Inept Cornermen

Whilst watching the Woodhouse fight on Saturday I couldn't help but laugh when Hamilton's trainer lost the plot with Spencer Fearon due to Spencer thinking that he was the fountain of knowledge in Hamilton's ear, all the while ignoring the trainer's request for him to shut up and hold the water bottle.

Whilst having no experience save for occassional sparring, I would imagine that in a tough fight you would want to come back to your corner to a realxed atmosphere where you just hear one voice and can rely on the rest of the team to keep you hydrated, cool, work on cuts/swelling or whatever else the occassion requries with the minimum of fuss. I often see corners where there are 3 different voices all trying to get their opinion across, particularly in times of crisis during a fight.

I seem to remember Gatti losing the plot with his corner men because they had lost his water bottle/ice pack in his first fight with Ward.

Broner had to scream at his head trainer to convince him that he was fine after the first KD against Maidanna. His trainer literally came across as if he was lost for words.

Lebedev's awful swelling against Jones was being treated between rounds with a massive bag of ice as opposed to an Enswell which is, as far as I'm aware, largely considered to be more effective than ice. I'm sure that Kostya Tszyu was in his corner !

Jim McDonnell seems to have been relegated to nothing more than a cheerleader for DeGale.

This isn't an article so much based on a corner's terrible decision to send a fighter back out in the blind hope of them turning around a fight in which they're taking a horrific beating, or failing to throw a towel in.

What fights have you watched where you have thought to yourself "I could give better advice than that" or "why are they not working on that cut?" etc.

To my knowledge you don't have to have too many qualifications to be a cornerman. I find that quite worrying given that in such a tough sport these people are your only source of assitance. What are the worst examples you can give of an inept corner?

As an aside, what would be your ideal corner team - this can be assembled with anyone throughout history.

I'm sure one time Brendon smith told Katsidis to "hit him" between rounds.

Pratchett vs Chavez wbc 130 ...........This was the worst corner I've seen.........They lost his gum shield early in the fight and didn't have a spare.........They watched him get hammered round after round with no chance of winning.........Ended up him being an old man at 25...

Awful negligence of the worst kind.........The fight was finished after 4........went the distance.

Any fight in which Norman Stone was working John Ruiz's corner. "Remember John, he's a phoney. Toney the phoney, remember? That's what I called him at the press conference. He's a ******* phoney. That's why we called him Toney the phoney, you ******* got it?"

All very well and good, Norman - but your man is getting beaten in there. Any actual fighting advice?

The rematch between Pernell and McGirt always stands out to me as well. Once Whitaker started dominating, Buddy was looking lost in there and needed some words of wisdom. Instead he got that clown Al Certo effing and blinding, bellowing a load of clichés at him while arguing with his cut man back and forth.

Compare that to Whitaker's corner; Duva and Benton calmly spelling out the plan for the next round without ever talking over each other, Pea just saying nothing and nodding assuringly every now and then.

Easier to stay calm when you are winning..

No one moans about Atlas screaming at Moorer.......

Duva was well known for screaming in the corner...Remember him screaming some advice to Taylor before the 12th against Chavez...

Not saying you're wrong....I think Adam Booth is great in the corner..........But different personalities respond better to different things.......

Mcgirt was outclassed and not sure why he rematched him.......The first fight was in New York and he lost.

Yeh, Duva and Benton both told meldrick Taylor before the last round of the chavez fight that he needed the last round... A Knackered  guy that just needed to stay on his feet to win. Lou denies it, but its on tape!

They may have been worried about Vegas judges but still....

Leonard's corner never told him he had to win the last round after the silent beating he got in the other 11!!

Gross negligence too !!    

Why Angelo wasn't shouting 'you're blowing it' I'll never know truss.

Who was that clown in mcclellan's corner for the benn fight? Stan someone? He must be up there for someone you wouldn't want in your corner

milkyboy wrote:Why Angelo wasn't shouting 'you're blowing it' I'll never know truss.

Maybe that happened before the fight !!  

I was chastised for my warped mind when I made that joke previously on here truss. Expect grief from the morality police if they pass by.

Well the first Whitaker-McGirt fight was pretty close, Truss. 115-113, 115-114 on two of the cards. One of the best fights of 1993, too.

McGirt did a whole lot of complaining and excuse-making afterwards about the shoulder injury and there was real bad blood between both him and Pernell as well as Certo and Duva, so with Whitaker-Chavez done (albeit with an unsatisfactory result) and McGirt having his corrective surgery, the rematch was a great move for both, really.

As a Whitaker fanatic, I tend to go back and forth in my head about which was his most stunning career performance, and I think it's definitely between the second McGirt fight or his showing against Haugen. Bronze medal to Ramirez II.

The way Joe Gallagher let Brandon Rios smash Murray into what was nearly an early career grave was appalling.

Angelo Dundee's performance in Thomas's corner when he fought Tyson was dreadful, having been given a torrid time in first round Dundee spent his vital minute arguing with doctor, and when in the same predicament with Berbick he screamed 'where's the f******g sponge at his assistant rather than imparting any wisdom to the soon to be dispatched Berbick.
Tyson team of clowns against Douglas were pretty inept, and Stan Robinson had no business being the voice in the corner for McClellan against Benn, a fact made all the more tragic that Brendan Ingle was in the corner handing up the spit bucket- surley they should have swapped roles

B-Hop was not pleased with Freddies performance in his fight against Calzaghe. never used him again and they are barely on speaking terms. Hopkins thought he could coast to a UD after winning the earlier rounds and was encouraged to do so by Roach. not sure Roach is the best tactician, and Hopkins has certainly gone up a level in that department with Naz

Nathan Cleverley's dad Vince.

After getting battered to kingdom come by Kovalev in round 3 what were his words of wisdom?

"Stick him with the jab and move"? No

"You need more lateral movement son"? No

"Stay away from his right hand"? No

"Time to be brave now"? Yes - that was the perfect advice to someone lucky to survive the round against a human wrecking ball - surprised he didn't follow it up with "Take the fight to him"   

Aaron Snowell, who won the post-Rooney lottery ticket to be Tyson's water-carrier and "cornerman", ranks fairly highly among the clowns of his profession, I'd say. I recall Lawless saying after the first Bruno fight that Snowell "didn't know what day it was" during the contest, and nothing that Snowell has done since has ever caused me to revisit that highly accurate judgement.

Not a particularly charming individual, either. Had an unfortunate habit of associating with fighters (Tyson, Tim Austin spring to mind) with a rather elastic definition of what constitutes gentlemanly behaviour with women. I had the misfortune of meeting him when he was preparing Pedro Sanchez to be given a hiding by Kostya Tszyu in a world title eliminator. His every second word was "Mike" or "my good friend Mike" and he regarded mild disagreement with anything that he said as tantamount to a declaration of war.

When Sanchez predictably proved himself to be out of his depth against Kostya, Snowell spent much of that evening and the following day bad-mouthing his fighter, telling the world that Pedro had lost because a) he had failed to listen to Snowell's inspiring instructions and b) that he lacked the requisite courage in any case.

A classy guy.

When Alex Ariza trained Pacquiao Freddie Roach refused to name Ariza as one of the four cornermen.

I'm guessing Alex was a nuisance whose opinion Roach didn't need during the one minute breaks.  Ariza created a bit of controversy when in Maidana's corner recently.

Of course he has a cloud over him and recently delivered a flying kick to a man suffering with Parkinson's.  Fortunately Roach is a tough aggressive SOB himself and batted it off.


In terms of corner advice Cleverly Snr is the poorest recent example I can think of. He should have protected his son considering the ref had just carried him back to the corner at the end of the third.

captain carrantuohil wrote:Aaron Snowell, who won the post-Rooney lottery ticket to be Tyson's water-carrier and "cornerman", ranks fairly highly among the clowns of his profession, I'd say. I recall Lawless saying after the first Bruno fight that Snowell "didn't know what day it was" during the contest, and nothing that Snowell has done since has ever caused me to revisit that highly accurate judgement.

Not a particularly charming individual, either. Had an unfortunate habit of associating with fighters (Tyson, Tim Austin spring to mind) with a rather elastic definition of what constitutes gentlemanly behaviour with women. I had the misfortune of meeting him when he was preparing Pedro Sanchez to be given a hiding by Kostya Tszyu in a world title eliminator. His every second word was "Mike" or "my good friend Mike" and he regarded mild disagreement with anything that he said as tantamount to a declaration of war.

When Sanchez predictably proved himself to be out of his depth against Kostya, Snowell spent much of that evening and the following day bad-mouthing his fighter, telling the world that Pedro had lost because a) he had failed to listen to Snowell's inspiring instructions and b) that he lacked the requisite courage in any case.

A classy guy.

Intolerable behaviour. Thank god we don't get his like on here.

Anyone remember a relatively recent fight where the fighter's brother was yabbering over the advice of the corner? That really, really annoyed me, but I can't remember the fight now.

Might be Berto-Ortiz you're thinking of, Boxtthis? I remember Berto's brother interfering and shouting over the cornerman, screaiming at Berto stuff like, "Be a ninja, Andre! You gotta be a ninja in there!"

88Chris05 wrote:Might be Berto-Ortiz you're thinking of, Boxtthis? I remember Berto's brother interfering and shouting over the cornerman, screaiming at Berto stuff like, "Be a ninja, Andre! You gotta be a ninja in there!"

Yes! You've got it. God, that was annoying me. Cheers. Berto's brother was just dribbling a tirade of useless motivational statements to him while his cornerman struggled to impart some advice. There was a real tone of panic in his voice the whole time, which has got to have been detrimental to Berto's state of mind given that he was looking seriously dazed for many rounds after being dropped hard by Ortiz. I can't believe was wasn't told to shut the f___k up. It was one of the most embarrassing coaching situations I can remember seeing in professional sport. Imagine Ryan Giggs asking for his brother to sit and the dugout and him shouting over Alex Ferguson? Would not happen.

Be a ninja  

Boxtthis wrote:

88Chris05 wrote:Might be Berto-Ortiz you're thinking of, Boxtthis? I remember Berto's brother interfering and shouting over the cornerman, screaiming at Berto stuff like, "Be a ninja, Andre! You gotta be a ninja in there!"

Yes! You've got it. God, that was annoying me. Cheers. Berto's brother was just dribbling a tirade of useless motivational statements to him while his cornerman struggled to impart some advice. There was a real tone of panic in his voice the whole time, which has got to have been detrimental to Berto's state of mind given that he was looking seriously dazed for many rounds after being dropped hard by Ortiz. I can't believe was wasn't told to shut the f___k up. It was one of the most embarrassing coaching situations I can remember seeing in professional sport. Imagine Ryan Giggs asking for his brother to sit and the dugout and him shouting over Alex Ferguson? Would not happen.

Be a ninja  

bad example! Probably would have happened Down the wing, cut in early, YOU F***ING C**T CAN@T BELIEVE YOU F***ED MY WIFE