Boxing

FEARON CALLS ON WALKER TO QUIT

Comments (1)

14 July 2008

FORMER OPPONENT Spencer Fearon has called on Bermondsey legend David Walker to retire from the ring following his recent loss to JJ Bird.

Fearon - who knocked Walker down twice before losing a fearsome four round battle that has gone down in the annals of south London boxing - is now a successful trainer and television pundit and used his blog on the Setanta Sports website to make his plea.

"Still today if we are walking together outside my gym that he trains in, we will be stopped by people remembering our fight", he wrote. "I know I didn't reach my potential in the ring and would not have chosen to go out on the back of two stoppages, but I knew that the dreams I'd had since I'd been a boy of winning a British title, European title, World title....were not going to happen. I would love Dave to do the same now and call it a day."

Speaking about Walker's recent loss Fearon wrote: "Dave, his team and loyal supporters were all convinced he was hard done by and I believe them.

"Getting beaten in this manner to a five-bout novice in a four-round fight seems a poor exit for a warrior who has thrilled the British public with his up-and-down thrillers, but far better fighters than either of us have had similarly inglorious ends.

"You wonder whether he needs a Micky, like Rocky in Rocky III when he was going to fight Clubber Lang.

"'Three years ago you was hard, you was nasty and had this cast-iron chin and an indomitable will to win,' the wise old geezer told Rocky. 'Presidents retire, generals retire, horses retire, men of war retire, they put them out to stud, that's what you shoulda done - retire.'

"Dave may not have had a chin to compare with Rock, but no one who watched our fight, his war with Jimmy Vincent and great scrap with Paul Dyer for the vacant Southern Area title could doubt he was a 'man of war'.

"Now he's fighting because he doesn't have anything else to do. But there are things for him to do. He could be a trainer and put his wealth of knowledge back into the game. He is a very personable, likeable guy who could make good money training white collar fighters at my gym. I'd love to see him doing that.

"Even if he did get robbed on Friday, his loss is a clear sign that something is wrong. As a boxer you have to be honest with yourself, but the amount of shot fighters you see out there tells you how hard it is to do.

"The cliché is that fighters are the last to know. But that's wrong, even those who seem the most deluded know. But we get fooled and hold onto false hope. Hold onto the only livelihood we know, because it is our life. It is a religion. We're in the gym everyday, then we leave the gym and are still living it. Shadow-boxing in the mirror, watching tapes and playing the next fight over in our heads.

"Dave tells me he will give boxing one more year. He still has aspirations to win a British title and being a proud patriot I know how much that would mean to him.

"But I look at him, I see the young contenders and think how will he ever get in a position to warrant fighting Kell Brook? Let alone beat him.

"As it is, his speech is deteriorating and it really concerns me, as I regard him as a friend.

"As Rocky said to Mick, when the old man was on is deathbed: 'There is so much more to do.'

"Dave's 32 and has so long to live. He's got a beautiful wife and kid, with another on the way. I don't want him to risk having less of a life with his family just to chase a dream that is no longer attainable. His son is two-and-a-half, my girl is two and I want him to enjoy watching him grow up as I will my daughter, without the damage that more fights will do to him.

"Dave has given his life to boxing, but there is plenty of life for him outside the ring. I hope he realises this soon."

---

Social Bookmarks:
del.icio.us Digg Newsvine Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon
Wikipedia: social bookmarking

---

Comments (1)

1. At 12:15 PM on 18 Jul 2008, Jamie wrote:
Well said but Dave must realise this for himself.
Report this Comment

Post a Comment

Please note Name and E-mail Address are required.

Name
E-mail Address (not displayed)
Comment (you may use HTML tags for style)
Enter Text Shown in Picture*
Comments are moderated, and will not appear on this article until the comment has been approved.