Boxing Betting / Dan Fitch / 30 September 2010 /

Dan Fitch takes a look at what happens when boxers get violent before they've even entered the ring.

David Haye faces Audley Harrison on 13th November and if the opening press conference was anything to go by, it's going to be a a night of fireworks.

Both men are as quick with their mouths as with their fists and turned the air blue on Sky Sports News, as they got involved in some verbal sparring.

No punches were thrown in anger, but plenty of words were. Sometimes though, a boxing press conference can get out of control and the fists start flying before the boxers even get into the ring.

Here are the five greatest press conference brawls.

5. Riddick Bowe v Larry Donald

One of the great unknowns when you enter the boxing ring, is how hard your opponent will be able to hit you.

This wasn't the case though when Larry Donald met Riddick Bowe in 1994, as Bowe had already delivered a couple of powerful shots to the face during the press conference.

Donald's chin was strong enough to withstand those blows and then subsequently go the distance over 12 rounds, with Bowe being awarded the decision.

Bowe's press conference behaviour would not improve. In 1995, a series of violent pre-fight clashes with Jorge Luis Gonzalez, lead to the final press conference being held behind protective glass.

4. Hasim Rahman v Lennox Lewis

There seems to be something about Lennox Lewis that brought out the worst in his opponents during pre-fight publicity events.

Perhaps it was because Lewis was clearly more intelligent and verbally capable than his rivals. Having been labelled as 'gay' by Hasim Rahman, Lewis snapped back with a retort in which he suggested that he could show Rahman's sister how hetrosexual he was. Oh dear...

Before long Lewis and Rahman were tussling and the entire set of the pre-fight ESPN show that the boxers were appearing on, was demolished.

3. Ricardo Mayorga v Fernando Margas

Few were better at winding up their opponent at a press conference Ricardo Mayorga. The fact that the fast-talking Nicaraguan's jibes had to be expressed through an interpreter, somehow made them all the more insulting. Don King's constant grinning presence, only added to the atmosphere.

His opponent Fernando Margas could live with being referred to as 'fatty', but when Mayorga got going on the subject of his wife, Margas was soon out of his seat and throwing punches.

Mayorga won the eventual fight, with a majority decision over Vargas. The defeated fighter retired from boxing after the loss.

2. Mike Tyson v Lennox Lewis

Boxing characters don't get much more combustible that 'Iron' Mike Tyson, so it's perhaps no surprise that he makes this list for his press conference brawl with Lennox Lewis.

As soon as Lewis appeared at the press conference, Tyson launched an attack upon him. Before long the boxers were wrestling on the ground, with representatives of both camps involved in a mass brawl.

During the melee the WBC president Jose Sulaiman claimed to be knocked out, after hitting his head on a table. Sulaiman claimed that upon regaining consciousness, he was spat on and Tyson threatened to kill him. The official later filed a $56 million lawsuit against Lewis and Tyson for injuries caused in the scuffle.

Tyson also found himself on the wrong end of a lawsuit from Lewis, after admitting biting his leg. He was ordered to pay $335,000 and to make matters worse, was given a real beating by Lewis in the fight proper, suffering an eighth round knockout.

1. Larry Holmes v Trevor Berbick

This press conference brawl is wonderful in many different ways. To start with, the fight occurred in 1991, some ten years after Holmes and Berbick had actually met in the ring.

Having scored a first round knockout over Tim "Doc" Anderson, Holmes was asked if he would consider Berbick as his next opponent. With Berbick in the watching audience, Holmes said that he did not consider him a suitable opponent, adding: ""I do not like him or respect him."

This set Berbick off on a incoherent ramble, in which he accused Holmes and his mysterious friend "Jenny from Jacksonville", of sabotaging his marriage. A furious Holmes confronted Berbick, with witnesses reporting that Holmes punched and kicked his former opponent.

The police separated the men, but the action did not stop there. Outside the hotel, Berbick shouted to the crowd: "Larry Holmes punched me. Everybody saw him kick and punch me.". His complaints were only silenced when Holmes appeared again, ran across the roofs of two parked cars and performed a flying kick on Berbick, that wouldn't have looked out of place in a wrestling ring.

More fighting broke out between the pair and they were again separated. Yet despite the hype created by the influence, Holmes and Berbick never did meet again in a rematch of their 1981 world title bout.

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