By Roger Baxter.
2230: So, all in all, a frustrating evening, though good if you’re a Haye fan. Those who are less convinced (and there are plenty who viewed this fight as an utter joke from the very beginning) will want to see Haye fight either of the Klitschko brothers. My own prediction is that Haye, having taken little to no damage tonight, may well take on his mandatory challenger Ruslan Chagaev, an actually legitimate contender, fairly early on next year, before, if that goes well, fighting one of the Ukrainian brothers in the summer. If he wins that fight, which I would view as a rather chancy prospect at best, he would definitely fight the other close to his 31st birthday next October, the date Haye has set to retire from the sport. But tonight is about Haye, and his absolute destruction of the mildly irritating Audley Harrison. For this, at least, we should be thankful.
2223: And that’s it. Haye opens up a minute after the third round starts, and Harrison has absolutely no answer. As soon as the first right lands, the taller man’s chin is as much use as a snowflake in a supernova; he goes down once, gets up, but is completely unable to defend himself. The referee stops the fight, perhaps a tad prematurely, but I doubt there’ll be any serious complaint, given that Haye was in the process of giving Harrison an absolute mauling, and probably would have had him down for the count in the next 30 seconds or so.
2221: Haye comes out of his shell after a tentative jab from Harrison but, other than landing a couple of one-twos, there’s little to separate the two other than Harrison’s inactivity. 20-18 Haye.
2216: A very disappointing opening round sees both men finding their ranges. 10-9 Haye.
2210: Finally, it’s here. Or, as Mr Lennon says, “IIIIIt’s Showtime!”
2204: Nothing of the sort for Haye. Wagnerian thunder prefaces the champion’s ring-walk music of “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now”, and, like Wagner’s hero Siegfried, the Bermondsey man comes to the ring looking as though he will prove himself the lord of it in the near future.
2158: Harrison gets an absolutely horrible reception as he walks to the ring, Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” accompanied by a cacophonous descant of boos. A somewhat twee T-Shirt advertising the plight Stonebridge’s adventure playground completes the image of Harrison not quite being the most legitimate contender for the heavyweight title (worthy cause though the playground surely is).
2154: McGuigan (finally) makes a worthwhile point, comparing the atmosphere to the Ricky Hatton – Kostya Tszuyu fight many years ago. But enough of that; Haye-Harrison is here, and there’s none better than Jimmy Lennon Jr. to do the honours. The atmosphere in Manchester, not to mention our own Courtyard, is electric.
2136: The silken tones of American announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr., seemingly on loan from the Showtime network, announce the entrance to the ring of 3-time heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, who receives by far the greatest cheer of the night so far. At the weigh-in, Lewis’ eyes seemed to say “I could still take both of these guys”; here, though, he is all smiles and jokes, crying out “Machesteeeeer!” to the jubilation of the rabid M.E.N. arena fans. Lewis, however, disappears as fast as he had arrived, with Sky’s coverage returning to the insipid musings of Barry McGuigan and Glenn McCrory. At least they’re not Duke McKenzie, a pundit just too awful to contemplate.
2128: We cut from the ramblings and prevarications of the Sky pundits (of which I shall spare you the excruciating details) to highlights of the previously screened Stuart Hall-Gary Davies fight. Hall wins in the seventh, with the 10-0 favourite just starting to unload his best shots. more noticeable, though, is the newly found atmosphere of apathy around Courtyard; the undercard appears to be kicking in to the morass of casual fans.
2049: The trainer now tells Groves “don’t slug”, at which point Groves slugs. Hmm. Anderson produces effective pressure fighting in the same mould of the third and fourth for the first minute, but then a massive Groves left connects squarely with the Scotsman’s liver, and the fight is never the same again. Seeing his opponent on the defensive for the first time, Groves finally throws the shots he is capable of, and relentlessly batters Anderson for the next minute and a half, with the referee stopping the fight on the basis that Anderson is unable to defend himself (it’s a good stoppage, in my view). Groves survives a real scare, and may have provided his future opponents with a blueprint of how to beat him: unending pressure, allied with good defensive technique while on the inside.
2044: Groves’ trainer tells him to “clear his head”, and wise advice it proves. The fifth resembles the first two rounds far more than the last. 47-47.
2039: Anderson comes out firing, and the fight turns into an all-out war, with Groves getting caught left, right and centre. John Rawling the commentator remarks that Groves “is going nowhere quick if he stays so easy to hit”. BUT Groves hurts Anderson, finally, at the end of the round with a head-then-body combo. 38-37 Anderson.
2035: GROVES IS DOWN. His tactic of working off the ropes comes a cropper in this round, with Anderson dominating. Hands are down, Groves is down once and could have been down again at the end of the round. Firing back is NOT a good idea, even though it’s evidently in Groves’ character. 28-28.
2031: Another round of good work from Groves, a juddering counter left hook setting up several one-twos towards the bell. 20-18 Groves.
2027: The referee gives them their instructions, and the first round begins. From the outset, Groves seems content to box from the outside, and let Anderson take the lead role in the fight. Good combinations from Groves off the ropes are the principle features in the opening round. 10-9 Groves (as I see it).
2020: Almost immediately after we come in, “Saint” George Groves (more of him later) and Kenny Anderson make their way to the ring. Both super-middleweights weigh in at close to the division mark of 12 stone; the fact that Anderson is this much exactly provokes debate over whether he might be weight-drained. Groves hardly needs any advantages, though, having had by far the more stellar career up to this point; slated for a fight against Olympic gold medallist James DeGale in the future (and what a fight that would be), Groves simply looks in terrific shape.
2015: I had thought Courtyard would be sparsely populated. How wrong I was; hundreds of people, presumably unfamiliar with the vagaries of televised boxing having undercard fights, have shown up at 8 o’clock expecting to see Haye immediately, and creating a sizeable queue at the bar in consequence. Dammit…