Boxing promoter confesses to love of Bordeaux

the drinks business was intrigued to hear boxing promoter Frank Warren talk of his love for fine wine on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs last week.

When asked what he’d take with him on his solitary journey, aside from the song selection and single book – Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson – it was a “Merlot grapevine and a bag of Pomerol soil”.

Warren has managed and promoted some of the biggest names in boxing, including Joe Calzaghe, Prince Naseem Hamed, Ricky Hatton and Olympic silver medal winner Amir Khan.

Over the past three decades he has survived an assassination attempt and even a run-in with Mike Tyson.

He has made – and at times lost – vast sums of money from boxing but admitted that now he wants to find something that will nourish his soul too.

In case you were wondering, Warren’s chosen track list was:

Doris Day – The Deadwood Stage (Whip-Crack-Away)

Barrett Strong – Money (That’s What I Want)

The Beatles – A Day in the Life

Billie Holiday – Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me

Frank Sinatra – All the Way

The Temptations – Since I Lost My Baby

Al Green & Lyle Lovett – Funny How Time Slips Away

Aretha Franklin – Dr Feelgood

Patrick Schmitt, 04.02.10