When David Haye lost the plot and lashed out at the crowd at the press conference ahead of his fight with Tony Bellew, he knew that a large audience would be watching, both live and when the clips would hit the internet after the fact.
That's why it was so disappointing to hear him use the term 'retards' to describe those in attendance, something he has done before, and presumably will do again unless he gets challenged on his use of the word.
Speaking on Off The Ball on Tuesday night, Kevin Kilbane was the man to challenge the use of that term, and there was no better man to do so considering the work that the Ireland international has done as an ambassador for Down Syndrome Ireland, and speaking from his own personal experiences.
Kilbane lashed out at Haye and spoke nothing but sense as he explained why it was so disappointing to see
This sort of language is disgraceful.
And I understand gamesmanship, I understand all the hype around fights and giving each other abuse, we've seen it all now, and it does seem to be genuine animosity between these two fair enough..
But for David Haye to use that word 'retard', not just once, because he's used it before.. For a man to stand up in front of so many people and use that term, that word, it's disgraceful.
These sort of terms are the equivalent of racism and sexism and I don't care what anybody says it's exactly the same. And these sort of terms should be wiped out now. They're totally unacceptable and for David Haye to use that word, it's outrageous.
Down Syndrome Ireland ambassador @kdkilbane77 slams @mrdavidhaye's behaviour yesterday. #OffTheBall https://t.co/cNfxZytsSd
— eirSport (@eirSport) February 28, 2017
Extremely well said by Kevin Kilbane.
Haye's comments, and the rant in which he used them, were an embarrassment. For an event designed to build hype and interest for the fight, it may well have done the opposite and turned a number of people away from watching the event.
It will be interesting to see what comes of this, as Joe Molloy pointed out on Off The Ball, Sky said nothing about his comments as they broadcast the press conference, which goes back to the point Kilbane made about nobody informing Haye that his comments were out of line.
Fair play to Kilbane for once again speaking out when something needed to be said.
