Boxing: Flintoff wins on ring debut

On the ropes: Dawson battled to hold Flintoff off

BOXING: Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff climbed off the canvas to record a points win on his heavyweight boxing debut against Richard Dawson.

The former England and Lancashire cricket star was afforded a hero's welcome at the Manchester Arena but, after taking the first of four two minute rounds, he was sent tumbling to the canvas by a counter left from his American foe early in the second.

However, Dawson's inferior conditioning prevented him from mounting a sustained assault and Flintoff showed impressive composure to take the contest 39-38 on referee Phil Edwards' scorecard - something of an anomaly given the round two should have been award to Dawson 10-8 by virtue of the knockdown.

Flintoff bout branded a 'disgrace'


Professionals furious that the Board allowed former cricketer to fight and take attention away from David Price.



The Flintoff fight belonged on a white collar amateur boxing show.
"It's a disgrace that professional boxers are being put in the same bracket as what we saw last night. I'm not knocking Freddie himself - fair play - but it really should have been on a white collar show not a professional show.
"David Price was defending the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles 50 miles away and he should have had the publicity."
Maloney, Price's promoter, told The Sunday Telegraph: "Last night was a joke. Once the American had knocked Flintoff down he backed off.
"All this does is deflect the attention from real boxers who have spent years in the gym and in the amateur ranks before developing careers in professional boxing. In all honesty, I've seen more skills watching two women in a bar room brawl.
"It was like watching two powder puff punchers, and clearly Flintoff has no chin. If the Boxing Board allows Flintoff to continue boxing, they should be questioned over it. It was a novelty, and just a circus."
Promoter Frank Warren, who has a share in BoxNation, the dedicated boxing channel which aired Flintoff's professional debut in the ring, believes that the former England cricket all-rounder had clearly taken it seriously.
Warren told The Sunday Telegraph yesterday: "What Freddie Flintoff did was commendable. He took it seriously. He's an absolutely raw novice, as was his opponent Richard Dawson, and that's what it was - a novice heavyweight fight.
"He's never going to be at the level of a David Price, but it's up to him if he wants to carry on and have more fights. It will all depend on what level he is matched at. If he is hit on the chin, he will go.
"The Boxing Board did not just give him a licence, they took a careful look at him, and he fulfilled all of the Board's criteria to be able to box.

- smh.com