Boxing today but a poor relation to that of yesteryear

Remember so long ago when we stayed up until dawn to watch Clay and Liston and Frazier fighting their battles behind the snowfalls on black and white TV sets?

THE hot-air hydraulics of hype in the boxing world have foisted some dreadful non fights upon us for the past decade and more, such as the recent Haye and Harrison debacle in which an apparently terrified Harrison landed just one punch.

That same hype system is now cranking up what is certain to be another crude clash between Haye and one of the Ukrainian behemoths who hold one or other of the increasingly devalued world heavyweight titles next spring.