Was Flintoff's debut bout a 'disgrace'?

Andrew Flintoff's boxing debut received a contemptuous chiding from many quarters of the professional boxing world with British promoter Frank Maloney labelling it as a circus.

-Flintoff survives knock down to win debut fight

Maloney also called on the British Boxing Board of Control to take a look at its decision to grant the former cricketer a licence to enter a boxing ring.

Jane Couch, the first British female boxer to be granted a professional licence, labelled the four-round bout in Manchester a laughing stock.

"The board stop David Haye and Dereck Chisora from fighting but allow that to happen. The Flintoff fight belonged on a white collar amateur boxing show," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Couch, as saying.

"It's a disgrace that professional boxers are being put in the same bracket as what we saw last night. I'm not knocking Freddie himself -- fair play -- but it really should have been on a white-collar show not a professional show," she added.

Maloney, Price's promoter, said about the bout: "Last night was a joke. Once the American had knocked Flintoff down he backed off."

"All this does is deflect the attention from real boxers who have spent years in the gym and in the amateur ranks before developing careers in professional boxing. In all honesty, I've seen more skills watching two women in a bar room brawl," he added.

"It was like watching two powder puff punchers, and clearly Flintoff has no chin. If the Boxing Board allows Flintoff to continue boxing, they should be questioned over it. It was a novelty, and just a circus," he said.

Flintoff also faced mockery from other professional fighters, who clearly didn't liked his idea to turn as professional boxer and demean the sport in the process.

Paul Smith, the former British super-middleweight champion from Liverpool, responded to Flintoff fans on Twitter who were suggesting he should face Audley Harrison.

"For the jokers, Audley Harrison would be arrested for manslaughter if he fought Flintoff," Harrison wrote.