Editorial: Praise for unlikely pair of pugilists

Praise is in order for Ken Mair and Michael Laws, a rather unlikely pair of pugilists, who have agreed to step into the boxing ring for charity later this year.
The Chronicle revealed the possibility of the fight last week, but the bout was finally officially confirmed yesterday at a press conference at the Wanganui RSA.
The fight will be held in December, with the funds raised going towards earthquake recovery in Christchurch. Judging by the level of media attending yesterday's announcement, there should be no shortage of interest in the event.
It helps that the Wanganui fight is elevated beyond the ranks of the usual good-intentioned "Fight for Life" endeavours, where two "celebrity" boxers are randomly thrown together in the ring, to see which one can give the other a bleeding nose first.
Mr Laws and Mr Mair have history, as vocal opponents on opposite sides of what has now become known as the "H" debate, around the correct spelling of this city's name.
Both men have helped pump up the fight by engaging in the usual "trash talking" that goes on before high-profile boxing bouts. Mr Laws yesterday claimed that if he won, the H debate would be settled for good, before adding for good measure that "we'll rip up the Treaty of Waitangi as well".
Mr Mair said he intended to knock Mr Laws out on behalf of the four million New Zealanders who want to have a crack at him.
Putting the H issue to one side, there's likely to be plenty of people keen to see one or both antagonists hit the canvas. Both men have more than their share of opponents, after years of outspoken behaviour.
Then again, those hoping for a knockout might be getting carried away.
There's little chance the fight will reach the standards of even your average amateur sparring session, let alone the lofty heights of the weekend's heavyweight unification bout between Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye.
But, really, that's not the point.
Instead, what we have here are two men willing to play off their public notoriety and prepared to face the humiliation of getting beaten up in public in order to support a good cause.
They should be congratulated, and the Wanganui public needs to get in behind this fight and support it.
Feedback: editor@wanganuichronicle.co.nz