got everything.