Intriguing choice
Sky was presumably unaware of the potential irony it created by associating its new 3D broadcast service with arguably the most over-hyped fight in the history of British boxing. That the fight itself was such an anticlimax - with Harrison capitulating without a fight - is another association that Sky might, in retrospect, regret.
HEXUS was invited to watch the fight in 3D by Sky alongside a bunch of other journalists, of which I recognised only one. My assumption that most of the rest were of a more mainstream media type was confirmed by the predominance of checked shirts among the men, which is apparently the de facto uniform of Soho and Nathan Barley types.
My expectations of the fight weren't high. David Haye is the former undisputed cruiserweight champion who beat the 7'1" Nikolai Valuev a year ago. Audley Harrison is the former Olympic gold medallist, who never delivered on his early hype and has lost to some pretty mediocre fighters. My expectations of 3D were that it would look cool, but that I still needed some convincing that it's something I would invest hard-earned cash to acquire.
Harrison is far taller and heavier than Haye but, inexplicably for a professional boxer, doesn't seem to like fighting. He has always been gun-shy, which seems to be a combination of an intrinsic lack of aggression and a fear of getting hit. My feeling was that he'd get knocked out in the eighth round, and only last that long because of a supremely defensive strategy.
Watching the build-up with the 3D specs on, there was an undeniable difference. The impression of several layers of 2D imagery super-imposed on each other was still there, but it created some cool effects, especially when there was a large depth of field, or when specially created graphics leaped out of the screen.
I canvassed my guests for their views and a lot of their feedback concerned the need for glasses. Not only is that one more thing you have to do before you can get 3D content, but there is the risk of them getting lost or of there being insufficient sets for guests. We concluded that, for the foreseeable future, 3D will be limited to big events like sports and movies, but the dark experience created by effectively wearing sunglasses reduces the conviviality of the occasion.
The other thing that occurred to me after wearing the glasses for a while was that, with a few exceptions (the ads were a lot more 3D than the boxing) I soon forgot I was watching 3D.
