04-24-2017, 06:53 PM
Hughie Fury's absence will help budget for WBO title fight
Mandatory challenger Hughie Fury was commanding around $1.7m for fighting Joseph Parker for the WBO world title.
The silver lining to Hughie Fury's last-minute withdrawal for his world title fight with Joseph Parker is the money the New Zealand promoters are likely to save on the big Brits' wages.
Fury has pulled out of the May 6 fight for the WBO belt in Auckland, citing a back injury.
That has left promoters Duco Events hurriedly trying to find a replacement fighter from the WBO's top 15, having been given permission to arrange a voluntary defence instead.
Fury was set to earn around $1.7m and Parker $2.4m from the deal after Duco beat the British camp in the purse bid, putting up $4.1m for the promotion. The purse in a mandatory fight deal gives the defender 60 per cent of the bid and the challenger 40 per cent.
Now, with a voluntary situation, Duco can pay what they need to in order to find an opponent.
That could mean a significant saving for the promoters if they can find a top 15 fighter willing to have his "Rocky moment" and take a shot at a genuine world title without the massive monetary reward.
The balance will be trying to find an opponent who can still offer box-office appeal for seats on the night and the pay-per-view audience.
Fury, with his name alone and the British support behind him, certainly had intrigue though there seemed to be constant baggage for the Kiwi promoters.
The event has been problematic from the outset in terms of dealing with the Fury camp and also sorting funding.
No New Zealand government or Auckland City support has left Duco underwriting the venture.
They have gained around $150,000 again from the Samoan government.
Burger King, who was a major sponsor of Parker's "road to the title" aren't backing this fight.
Duco boss David Higgins is adamant the fight is "financially secure" though admitted the struggles were another indicator to him that Parker's fighting future now lay offshore.
"It has been the trickiest promotion we have ever been part of," Higgins said as he worked to try to avoid cancelling the May 6 show.
"That's been a result of the mandatory. If gives the other camp bargaining. The voluntary is simpler - you can say 'here are the terms'.
"Every fight is a risk, it's a risky business. But we wouldn't be doing this if we couldn't make it work."
Higgins said there workings as co-promoters with veteran American outfit Top Rank for the looming Manny Pacquiao v Jeff Horn fight in Brisbane emphasised how things could be done on a larger scale in a larger market.
They had gained "millions of dollars" from government and commercial sectors to make it work.
Higgins felt Parker, as a world champion, had probably run his course in fighting in New Zealand now because of the financial constraints.
"Provided Joseph keeps winning it would be nice to fight in New Zealand again. But it is going to take more substantial support to make it happen.
"I would say there's probably not enough commercial support here to do big, big fights here.
"If we'd have run this fight offshore we would have done way better. We basically sacrificed profits for home advantage."
- Stuff
Mandatory challenger Hughie Fury was commanding around $1.7m for fighting Joseph Parker for the WBO world title.
The silver lining to Hughie Fury's last-minute withdrawal for his world title fight with Joseph Parker is the money the New Zealand promoters are likely to save on the big Brits' wages.
Fury has pulled out of the May 6 fight for the WBO belt in Auckland, citing a back injury.
That has left promoters Duco Events hurriedly trying to find a replacement fighter from the WBO's top 15, having been given permission to arrange a voluntary defence instead.
Fury was set to earn around $1.7m and Parker $2.4m from the deal after Duco beat the British camp in the purse bid, putting up $4.1m for the promotion. The purse in a mandatory fight deal gives the defender 60 per cent of the bid and the challenger 40 per cent.
Now, with a voluntary situation, Duco can pay what they need to in order to find an opponent.
That could mean a significant saving for the promoters if they can find a top 15 fighter willing to have his "Rocky moment" and take a shot at a genuine world title without the massive monetary reward.
The balance will be trying to find an opponent who can still offer box-office appeal for seats on the night and the pay-per-view audience.
Fury, with his name alone and the British support behind him, certainly had intrigue though there seemed to be constant baggage for the Kiwi promoters.
The event has been problematic from the outset in terms of dealing with the Fury camp and also sorting funding.
No New Zealand government or Auckland City support has left Duco underwriting the venture.
They have gained around $150,000 again from the Samoan government.
Burger King, who was a major sponsor of Parker's "road to the title" aren't backing this fight.
Duco boss David Higgins is adamant the fight is "financially secure" though admitted the struggles were another indicator to him that Parker's fighting future now lay offshore.
"It has been the trickiest promotion we have ever been part of," Higgins said as he worked to try to avoid cancelling the May 6 show.
"That's been a result of the mandatory. If gives the other camp bargaining. The voluntary is simpler - you can say 'here are the terms'.
"Every fight is a risk, it's a risky business. But we wouldn't be doing this if we couldn't make it work."
Higgins said there workings as co-promoters with veteran American outfit Top Rank for the looming Manny Pacquiao v Jeff Horn fight in Brisbane emphasised how things could be done on a larger scale in a larger market.
They had gained "millions of dollars" from government and commercial sectors to make it work.
Higgins felt Parker, as a world champion, had probably run his course in fighting in New Zealand now because of the financial constraints.
"Provided Joseph keeps winning it would be nice to fight in New Zealand again. But it is going to take more substantial support to make it happen.
"I would say there's probably not enough commercial support here to do big, big fights here.
"If we'd have run this fight offshore we would have done way better. We basically sacrificed profits for home advantage."
- Stuff