Man City cult hero was involved in scariest football fight I ever saw – I was terrified to break it up

Stuart Pearce has revealed the ‘best’ heavyweight encounter he’s ever seen between two footballers.

And while he was grilled on whether he’d seen Roy Keane throw a punch or two, Pearce admitted the scuffle that stands out came at the Manchester City training ground.

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Pearce and Andy Goldstein were initially discussing the showdown between Deontay Wilder and Derek Chisora, won by the Bronze Bomber on a split decision, before the conversation turned back to football.

Goldstein had queried Pearce about the best fight he’d ever seen live, initially in the ring, before enquiring about the two footballers he’d ever seen come to blows.

“Andy Morrison and Paulo Wanchope,” was Pearce’s immediate response.

One Chop

Goldstein jokingly asked Pearce if there was “one chop” in it, before probing further to get the full story.

When asked what it was about, Pearce replied: “I’ve no idea, but I saw them going head-to-head.

“I was on the coaching staff at Manchester City and I saw them go head-to-head and I thought: ‘Oh, this could be interesting’.

“And I was about to go upstairs, and looking through the stairs at it going on downstairs, and I thought: ‘I really should go and break that up being a member of the coaching staff’.

“I thought: ‘No chance’.” Goldstein then asked: “Why? Let them work it out themselves?”

To which Pearce replied: “I thought I was going to get a few rogue ones. It was a heavyweight encounter of the highest order, the pair of them.”

“Did the other lads not split it up?” Goldstein continued.

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“They just weren’t there. It was just them two I think,” the former City man said.

Pearce then said he had “no idea” what the fight was over, before adding: “But I’ll tell you what, I didn’t want to get involved in the middle of it that is for sure, so I kept walking.”

Goldstein then quizzed Pearce about who won the bout, with Pearce stating: “No idea, I think it was pretty Even Stevens when I left it.”

Cult Hero Status

Wanchope established himself as a cult hero for City having joined the club from West Ham in 2000.

The Costa Rican scored 12 times in 15 outings in the 2001-02 season to help City back to the Premier League.

And the former striker bagged crucial goals at the end of the 2003-04 campaign as City finished the campaign eight points clear of the relegation zone before departing for Spanish side Malaga in 2004.

In his post-match career, Wanchope took charge of the Costa Rica national team, though he endured an infamous exit as head coach of Los Ticos.

The 49-year-old former striker was involved in a brawl having retaliated to being pushed by a steward back in 2015.

At the time, Wanchope admitted he was angry that the steward stopped him getting to the pitch following an Under-23 Olympic qualifier against Panama.

“He denied me access even though I had accreditation. Then I decided to open the gate myself. Then I was pushed by the steward who was there and I pushed him back. You could all see that,” Wanchope said.

“A thousand apologies to everyone in Panama for this incident, obviously also to Costa Rica for what has happened.

“I have always been known for defending my country, and behaving in the best possible way. We’re human beings and I reacted in a way that was wrong.”