CARL FRAMPTON and Barry McGuigan had one of those so-called special boxer-manager relationships which we were led to believe was made in heaven.
There have been many of those alleged perfect partnerships among the bent-nose brigade – so us cynics weren’t in the least surprised when double world champion Frampton acrimoniously split with his fellow Irish super-hero.
When their rancorous divorce was finalised in Belfast two months ago with an agreed out of court financial settlement it was thought their feud had been put to bed for good.
But Frampton resurrected their vendetta with a toe-curling outburst last week when he said he not only despised McGuigan but wouldn’t “p*** on him if he was on fire” – a statement that must have shocked fans on both sides of the Irish Sea.
It’s rare for fighters to finish their careers with the management team they started out with however successful they were in the beginning.
So many have ended in bitterness and the animosity is invariably the result of a disagreement over money.
There’s a long list of British world champions following the initial love-in who fell out with the men who launched them on the path to fame and fortune.
Among them are Frank Bruno, Lennox Lewis, Tyson Fury, Joe Calzaghe, Ricky Hatton, Naseem Hamed, Nigel Benn, John H. Stracey and Carl Froch.
It’s no different across the Atlantic. Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather Jr and Roberto Duran are classic cases.
Happily there are a few shining examples of perfect harmony. Sir Henry Cooper and his manager Jim Wicks, were as close as father and son.
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Cooper, British heavyweight champion for more than 11 years spent his entire 17 years in the ring with Wicks – not only was there never a cross word between them such was the mutual trust they didn’t even bother with a contract.
Jim, Cockney son of a Bermondsey docker, and Henry were down-to-earth lovable characters and whenever they talked about each other it was “We did this” and “We did that”.
Someone said: “Those two have been weeing together for nearly twenty years.”
Wicks was one of the old school and his methods would give modern sports scientists palpitations.
He used to take Cooper to lunch at a different Soho restaurant every day and made sure he had a couple of glasses of French red wine with his meal.
And the day before a fight he insisted Henry ate a dozen oysters as they shared a bottle of Krug champagne.
As soon as Cooper finished a training session in the gym above the famous Thomas A’ Beckett pub in the Old Kent Road he would take him into the bar and make him drink a double vintage port poured into a glass of stout.
Cooper’s longevity was down to Wicks making sure he was never overmatched.
When asked if he would allow Henry to fight the brutal Sonny Liston for the world title a horrified Jim said “I wouldn’t allow my ‘Enery to walk in the same street as ‘im”
Jim was also a master of the malapropism. My favourite was when he described his feelings after seeing Cooper floored in the last round against Zora Folley. He said “I thought I was about to ‘ave a cardigan arrest.”
About his mentor Henry said “Nobody could put one over Jim. Having him in my corner gave me peace of mind. He looked after me and taught me so much. As managers go he was the greatest.”
Wicks would find it impossible to get his head round what goes on in the the fight business today.
When Cooper was the biggest name in British boxing his entourage consisted of himself, trainer Danny Holland and Henry’s twin brother George.
When Anthony Joshua fought Kubrat Pulev last month his team was 23-strong – presumably all on the pay-roll.
Now that would certainly have given Jim Wicks a cardigan arrest.
