Joseph Parker set to defend WBO heavyweight belt in NZ after Duco Events win purse bid
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Kiwi heavyweight boxer Joseph Parker is set to make the first defence of his WBO title belt in New Zealand in early April.
The promoters for the 25-year-old from south Auckland, Duco Events were the winners of a purse bid conducted by the World Boxing Organisation in Puerto Rico on Friday (Saturday NZ time).
Duco's bid for the fight against Englishman Hughie Fury was a little more than US$3 million (NZ$4.1 million).
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Hughie Fury is 20-0 as a professional but has not fought since April last year.
It was also confirmed the split of the purse would be 60-40 in favour of Parker, who has a 22-0 record as a professional and won the belt with a points victory against Mexican-American Andy Ruiz Jr in Auckland in December last year
.According to WBO president Paco Valcarel, the fight will take place on April 1 in Auckland.
"@ducoevents wins purse bid @joeboxerparker vs @hughiefury with $3,000,011, bout to take place on April 1st in Auckland, NZ, 60/40 purse split," Valcarel posted on Twitter.
While also chasing a unification bout with WBC champion, American Deontay Wilder, Duco had been in negotiations with Warren and his team for some weeks.
But when the two sides were unable to broker a deal, the WBO ordered the purse bid, with a minimum of $1.38 million, between the champion and the mandatory challenger.
"The money Fury is looking for is substantially more than Ruiz Junior but I think he is probably within his rights, " Duco promoter David Higgins said earlier this week.
"Ruiz didn't have a big fan base in America and the heavyweights have been off the scene a bit.
"In the UK market British fans go to everything. Fury would generate more revenue in the UK than Ruiz would in America so they've set their price and we're negotiating on it.
"There's a reasonable chance we can make it happen here if commonsense prevails."
Parker has returned to his Las Vegas base and resumes training this week, cutting short his holiday in New Zealand by more than two weeks.
The WBO belt-holder believed it was important he got back to training and began to focus on his next fight, especially given he estimated he had put on five to six kilograms since his title triumph.
"He's never headlined a card or fought on pay-per-view," Parker said earlier this week.
"It's a world title so he thinks he deserves a lot more money than I think he does. Home advantage would be more important [than money]."
- Stuff
Kiwi heavyweight boxer Joseph Parker is set to make the first defence of his WBO title belt in New Zealand in early April.
The promoters for the 25-year-old from south Auckland, Duco Events were the winners of a purse bid conducted by the World Boxing Organisation in Puerto Rico on Friday (Saturday NZ time).
Duco's bid for the fight against Englishman Hughie Fury was a little more than US$3 million (NZ$4.1 million).
REUTERS
Hughie Fury is 20-0 as a professional but has not fought since April last year.
It was also confirmed the split of the purse would be 60-40 in favour of Parker, who has a 22-0 record as a professional and won the belt with a points victory against Mexican-American Andy Ruiz Jr in Auckland in December last year
.According to WBO president Paco Valcarel, the fight will take place on April 1 in Auckland.
"@ducoevents wins purse bid @joeboxerparker vs @hughiefury with $3,000,011, bout to take place on April 1st in Auckland, NZ, 60/40 purse split," Valcarel posted on Twitter.
Quote:[/url]Fury, who has a 20-0 record but has not fought since April 30 last year, is on the books of well-known boxing promoter Frank Warren.
[url=https://twitter.com/PacoValcarcel]Paco Valcárcel, Esq. @PacoValcarcel
@DucoEvents wins purse bid @joeboxerparker vs @hughiefury with $3,000,011,bout to take place on April 1st in Auckland, NZ, 60/40 purse split
4:29 AM - 4 Feb 2017
While also chasing a unification bout with WBC champion, American Deontay Wilder, Duco had been in negotiations with Warren and his team for some weeks.
But when the two sides were unable to broker a deal, the WBO ordered the purse bid, with a minimum of $1.38 million, between the champion and the mandatory challenger.
"The money Fury is looking for is substantially more than Ruiz Junior but I think he is probably within his rights, " Duco promoter David Higgins said earlier this week.
"Ruiz didn't have a big fan base in America and the heavyweights have been off the scene a bit.
"In the UK market British fans go to everything. Fury would generate more revenue in the UK than Ruiz would in America so they've set their price and we're negotiating on it.
"There's a reasonable chance we can make it happen here if commonsense prevails."
Parker has returned to his Las Vegas base and resumes training this week, cutting short his holiday in New Zealand by more than two weeks.
The WBO belt-holder believed it was important he got back to training and began to focus on his next fight, especially given he estimated he had put on five to six kilograms since his title triumph.
"He's never headlined a card or fought on pay-per-view," Parker said earlier this week.
"It's a world title so he thinks he deserves a lot more money than I think he does. Home advantage would be more important [than money]."
- Stuff