11th July 2017, Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England; WBO World Heavyweight Title Fight Press Conference; Joseph Parker versus Hughie Fury; Big fight promoter David Higgins of DUCO.
In trying to either help promote the fight or put the lack of a neutral referee for Joseph Parker's WBO heavyweight world title bout squarely in the public eye (or both), David Higgins was trying to do the right thing in disrupting his man's press conference today.
But, unfortunately for
him and Kiwi Parker, it backfired. After weeks of suggesting Team Fury were cowboys in the way they were organising Hughie's title challenge against Parker at the Manchester Arena on Sunday, now it is Higgins and, by extension, Team Parker, who looked naïve at the luxury Landmark Hotel in Marylebone.
That's not a great look for anyone, but spare a thought for Parker, who is attempting to raise his profile here as the WBO heavyweight world champion, an achievement he has every right to enhance through his own deeds and as a humble young man from New Zealand, one with proud Samoan roots.
Putting it bluntly, this circus, coming hard on the heels of the controversial draw between GGG - Gennady Golovkin - and Saul "Canelo" Alverez in Las Vegas at the weekend (despite virtually all pundits handing it to GGG), is another blow for boxing at the professional level.
There is no doubt that Higgins, a loyal friend of Parker's, has the 25-year-old's best interests at heart, but turning up late to your own press conference and making loud allegations at another team and promoter is probably not the way to do it.
