Frank Warren has entered the boxing field, advertising for superstars including Chris Eubank, Joe Calzaghe and, most recently, Tyson Fury – but his time in the game wasn’t without its low points.
Perhaps the most serious moments in a 40-year career involve unchecked or regulated violence in a ring. Talk to Dermot O’Leary on his People podcast, Just PeopleThe famed hall promoter recounted being shot outside a small concert hall in London.
“I had a show at Barking [London]. It was just the last minute I went, I really wasn’t going. I got there, got out of the car, heard a bang and I thought it was a backfired car. I looked around and then I saw this mass of flowers standing there swaying around [with a] wearing a mask and his hands are shaking. And I really thought it was a joke, then I heard a click – something must have happened.
The next minute, I heard another explosion, which missed, then another and I recognized it. When I turned away, the bullet hit me here [right side of chest]. So it went into it – if I were [straight] about it may have passed through my heart – but it is gone. And that’s it. “
Warren went on to describe the immediate aftermath, which included a close friend and an ironically named hospital.
“My partner at the time, obviously still a good friend of mine, called John Botros, he jumped on him. He’s a lawyer, I’m godfather to his children, he’s a real good friend. He just jumped on him – gun bastard, how brave is he? “
“I just felt my lungs fill up. You know it’s like gurgling from the blood in your lungs. And that’s it. The next minute I was in the back of a police car because the ambulance was going on and they took me to the aptly named Shooter’s Hill Hospital. “
A 9mm bullet pierced the promoter’s body that day, reportedly missing his heart by an inch. After all, he lost half a lung and part of his ribs.
The man in Balaclava has yet to be identified. Terry Marsh, who two years earlier had become the first world champion in Frank Warren’s cage, was charged with attempted murder. At the time, the couple was involved in a smear case brought by Warren. After 10 months in prison, Marsh was acquitted by a jury.
