11-02-2016, 05:01 PM
Joseph Parker and the fight to save his Auckland title bout
Will trainer Kevin Barry and New Zealand heavyweight Joseph Parker still be smiling when the venue for the WBO title ...
There might be a million reasons – or dollars – for Joseph Parker's handlers to give up their New Zealand rights to the WBO heavyweight title fight, but there are equally compelling arguments to suggest they will keep it here.
It's an equation Duco Events co-owners David Higgins and Dean Lonergan have juggled over the past week as they prepare to announce their decision on whether they will go ahead with hosting their man Parker against dangerous Mexican Andy Ruiz in Auckland on December 10.
With enough time having passed to ease the polarising issue of government funding and for the public to digest the "80 per cent" chance of the fight being taken offshore, this is an opportunity for Duco to regain some public faith.
Cue Higgins and Lonergan riding in on their white horses to save the day and allow New Zealand sports fans to lap up a historic occasion.
But forget the romance surrounding this momentous opportunity for a moment, there are some harsh economics involved as well.
And the reality is that Parker is Duco's golden egg. They've invested considerably in him and now is the time to start making some serious returns.
Those returns start by contesting this world title. Win that and big money comes in the form of defences against the likes of David Haye, while even bigger fortunes lie in the shape of unification bouts with champs Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder.
So the egg needs to be allowed to hatch in comfort.
That's why it's unimaginable to think they will hand over home advantage to Ruiz and his Hispanic army, having fought so hard to get these hosting rights in the first place.
And for a company known for innovative thinking and achieving, it's equally hard to consider Duco would have taken on this assignment without doing their financial homework.
Have they simply played a clever promotional game, keeping their fighter and event in the spotlight as the clock ticks closer to the opening bell?
Quite possible. But there are plenty of other pointers to why an Auckland fight on December 10 makes sense:
- Parker's busy social media accounts keep hammering the December 10 date as opposed to the January time slot Ruiz's promoter Bob Arum prefers if he gets control of the event.
- Ruiz has long battled weight and attitude issues. He's in the midst of a torturous altitude camp under the guidance of world class trainer Abel Sanchez. Why give Ruiz any more time to get his body and mind into shape? Hit him hard and hit him now.
- Similarly, Sanchez is under enormous pressure. On December 3 he is in Murat Gassiev's corner in Moscow, trying to win the WBA and IBF cruiserweight belts off fellow Russian Denis Lebedev. It's a long way from Moscow to Auckland – keep the pressure on Sanchez as much as Ruiz by forcing the fight now.
- The events schedule at Vector Arena, the preferred fight location, remains curiously free on December 10 in a busy lead-in to the holiday season.
- New Zealand's leading fight doctor Dave Renata is understood to be penciled in for the December 10 date.
- It was only a few weeks ago that Duco were heralding a major deal with a specialist TV broadcast distributor in the United States that paved the way to conquer not only that tricky market but also reach every continent in the world, with a potential 100 countries and more than 500m households. That sounds like serious economics and nothing has happened to change that.
- It's believed in the wake of the decision to withdraw their application for government support, Duco met with Sky TV to see if any shortfall could be recouped in a pay-per-view extravaganza that is sure to rake in big money.
- There have already been public plottings of a potential undercard with Parker's impressive stable mate Izu Ugonoh calling out Hughie Fury, the respected heavyweight nephew of troubled world champ Tyson Fury. There's a ton of irony there with Tyson vacating the WBO belt to make this title fight happen and Hughie having been controversially rebuffed by Ruiz for a scheduled fight last month.
- Stuff
Will trainer Kevin Barry and New Zealand heavyweight Joseph Parker still be smiling when the venue for the WBO title ...
There might be a million reasons – or dollars – for Joseph Parker's handlers to give up their New Zealand rights to the WBO heavyweight title fight, but there are equally compelling arguments to suggest they will keep it here.
It's an equation Duco Events co-owners David Higgins and Dean Lonergan have juggled over the past week as they prepare to announce their decision on whether they will go ahead with hosting their man Parker against dangerous Mexican Andy Ruiz in Auckland on December 10.
With enough time having passed to ease the polarising issue of government funding and for the public to digest the "80 per cent" chance of the fight being taken offshore, this is an opportunity for Duco to regain some public faith.
Cue Higgins and Lonergan riding in on their white horses to save the day and allow New Zealand sports fans to lap up a historic occasion.
But forget the romance surrounding this momentous opportunity for a moment, there are some harsh economics involved as well.
And the reality is that Parker is Duco's golden egg. They've invested considerably in him and now is the time to start making some serious returns.
Those returns start by contesting this world title. Win that and big money comes in the form of defences against the likes of David Haye, while even bigger fortunes lie in the shape of unification bouts with champs Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder.
So the egg needs to be allowed to hatch in comfort.
That's why it's unimaginable to think they will hand over home advantage to Ruiz and his Hispanic army, having fought so hard to get these hosting rights in the first place.
And for a company known for innovative thinking and achieving, it's equally hard to consider Duco would have taken on this assignment without doing their financial homework.
Have they simply played a clever promotional game, keeping their fighter and event in the spotlight as the clock ticks closer to the opening bell?
Quite possible. But there are plenty of other pointers to why an Auckland fight on December 10 makes sense:
- Parker's busy social media accounts keep hammering the December 10 date as opposed to the January time slot Ruiz's promoter Bob Arum prefers if he gets control of the event.
- Ruiz has long battled weight and attitude issues. He's in the midst of a torturous altitude camp under the guidance of world class trainer Abel Sanchez. Why give Ruiz any more time to get his body and mind into shape? Hit him hard and hit him now.
- Similarly, Sanchez is under enormous pressure. On December 3 he is in Murat Gassiev's corner in Moscow, trying to win the WBA and IBF cruiserweight belts off fellow Russian Denis Lebedev. It's a long way from Moscow to Auckland – keep the pressure on Sanchez as much as Ruiz by forcing the fight now.
- The events schedule at Vector Arena, the preferred fight location, remains curiously free on December 10 in a busy lead-in to the holiday season.
- New Zealand's leading fight doctor Dave Renata is understood to be penciled in for the December 10 date.
- It was only a few weeks ago that Duco were heralding a major deal with a specialist TV broadcast distributor in the United States that paved the way to conquer not only that tricky market but also reach every continent in the world, with a potential 100 countries and more than 500m households. That sounds like serious economics and nothing has happened to change that.
- It's believed in the wake of the decision to withdraw their application for government support, Duco met with Sky TV to see if any shortfall could be recouped in a pay-per-view extravaganza that is sure to rake in big money.
- There have already been public plottings of a potential undercard with Parker's impressive stable mate Izu Ugonoh calling out Hughie Fury, the respected heavyweight nephew of troubled world champ Tyson Fury. There's a ton of irony there with Tyson vacating the WBO belt to make this title fight happen and Hughie having been controversially rebuffed by Ruiz for a scheduled fight last month.
- Stuff