‘Idiocy’: Questions raised as AFL greats boxing fight ends in KO

Former Essendon ruckman Tom Bellchambers KO’ed Cats great Cam Mooney but the AFL fight has left a bad taste in some people’s mouths.

Bellchambers pulled off the win. Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Former AFL players Tom Bellchambers and Cam Mooney’s fight on Wednesday night got the crowd at Margaret Court Arena buzzing but questions have arisen about the “novelty” fight game.

Former Essendon ruckman Bellchambers knocked Cats great Mooney out in the third round of their fight on the undercard of the Joseph Parker-Faiga Opelu fight night in Melbourne.

Watch Boxing Live & On-Demand on Kayo. Selected international fights, classic bouts and more. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

Speaking on SEN’s Dwayne’s World the morning after, Mooney said he hit Bellchambers a few times “but he just wouldn’t go down the big fella.”

“It was everything I thought it would be,” Mooney said.

“For a 43-year-old man giving away 20-odd kilos, I had the time of my life. But I suspected that would probably be the result if he landed a few on me.

“I always felt pretty comfortable in there. The shots that we took were probably more tired shots than the big hits that you might see on a street.

“I was never worried about going in there and doing any damage. I thought there was a chance I might be hit in the head a few times and knocked on my backside, which happened, but that’s boxing. It’s fine, it’s what I love about the sport.”

Mooney said he was “100 per cent fine” and wasn’t hurt. He added he woke up “completely fine”, lamenting he didn’t do it “10-15 years earlier”.

Bellchambers pulled off the win. Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

But for some it was hard to watch.

Speaking on SEN’s The Run Home with Andrew Gaze and Andy Maher, the Boomers legend said he had to leave after supporting his Bounce co-host.

Before Mooney and Bellchambers took the ring, Gaze called the face of undercard fighter Campbell Somerville “mangled” after he was left horribly bloodied in the fight.

He added he skipped the co-main and main events.

Gaze said he was “feeling a bit light-headed” after leaving the arena and had to “duck off into the trees, following Bellchambers’ win over Mooney.

He said the brutality “had a real impact on me”.

“Maybe because I love Cam Mooney, he’s a close friend,” Gaze said. "Maybe because you have that connection, maybe it hits you a little more.”

But Maher said he felt like the fight left a bad taste in his mouth.

“It was troubling for me to see two boxers, particularly the one on the receiving end who is smaller and not a professional, cop it,” Maher said.

“You automatically worry for the bloke who’s on the receiving end.”

Gaze said Mooney had landed a few licks of his own but Maher added it was “not to the same extent”.

Gaze said Mooney had enjoyed the preparation and had his own personal reasons for getting in the ring.

Bellchambers landed the big punches. Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

But Maher said it was a concerning trend.

“This whole notion, and there seems to be more of it these days, these novelty fights between ex-sports people or celebrity fights,” he said.

“(Mooney’s) an adult and he can make his own mind up and I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it, and if you want to do it, go your hardest. And if it’s what people want to see, they can watch it.

“We spend a bit of time talking to professional boxers and people who are hoping to win world championships, but they know what they’re doing. They’re trained and they've got professionals in their corners.

“There’s something that doesn’t sit right. I know they hook these guys in to help sell the fight but I don’t know.”

Gaze and Maher weren’t the only ones who didn’t love what they’d seen.

Co-host of Dane Swan’s Hump Day with Swanny and Friends Ralph Horowitz called the fight “idiocy”.

“Cam Mooney is 43. A 43yo brain just got the s**t smashed out of it. King-hit it used to be colloquially called before it rightly got changed to cowards punch* due to the trauma & actual deaths it caused out of the ring. Idiocy,” Horowitz wrote.

He also noted: “I’m obviously not saying there was anything cowardly with Tom Bellchambers in an agreed fight, but this is f**king idiocy that it happened.”

Apparently this is sporting entertainment.

Q/ How much does a strict diet, running, rope and hard work under the chin up bar and bench press help a 43 year old brain cope with this? A/ Zero

Idiocy 👇 https://t.co/S0Ow5YlzNh

— ralph horowitz (@rtralphy) May 24, 2023

Agree. Brilliant entertainment seeing a 43 year old king hit by someone 10 years younger and 25kgs heavier. Looking forward to the same Fox Footy ppl putting on their serious faces next time CTE class actions with AFL ex-players gets discussed 👍 https://t.co/4uTQdmf818

— ralph horowitz (@rtralphy) May 24, 2023

WWOS producer Murray Conallin added: “24kg difference! - where’s the duty of care?”

Pedestrian’s head of editorial operations Cam Tyeson posted: “Christ the broadcast cutting to Gaze and Dixon looking visibly concerned for their mate and colleague is a tough watch.”

There was a bit of concern. Photo: Twitter

How can the @AFL be so against anything to do with the head, and concussion, to the point that it is almost ruining the game with tribunals and suspensions.

But Mooney and Bellchambers can talk about knocking each other out (and then do it), and it is celebrated and promoted 🤔

— James Hallahan (@JamesHallahan_) May 24, 2023

The questions around CTE come after news in March that 60 players had launched a class-action lawsuit against the AFL for compensation over concussions and head injuries.

While both past and present football players such as Paul Gallen, Barry Hall, Sonny Bill Williams, Justin Hodges and Tevita Pangai Jr. have tried their hand at boxing, the likes of YouTubers such as Jake Paul have gained global mainstream success by crossing into the boxing world.

Although purists see it as a sideshow, it’s hard to argue the draw of the novelty bouts.