Kaylor v Christie

We look back at a time when racial tension was high - and transferred itself to a British title eliminator.

While James DeGale and George Groves have their British and Commonwealth titles on the line, Mark Kaylor or Errol Christie didn't have a belt between them when they met in a seminal year for British society. It may only have been an eliminator for the British title but their Wembley showdown took place against a backdrop of racial tension that had seen riots take place in Birmingham, London and Liverpool that summer. Christie, young, flash and black and trained at the Kronk, was no stranger to street life; he came down from Coventry with a 20-1 record and was cast as the face as angry, anti-establishment Britain. Kaylor, in contrast, had won and lost the title before and was the established name needing a win to resurrect his career. Coming from West Ham, he had the football crowd behind him at a time when racism and rioting were as common on the terraces of our football grounds as the streets of inner-city Britain. It is widely believed that the police did not want the fight to take place for fear of a National Front presence and the sort of scenes that had marred Minter-Hagler and dominated the front pages all summer long. Christie, the confident young upstart he was, had lit the blue touch paper a long time ago, calling out Kaylor whenever a television microphone was thrust in front of him and as the rising star of ITV sport, that was fairly often. When the fight was announced the boxing world prepared itself for a crossroads fight between a champion fighting to keep his name in lights and a challenger ready to brush the old guard aside. Many feared the worst outside of the ring but few can have expected it. And no-one expected the fighters to fan the flames at their head-to-head press conference at the Stakis Regency Casino - especially just three days after PC Keith Blacklock had been murdered as Broadwater Farm Estate burned. But Kaylor and Christie did just that though, laying into one another in front of a baying press pack. Posing for photos, full of fury yet respectful, the pair seemed intent on rising above the tornado of tension that swirled around their meeting. They had moved apart when Kaylor, known for his short temper, came storming back across the room and whispered something into Christie's ear.

Clashed

Apparently it was only three words. Kaylor maintains he called him "an ugly bastard", Christie to this day, insists it was "ugly black bastard". Either way all hell broke loose, punches were thrown and shirts ripped before they were pulled apart. Already in trouble, the pair were not done there. They clashed again in the car park on the way out, this time with the cameras perfectly positioned. Years later Kaylor would lay the blame on someone "not doing their job" in allowing the two to get at each other and remained adamant that he was not "100 per cent responsible". The British Boxing Board of Control agreed to an extent, fining him £75,000 and Christie, no angel by his own admission, £15,000. The photo-shoot brawl upped the ante even more. Leading black political figures of the time called for the fight to be scrapped and then-Minister for Sport, Richard Tracey MP, was urged to take the bold mood in the best interests of a nation on the brink of racially-charged change. Boxing though, less socially aware than ever, pressed ahead and a reported £82,000 pot - a record at the time - was put up as the prize. The PR got worse when the date was