I feel a degree of sadness as well as frustration that boxing, an endeavor that is at the heart of British sporting culture, is once again overlooked by the BBC in its Sports Personality of the Year Awards.
Henry Cooper, the winner in 1967 and 1970, is one of only four sportsmen to top the vote more than once and he never won a world title.
That shows you how connected the sport was to the wider public and could be again were the BBC to engage more positively with it.
I was proud to follow in Henry’s footsteps in 1985 after beating Eusebio Pedroza at Loftus Road to take the WBA featherweight crown, a fight that drew a live television audience of 19 million, still a record today.
The last boxer to take the annual award was Joe Calzaghe 12 years ago.
I accept the appeal and the quality of those shortlisted this year but you can’t tell me that Josh Taylor, who unified the WBA and IBF super-lightweight belts last month is not a worthy contender.
(Image: Action Images via Reuters)
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It took me 28 fights to conquer the world and I was never able to unify the featherweight division. Taylor is a double world champion in just 16 bouts.
His epic showdwon against Regis Prograis at the O2 in London will go down as one of, if not THE fight of the year anywhere in the world.
And yet the BBC appears blind to it. I am not saying Taylor would beat Ben Stokes, Raheem Sterling, Dina Asher-Smith, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Lewis Hamilton or Alun Wyn Jones to the crown, but his achievements deserve to be recognised by inclusion in a vote.
Just because Taylor does not appear on the BBC does not make him insignificant. When Cooper was fighting and when I was in the ring we were household names.
(Image: Action Images via Reuters)
Now that boxers are less visible to a free to air audience it counts against us. That can’t be right. They are still out there taking punches and thrilling big crowds.
It seems the BBC just does not value the fight game any more, does not acknowledge the commitment and effort that boxers put in, nor how the sport impacts on communities.
We take kids off the streets. We give them confidence. Discipline, self control and respect for others is at the heart of the sport’s ethos.
Taylor’s omission feels like a snub to the sport as well as to him.
Follow Barry on Twitter at @ClonesCyclone , @McGuigans_Gym and @CyclonePromo
