Tonight ITV1 10:30: The Fight of their Lives documentary

Maybe they didn't have access to that sort of information, medical records, interviews with relevant medical staff, etc. It would be difficult to present an argument to support that moving him from the UK to the US was in anyway responsible for worsening his condition without any real evidence to back it up. It would also show the family in a bad light and I'm fairly certain that that was not one of the aims of the film.

 

1 hour 35 Minutes, last nights was 1 hour 15.

 

Part of the beef between McClellan and Steward was that he felt he could manage his own affairs and thus not have to pay a % to Steward.

This probably lead to them splitting as a training team too and the other guy coming on board who didn't really have a clue.

According to the Hearns bio Steward was on 10% for training and an additional 25% for managing, so a third of your £££ gone immediately.

I suppose that was before the days of promoters managing/controlling (call it whatever) fighters of their own on a widespread basis.

Frank Maloney's book is a good read, in it whenever Steward is mentioned it paints a picture of a big baby who was used to getting his own way, and a money mad one at that.

Of course little Frank might be a tad bitter as his relationship with Lewis was rumoured to gradually become more distant from that time on.

 

Yes I agree, if you are in possession of the facts and are not merely speculating.

 

I agree I think that was out of order to put that on Jim Watt and the way they edited Barry McGuigan's reaction to it.

Watt was spot on at the time anyway. In terms of the fight, McClellan did quit. He went down on one knee not from a single punch and didn't get up. That's quitting.

Of course we know now that he had quit due to a terrible injury.

 

I hope the extended version brings up the the question about excessive rabbit punching possibly causing the brain damage.

 

Testing blood on shoes is laughable and Benn did collapse. Supposedly Benn used to take about 100 different pills of 1 kind or another, supplements most likely but maybe he did some gear or something to speed him up, who knows

 

King and Frank’s lawyers asked to see the film before it was broadcast for approval. I suspect something as contentious as the decision to move McClellan, if attributed to a single or joint party, might be legally toxic for ITV, the producers and for aforementioned promoters.

Even opening the debate means the film is showing partiality. A doctor could say “If he hadn’t flown back to the USA, he’d have been fine” but it immediately leads to the question “did you give that advice?” And the answer to that could lead to a lawsuit.

Sorry, that was a little rambling but I suspect the reason they didn’t cover it was less to do with painting anyone in a bad light (they certainly didn’t spare Johnson) than just not saying something that could have wider repercussions.

 

Read the Frank Maloney book where he mentions that he never really liked Steward who seemed to be all about the benjamins.

I can see Stewards point i suppose but same again I can see G-mans so many people want a piece of the pie I suppose....

I have heard anecdotal evidence from people that Steward is a really nice and accommodating bloke who has paid for meals etc so it seems to paint a different picture.

Really hard to tell i guess you have to be out for yourself in boxing at the end of the day. I know its not unusual for managers to take around 33% is the maximum? Its a tough sport no doubt.

 

I hadn't seen that fight footage since it happened live. I would have been just a month short of turning 10 when it happened. I don't generally have a great memory for details, so I was stunned with how it all came flooding back to me watching it last night. The fight was playing out in my mind ahead of the documentary footage.


There were parts of the film I liked and others I wasn't so gone on. They did a great job on detailing both characters and the fight itself. However, as a few of you have already said, I didn't like the manner in which they tried cast blame on everybody.

I thought in particular the way they tried pass some guilt on to Jim Watt and Manny Steward - for a fight they were in no way involved in - was absolutely repulsive. A terrible tragedy happened. Jim was doing his job on commentary and calling it how he saw it. Steward wasn't his trainer anymore because of whatever happened between the two. That was not a fair thing to do at all.

 

Yeah I see what you're getting at and I agree. They have to be very careful what they say. They were careful not to directly accuse Johnson of anything. The way he talked about it and the things he said himself did most of the damage.

 

cheers Billy!!! :good

 

micky ward's brother ON CRACK is like a arcel,dundee,blackburn,futch rolled into 1 compared to Stanley

 

Should have covered the weight making more and also the treatment, but I can understand the reasoning with possible liable.

Bunce always has some interesting knowledge on this fight and I have heard him say stuff relating to the Steward financial side before.