By Scott Tierney: With the recent crumble of underrated sports channel, Setanta, a hole has been left in the sporting schedule, but not where you may think. Sure, the loss of live IPL cricket, Premier League Football, Athletics, UFC and occasional darts has left sports fans reeling, but the loss that has been felt on the biggest scale is the untimely demise of Steve Bunce’s Boxing Hour.
For an hour on Thursday afternoons, tearing through the revolving mediocrity that was Setanta Sports News like a rapid pit-bull, Steve Bunce Boxing Hour was the staple news diet for boxing fans, and sports fans alike. Hosted by the passionate and wildly erratic Steve Bunce, and anchored by the excellent and unflappable Andy Kerr, this pokey little one hour show was crammed to the very rafters with guests, interviews, highlights, news, opinions, exclusives and controversy.
You dare not look away or even blink during transmission, as Bunce would explode into a wild-eyed frenzy of rage and unadulterated love of his sport, usually aimed at a startled studio guest or a deafened caller who’s ears where bleeding by the time they’d hung up.
Thankfully the reliable Kerr was always on hand to steer the show in the right direction and keep things flowing, without stalling the pace or drawing the limelight away from Bunce. If Bunce was a racehorse, then Kerr would be the jockey, letting the beast run wild but always in control and knowing when to pull on the reins (a powerful image I know).
The show was as close as you could get to a causal afternoon chat in the pub, with your closest mates, Steve and Andy for company, Steve always happy for a natter about anything while Andy kept the conversation and drinks flowing. Sadly though, this rough diamond of a show could be no more.
With the collapse of Setanta, where next for Bunce and Andy? There have been rumors of the Boxing Hour jumping to Channel 5, hopefully getting the prime time slot it deserves, but as yet nothing concrete has been announced. Luckily though, the Boxing Hour faithful have come out in their droves in support of a return to air.
An ever growing army of loyal fans have already started bringbackbunce.net, a site dedicated to the task of returning the Boxing Hour to its rightful place on our screens. They’ve also created a twitter page and a facebook group which has gained over 500 members in the space of three days, testament to the popularity of the show. They’ve also been lampooning heads of channels with emails, pleading for more boxing news with Bunce.
Will we see the Boxing Hour again? Well, with an almost never-ending list of channels, all with airtime to fill but not the budget for more than two host and a studio, it would come as a surprise if Bunce isn’t back on our screens soon, foaming at the mouth, while Andy Kerr, grinning from ear to ear, straddles his back and calmly leads us into a commercial break. Here’s hoping anyway.
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