THE BUNCE DIARIES
REAL FESTIVAL OF BOXING Photos: GETTY IMAGES
Remembering a missed tournament that showcased the great, the good, and the unknown
N 1998 I saw an odd and telling handwritten sign in an old bar at a fight hotel where I was staying: ‘Moet $50’. Simple and to the point. There was nothing unusual or exceptional about paying 50 bucks for a bottle of champagne in Steve 1998, but the hotel Bunce was in Liverpool @BigDaddyBunce city centre and Voice of boxing for the fifth-year running, the Russians with wads of dollars and long fur coats had taken over the great fight city. I was tempted to say invaded. Incidentally, the Russian and Ukraine contingents held up the bar each and every night, splendid, rich and noisy. In 1999, the Russians and Ukrainians were not in the city for the sixth Liverpool Festival of Boxing, a truly great long-lost tournament. The Festival really did become one of the most prestigious amateur events during its brief run of eight years from 1994 to 2001. In 1999, the Russians and Ukrainians were off somewhere secret and hostile preparing for the World championships that summer in Houston. In 1999, 121 boxers from 19 countries fought over six days for the prestigious title. Carl Froch was a loser in the semi-finals. It was the sixth year. I had not missed one; it was ideal prep for the Olympics in Atlanta, the World championships in Budapest and the Worlds later in 1999 in Houston. It was always top-heavy with quality, no novices. In 1994, the first year, 97 boxers arrived in Liverpool; word spread about the hospitality and that number increased each year. The Russians loved it in Liverpool. The women came in fur coats, which they sold and the men liked Rolex watches, which they bought in bulk.
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‘THE FESTIVAL WAS A GLORIOUS GAME-CHANGER IN MANY WAYS’ 8 l BOXING NEWS l FEBRUARY 17, 2022
And they bought and sold a lot. It gave me a modern window on the history of Cold War boxing officials, the men from the Soviet Republics who packed their little Adidas bags with 100 per cent proof vodka and illegal caviar. There was a lot of trade and Liverpool was a great city for trading. The man behind the adventure was Paul King, at the time the city council’s boxing development officer. It was his baby, he drove it, he made it possible, he was the man with enough flair,
flexibility and available finances to gatecrash the established order of major international events. Wladimir Klitschko won gold at the Festival before winning gold in Atlanta at the Olympics. Somluck Kamsing of Thailand won a gold medal in Atlanta after the Festival. There was, in addition to the two future Olympic gold medal winners at the first three Festivals, a seemingly endless list of quality boxers who took part in one or more of the Festivals.
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