How Sheffield’s Buster Keeton riled fiery promoter Mickey Duff
Back in the day, Micky Duff was a sort of Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren character, rolled into one.
Only even spikier.
The infamous boxing promoter (born 1929, died March 2014) represented stars like Joe Calzaghe, Frank Bruno, John Conteh, Barry McGuigan, Lloyd Honeyghan, Alan Minter, and Jim Watt.
He was astute but had a fiery temper - and Sheffield’s Jon “Buster” Keeton brought it out quicker than most.
Keeton, now aged 53, was Brendan Ingle’s battle-hardened cruiserweight who won the British title and challenged for the Commonwealth belt.
He wasn’t always in International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Duff’s orbit - but when he was, trouble was never far away.
Their stormy relationship is revealed in Jamie Boyle’s new book, 'The Ringmaster - Mickey Duff.'
Buster, who boxed from 1993 to 2009, said Duff’s name was often mentioned at the Wincobank gym.
He recalls: “‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed used to call him ‘Mickey Bluff’ as he was never his biggest fan, though at one point he was signed with him.
"I met him on many occasions, but he didn’t even look at me until I turned pro.
"One of the first times he noticed me was when I faced one of his prospects, Monty Wright, at Dudley Town Hall in 1995. Wright was a former ABA champion and Duff thought he’d be the bee’s knees because he could really fight.
"Brendan Ingle had made the fight for 6 x 2-minute rounds.
"Mid-fight, I realised it had secretly been changed to three minutes. My trainer Dominic Ingle knew Duff had pulled a fast one.
"I wasn’t experienced enough to do 6 x 3s with a guy like Monty. After the first round Duff and his team were smiling - until the next round when I chinned Wright. I put him through the ropes and he was out on his feet.”
That night, Keeton witnessed Duff’s infamous temper for the first time.
A fighter had sneaked his girlfriend and her mate into the show for free - and Duff erupted.
“He stormed into the dressing room, slamming doors, screaming at the top of his voice: ‘DON’T YOU EVER, EVER LET ANYONE IN ON MY SHOWS AND GIVE AWAY MY TICKETS FOR FREE!’
"He banned the lad from ever fighting on his shows again. I thought, Jesus Christ, talk about overreacting!”
Keeton beat more of Duff’s prospects, including Simon McDougall and Leeds giant Denzil Browne.
Against Browne, a clash of heads left the latter with a bad cut. The referee stopped it, enraging Duff further.
“You can see Duff grabbing Denzil by the neck, (on YouTube) shouting: ‘IT’S ONLY A SHAVING CUT!’ but the doctor had already waved it off.
Duff went berserk and snarled at me again.”
Keeton added: “He forever snarled at me like a rabid dog because I’d beaten three of his fighters. He never talked to me, ever.
"If he clapped eyes on me, he’d blank me or walk off shaking his head. He had nothing but sheer contempt for me.”
The Ringmaster will be out on paperback next month via WarCry Publishing. The Kindle version is available now on Amazon.