Roy Hodgson needed to man-up in front of the press – the former England manager acted like a petulant child

THE next England football manager should be taken to a big fight so he can see how a loser should react in the face of a bitter defeat.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when Roy Hodgson flounced out of the press conference refusing to answer questions after reading his quit statement following his team’s ignominious loss to Iceland last week.

Hodgson wasn’t just snubbing the media but treating England fans, like me, with contempt.

Understandably he was in a dark place and in a foul mood at his side’s abject performance. Plus he knew the flak he was about to receive for his failure.

But that is no excuse for behaving like a petulant child. He simply ran away from his responsibilities, not being prepared to explain where it had gone so wrong.

In more than 50 years covering boxing I’ve never experienced a champion failing to man-up in front of the press, however much they were hurting physically and mentally.

It’s a pity Hodgson didn’t have Muhammad Ali’s words ringing in his ears before he walked into that media centre 12 days ago.

Ali waved goodbye to his cherished unbeaten record in his first fight with Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden, New York.

He didn’t turn up at the post-fight press conference because he was taken to hospital with a suspected broken jaw – the result of being floored by a brutal Frazier left hook in the last round.

But the following morning we were summoned to Ali’s hotel suite where he was lying on his bed holding court.

His jaw wasn’t broken but the right side of his face was so swollen it looked as if he had a grapefruit lodged in his mouth, Despite the pain and the immense psychological blow to his ego, Ali told us: “I never thought of losing but now that it’s happened the only thing is to do it right.”

There are many examples of fighters who have suffered savage beatings but who wouldn’t have dreamed of not doing the right thing by ducking out of cross-examination.

As soon as Hodgson got out of his chair and walked out, I immediately thought of Don Curry and his reaction to the harsh reality of a devastating whipping.

Curry thirty years ago was considered pound-for-pound the best fighter on Earth.

He had signed an $8 million contract to meet Marvin Hagler for his world middleweight title.

Curry as a warm-up had agreed to defend his welterweight crown against Londoner Lloyd Honeyghan, who he considered a push-over.

But Honeyghan hadn't read the script and sensationally battered Curry to a six-round defeat in one of the biggest upsets of the 1980s.

Curry, having lost his title, his unbeaten record and a multi-million dollar fortune, had 23 stitches inserted in his facial wounds.

When he got back to his hotel from the A&E department with his career in ruins, he realised he hadn't given a press conference.

I got a call along with my British colleagues to go to Curry's suite where he was waiting to speak to us. It was ONE-THIRTY am.

I can repeat similar stories many times. It has always been my contention that boxers conduct themselves like men and the Hodgsons of the soccer world like little boys.