Livefight talks Barker vs Macklin to Buncey

Livefight.com Adam Lane19th August, 2010

Livefight.com rang up everyone's favourite boxing analyst Steve Bunce, to find out what the great man has been up to of late, plus his take on the British scene, impending fighs between Macklin and Barker - and also his take on Chad Dawson's bubble being burst.

Livefight.com: With the new season about to start, how would you say the state of the British game is at the moment?

"Fantastic, we've got the massive show in Birmingham, we've got Carl Froch out in Monaco, we've got Amir Khan in something, possibly getting Ricky Hatton back, we will have David Haye in something big, maybe not a Klitschko before Christmas, but a Klitschko after Christmas. And we've got the GB amateur championships in Liverpool." said Buncey enthusiastically.

"Let me tell you something, I don't care what people tell you, we've got a fantastic 4 or 5 months to look forward too."

Livefight.com: Which British prospect are you hoping can make some real progress in the new season?

"Tyson Fury, and I'll tell you for why. I work for a couple of newspapers, If I call them up, Tyson Fury is only just below Carl Froch, Amir Khan and David Haye and underneath Tyson Fury is another seven hundred boxers.

He's a good talker, he's a good looking kid, I call him Errol Flynn because that's what he looks like when he puts a suit on! He can fight, hes got plenty of heart but what happens when he starts to get things right? What happens if he starts doing proper road work, what happens then? Trust me, he's a good fighter Tyson Fury and the British public will really warm to him."

Livefight.com: The first big show of the new season is Frank Warrens magnificent 7 bill in Birmingham, which fight are you looking forward to most on that bill?

"Its a simple one that, and its Macklin vs Barker." stated Bunce.

"We've been talking about this fight for sixteen months. We were talking about this fight before Setanta went belly up, I think its a cracker. I keep hearing rumours about Macklin getting hit too often in the gym, keep hearing rumours about Barker not doing enough and wishing the fight was in October not September, rumours left right and centre and you know what, that's what makes it entertaining, that's what makes it an attraction.

It's an absolutely fantastic fight and its one that I just hope the British public get behind, and the only way the British public can get behind it is quite simple, the newspapers, so i hope some of my brothers in the newspaper business do their best to back this fight."

Livefight.com: Dmirty Pirog, the newly crowned WBO middleweight champion is a possible opponent for the winner of the Macklin and Barker fight, how do you see a fight like that going?

"Listen, Id fancy either of those two to have a good go against Pirog, no problem at all. Barker's a great fighter on his day, he's got a lot of history, a lot of form, Id back him in the right frame of mind and Matthew Macklin's no longer a kid who messes up outside the ring, he's got his act together." said Bunce.

"You know what sometimes we rate Eastern Europeans and especially Americans really big, let me explain something ok, there's a reason why some of these guys aren't superstars on HBO and Showtime because the experts there decide that there not big enough stars, big enough fighters, there not good enough.

Anyone who's not in that batch, trust me our boys can go with them, and they make mistakes with people like Chad Dawson. There was a pundit on Setanta called Steve Bunce who for three years was saying 'dont get carried away with Chad Dawson I've seen him in the gym' and im not quite sure about him and then I kept getting hundreds of emails 2 years ago in 2008 saying Chad Dawson would knock out Joe Calzaghe!

Joe Calzaghe's never been knocked out in his life and this guy Chad Dawsons going to knock him out! It was a big mistake HBO made, they believed the hype surrounding Chad Dawson, they wont make that mistake again. Pirog trust me, I'd take Macklin or Barker against Pirog tomorrow, the problem is, Pirog's one of the most wanted men on the planet, not because he's committing crimes but because every single middleweight out there wants to get him in the ring because he's beatable."

Livefight.com: Going back to Chad, I along with many others also thought that Dawson was in big trouble against Jean Pascal on Saturday night.

"Absolutely, it wasn't the case of Pascal beating him - It wasn't a case of Pascal beating him on the scorecards, but all we've heard since is Dawson's complaints and what is really disturbing is that I get a couple of one line companies send me newspaper headlines in the build up to the fight, there were about twelve of them I could print, eleven of them lead with Dawson, after the fight, they still lead with Dawson, now four days later, there still leading with Dawson!

Let me tell you something, whether on tv, in the paper or on the radio, when journalists back someone heavily and that person is brutally exposed and smashed to bits, them journalists do whatever possible to backtrack and keep hold of what he had and make excuses, whereas when I used to get it wrong I would say you know what, I got that 100% wrong.

But what we're seeing with Dawson is all these apologies, all them supporting him for the last three years are now apologising and making excuses, at the end of the day, he's not as good as we all said he was and that's forgetting the fact that all of his fans arrive in the same taxi!

I've been saying for years, he's never sold a ticket in his life, let me tell you something, Boxing is a business, its an entertainment business and the reason its an entertainment business is that a fighter comes along like Matt Macklin and in Birmingham he's a character and can sell some tickets, it works, otherwise what sort of business would we be in, it would be a business of people paying to see people get knocked out, that's not right.

What we want is people in there roaring, screaming and shouting, Chad Dawson was involved in a big fight last year in a lap dancing club, I don't mean a fight after hours, that's where the fight took place and at the same time I've listened to idiots tell me both in print and on the internet that he's the best thing since sliced bread even though he defended his world title in a lap dancing bar, what the hell's going on! " laughed Bunce