ONE MAN claimed he showed a Mars bar wrapper to gain entry to the long night of fights at the ExCel in London 10 years ago.
It was mayhem in the venue from the start to the late, late finish. It was also unforgettable and had the 13 fights been part of a Riyadh Season bill, nobody would have complained. It is an overlooked gem in many ways.
In the end, four British title fights took place on the extraordinary night. The venue was packed, standing, sitting, drinking, shouting. It was wild and the turnstile entrance was a comedy. The boxing was very serious.
Tyson Fury forced Don Charles to pull Dereck Chisora out at the end of the 10th round of their British heavyweight title fight; Fury fought mostly as a southpaw. “No more, it’s over,” Charles said. Chisora dropped his head and accepted the loss. Charles was right. It was hard to watch at times. Chisora had been thumbed in the eye in round two, he was cut, he was trailing heavily. “I was ready to stop it after about five rounds,” Charles said.
Long before the first bell, the pair had been in confrontation after confrontation. Fury had been fined £15,000 for some things he said about Chisora, and they had been in a couple of pushing and shoving events; in the final one, in Piccadilly at a bar, they had broken cover, shaken hands, cuddled and shared a pot of tea. “C’mon, Big Del, give us a hug,” Fury asked. At one other conference, Fury had arrived with tape over his mouth. It was a great build. It was old-fashioned fun, no snarling or promises of ‘body-bags’.
One year later, in Dusseldorf, Fury repeated a lot of the same tactics and beat Wladimir Klitschko for three of the four belts. The Del Boy fight was the blueprint for that win; Wlad and his minders missed it.
Chris Eubank took control of the ring when his son stepped in to fight Billy Joe Saunders for the British middleweight title. The tension inside the ExCel increased, the crowd seemed to surge closer to the barriers at ringside. The dad just glared at the mob. It was a big fight with enough ugly history to add a nasty edge. Both were 25 that night, Eubank Jr unbeaten in 18 and Saunders unbeaten in 20 fights. Make no mistake, this fight could fill any venue in any decade in British boxing history. It would be – it still might be – big enough to pack a stadium. Remember, back then, the Conor Benn rivalry was not an option; the Saunders and Eubank rivalry was vicious.
“I don’t trust the man,” Eubank said. “Saunders does not follow the warrior code and that is why my son was not at the press conference.” Eubank Jr had stayed away, but I had jumped in a car and driven down to Hove to speak to father and son. The fear of stupidity was genuine. Billy Joe Saunders kept a lot of people on their toes. In Belfast, Deontay Wilder got a full extra spicy Nando’s on his head.
Eubank Jr was a slight betting favourite, but lacked championship rounds; Saunders had been 12 rounds five times. It was, in the end, a fight of two captivating halves. Saunders won the first half, Eubank Jr the second half and it left the judges divided. It was a tight split in favour of Saunders. One judge went for Eubank 116-113, the other two favoured Saunders with 115-114 and 115-113.
All attempts at a rematch in 2015 and 2016 faded, lost behind insults and claims. At the time, people in the know would ask for your ear and tell you with 100 percent certainty: “Eubank don’t want it.” “Saunders will never give him a rematch.” It went on and on and then the Saunders v Eubank Jr rematch vanished when Conor Benn arrived on the scene. However, in September of this year, Eubank started talking about fighting Saunders. It now seems like one of the fights of 2025. What a business.
Frankie Gavin beat Bradley Skeete over 12 rounds to retain his British welterweight title. It was all about angles and fractions; it was a better fight than it looks on paper. A few months later, Gavin lost to Kell Brook for the IBF world title.
At super-featherweight, Gary Sykes lost his beloved British title to Liam Walsh on points. Walsh was unbeaten in 16 and would have to wait three more years before getting a world title fight. The bill at the ExCel is full of stories like that. Sykes won just once more and was beaten by Luke Campbell before walking away. It’s not been easy for Gary since then.
The bill at the ExCel started at 4pm and finished at 1:29am. Those are facts.
Elsewhere on the bill, a lot of talented and hyped and now forgotten fighters had wins; Mitchell Smith, Romeo Romaeo, Lewis Pettitt, Georgie Kean, Ahmet Patterson and Frank Buglioni. There was a cameo from Fast Eddie Chambers. It was a bill of promise, an astounding list of names.
I have no idea what time it was when I slipped out with Steve Lillis, using an exit road that was for emergency vehicles only, and climbed the old walk-bridge to get in my cab outside the Peacock gym. We left behind thousands of stranded fans, singing, shouting, screaming and all looking to get off the Island. Less than an hour later we were live again on BoxNation with Terence Crawford defending his WBO lightweight title against Raymundo Beltran in Omaha from the studio near Chiswick. As I said, it was some night.
