First of all well done to both kats and JMM, they put on a great fight. Cant say the same for larry merchant. thought him asking kats about stathi after the fight was just wrong. the guy just put in a great effort, took a hell of a lot of shots, was a little emotional (understandably so) and was forced to talk publicly about his deceased brother. anyway just thought it was not necessary. thoughts?
At first I thought the question was innapropriate, however now that I think about it Kats publicly dedicated this fight to his brother and it was a part of the fight hype so it's not like he brought up something that hadn't been floating around in the media before. As a journalist it's his job to sometimes bring up "the elephant in the room" even if it was a bit uncomfortable to watch. I also believe Kats would most certainly have said something about his brother regardless if he was asked or not.
People were sooking about this on the main forum. He dedicated the fight to his brother and Larry gave him a chance to talk about it after the fight. Mick got upset and Larry compassionately patted him on the back and finished the interview. There was nothing insensitive about it, I was surprised at how well Larry handled it especially after the talk on the main forum. I'm sure Katsidis and his family would have no problems with that interview, it seems that people just want to complain. Death happens, it seems that it's such a taboo subject that any mention of someone who is deceased is seen as disrespect.
I thought it was a little inappropriate. Not sure what extra information regarding Stathi or Micks feelings towards Stathi that Larry was trying to extract, but I thought over the weeks before the fight that Mick made it very clear how he felt about stathi. Asking Mick again after the fight would have added nothing of value, but put an intense amount of emotional pain on a guy that just had a very intense fight.
Whether he dedicated the fight to his brother or not means nothing. It was made clear to the media in the week before the fight no one was to ask about his brother and I don't see why Larry feels he is exempt from that... If Mick wanted to say something after the fight that's his choice but it should have been him to initiate it not be placed in a position where he is basically forced to say something.
I'm no wrap on Merchant. (But he did gain points saying he had Sweet Pea winning over Oscar). In saying that it looked like Mick lost something after the 4th and 5th, Brendan had to get him to focus. Perhaps it all hit him then.
I'm sorry if i offend anyone but I didn't see any drama with Larry's interview. I think he showed Kats alot of respect & empathy and I personally think Larry was touched by Kats whole attitude when he spoke about the loss of his brother. In fact how can anyone in the boxing world not be touched with the way Kats handled this devastating personal tragedy the way he did & still put in the performance that he did. Outstanding!
Mate I think Larry Merchant is a ****en snake. He's forever hunting or inciting controversy. He has that slow punishing rhetoric that makes people want to take the microphone out of his hand, bend him over the ropes & push it that far up his arse, it chokes him. They don't because they know he wants the publicity. I haven't watched the interview because I know what he's trying to do. If he asked Mick about Stathi, it's because he's a ****, not because he cares.:vonnecunt *****:twisted:
