30 lBOXING NEWSlJULY 4, 2019 http://www.boxingnewsonline.net
➤ broadcasting and I learned a lot from him.”
When Sky News came calling in 1989 the man who would
eventually anchor boxing shows found himself thrown into the
mix on the football side of things with people who would go on
to become household names, while dealing with the pressure
of helping get a new channel, and what was a unique concept
to the British viewer, off the ground.
“I was again surrounded by people with the highest standards
like Martin Tyler, Richard Keys and Andy Gray, a little later Alan
Parry joined,” he said. “With people like that you learn you have
to be on your game every day. Also, we had brilliant producers
for both football and boxing. They could be very demanding,
yet they made me understand it was most important to
demand the best of oneself and with no excuses. I am very
proud to have been part of that early period at Sky.”
Sky’s decision to add boxing to their roster in the
1990s was boosted when Chris Eubank switched from
ITV to embark on his infamous world
tour, a bunch of easy fights that left
him completely unprepared for the
greater mind games and work rate
of Steve Collins. Dempsey had a soft
spot for the sport and, once again,
benefited from working with experts.
“I always loved boxing and had
a reasonable understanding of it.
Of course, working on the inside
is completely different and it is a
complex industry. As Jim Rosenthal
has said, working with people like
Barry McGuigan, Jim Watt and Glenn McCrory was a privilege.
They all helped me so much.
“I have also worked with Ian Darke since my very first day at
BBC Radio, so obviously we are close. We have had so many
great times together both work-wise and after work. In one
word: brilliant. Same today with Richie Woodhall. We had some
great times when not working.
“I was very happy at Sky and really had no plans to leave.
In fact, people still ask me: ‘Why did you leave Sky?’ But I had
worked there for 18 years, and the decision to go to live in
Dublin [after moving to Ireland] and work for Setanta was
mainly because it would give me more family time while our
kids were small.”
Most boxers are as accessible as they are excessive. If you
spend a few years in the sport you will come across every
personality type imaginable. Dempsey has worked with the
biggest characters, getting to know many of them in the
process, so the names dropped smoothly when he was asked
to recall some of the boxers he has encountered.
“I loved Lennox [Lewis] and was with him from the start.
He could be quite diffident, but always a nice person and as
a fighter he was different class. Naseem [Hamed] was the
best puncher ever and a very intelligent human being – then
showbiz took over for a while. We all forget just how big a star
he was in the late 1990s.
“I was very fond of Steve Collins and I knew his brother
through football. I still believe he never got the credit he
deserved, especially in Ireland. Eubank was obviously a dream
to work with – I loved interviewing him. I think I had the best
personal relationship with Nigel Benn. We just hit it off from
the start.
“Joe Calzaghe as a fighter was a league above on his best
nights and an absolutely terrific person who to me has never
changed one bit. Ricky Hatton was a revelation from day one
and could to my mind have become an all-time great. Again,
I am immensely fond of him.”
Speaking of Hatton, Dempsey has been nicknamed “The
Dominator” on Check Hook Boxing’s online British forum. There
is an entire thread dedicated to his tenacious interviewing
technique, which was especially evident when he kept pressing
an emotional Hatton following his sickening body shot-induced
ninth-round comeback loss to Vyacheslav Senchenko in 2012.
However, they are good friends, so there was no need for “The
Hitman” and Dempsey to make peace after it.Still, some felt that Dempsey took it too far. For me, it was
reminiscent of the conversation between Jim Gray and Evander
Holyfield when he lost to James Toney. Evander admitted he
was done, then talked himself into carrying on. Both were
compulsive moments of television.
“I learned from American broadcasters a long time ago that
you have to ask tough questions and for professional athletes
it goes with the territory,” declared Dempsey. “With Ricky it was
obviously difficult. I’d been with him since his pro debut and
I honestly felt like I was having a talk to my own brother. I cared.
It is never easy when you know people like that – you do have
to separate the personal and the professional.
“I actually don’t enjoy testy exchanges. Perhaps people don’t
sometimes appreciate it can be difficult to hear every word
because of the noise levels in the arena or stadium.
Also, there are lawyers watching. Sometimes, however,
you have to draw the line and try to pin someone down.
“In terms of respect, it is easy to
lose it as well as gain it. I am grateful
people think I have done a good
job. My advice for others is to watch
and listen as much as you can. NeverWORKING WITH
PEOPLE LIKE
McGUIGAN, WATT
AND McCRORY
WAS A PRIVILEGE”
IN THE LAND OF THE GIANTS:
Dempsey stands between
Wilder [left] and Fury
Photo: ACTION IMAGES/ANDREW COULDRIDGE