So on Saturday night it was inevitable that I would tune into 5 Live for its coverage of Katie Taylor’s fight against Flora Pili in a packed Croke Park in Dublin.
Taylor is perhaps the greatest ever Irish sporting personality (well, it’s her or Georgie Best, but I’m thinking that might be my Northern Irish bias showing). The fact that there were more than 80,000 people in Croke Park was testament to how Taylor has helped transform the image of women’s boxing.
On Saturday Taylor was fighting for the vacant WBC belt to add to her WBA, WBO and IBF light-welterweight titles, but it was the fact that it was also to be her last ever fight that upped the ante.
The intensity of the night was obvious right from the start as boxer-turned-presenter Stacey Copeland introduced the BBC’s team for the night – commentator Ronald McIntosh, Steve Bunce, the voice of boxing on the BBC, and her fellow boxer Skye Nicolson, who, she pointed out, “has tears in her eyes which is really not helping me because I am hanging on for dear life not to be overcome with emotion.”
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Looking around her at the spectacle, Copeland added, “I dreamed that this would happen one day. I can’t believe I am here for it,” her voice breaking.
“I am so choked up that I actually have no words right now,” Nicolson added and Buncey had to step in to describe Taylor entering the ring.
“Stacey Copeland is crying her eyes out. Even big Ronald is having to suck it in,” he explained. To be honest, I think I might have been wiping away tears myself.
And we were only two minutes into the broadcast.
“We knew this would be a massive event for Ireland,” Copeland said, gathering herself. “We knew it would be a massive sporting event for boxing. For female boxers, current boxers, former boxers, women who work in boxing, who report in boxing, we never imagined this would be possible. This is our night, for every single one of us … those of us who had to have a boy’s name in the gym.”
The fight itself wasn’t an anti-climax, but Taylor – probably the coolest person in Croke Park on the night – was in control throughout. As a result, this was a real celebration. The only problem was the BBC cutting off coverage after an hour to go back to the shouty misery of the Stephen Nolan show.
Over on Radio Scotland on Saturday there was some umbrage being taken by listeners to the fact that the regular Open All Mics approach to the coverage of Scottish football on Sportsound was not in play. Again. Instead, there was a straightforward commentary on the Rangers game.
The Open All Mics broadcasts see the use of multiple broadcasters at grounds around the country, all shouting their heads off when something, anything, happens during their respective games. But it hasn’t been used yet this season. Radio Scotland said it would return, but the smaller number of 3pm Saturday kick-offs is an issue. Not in the lower leagues, fans have pointed out.
At which point can I stick my hand up and say I hate the Open All Mics approach? The result is noisy, irritating and can sound amateurish when reporters are shouting over each other. Am I the only one who thinks this?
Monday afternoon saw a couple of welcome returns to radio. On Radio 2 DJ Trevor Nelson was back after taking some time off when he was diagnosed with a brain tumour earlier this year. After undergoing surgery, he’s now doing a phased return to work. “I’ve missed sitting in this seat,” he told listeners with understandable emotion. It’s great to have him back.
Meanwhile, over on Greatest Hits Radio the station was cock-a-hoop about its latest former Radio 2 recruit, Zoe Ball, who is now sandwiched between fellow former Radio 2 presenters Ken Bruce and Simon Mayo. As a result, the station’s daytime schedule is all a bit Radio 2 circa 2017.
The station even aired a wee dig at its BBC rival, with a namecheck for Radio 2’s current Breakfast Show presenter Sara Cox.
“They might have Cox, but we’ve got Ball.” Hmm, that’s neither big nor clever.
Ball, by the way, seems perfectly at home already.
Listen Out For: Last Night of the Proms, Radio 3, Saturday, September 12, 7pm
The Last Night of the Proms already? That went quick. But here we are, in the company of Petroc Trelawny and Georgia Mann in the Royal Albert Hall for a programme that takes in a flavour of Bernstein, Barber, Dvorak, Smetana, Holst and Anne Dudley before we get to Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance.