Was that not one of the best cards for a long long time.....

i've been to a lot of very enjoyable York Hall shows, i suppose they should be PPV as well just because they were decent in retrospect?

But in summation, Whyte/Parker wasn't great, Chisora/Takam was a ****ing brilliant fight, Taylor won a mismatch, Buatsi won a mismatch against a journeyman, Benn beat a journeyman, Webb/Allen just had a satisfying ending and Fowler/O'Brien was a good test for Fowler, so no, it wasn't one of the best cards in a long, long time

 

Playing devils advocate; a sold out O2 arena generates around £3m assuming the median ticket price is £150 (probably about right given there are ringside tickets for thousands, and not many of the cheap £40 tickets). If done correctly on a Saturday Fight Night, there's more than enough money to have Parker v Whyte on standard Sky Sports. Hearn's greed is what made him 'stack' the card with various fights nobody gave a rats arse about.

Luckily for everyone, the two main fights were doozies.

 

Matchroom take 20%. The main event owns the show so if you want to point the greed card at anyone look at Whyte and Parker.

I however dont see it as Greed. I see it as they are prize fighters and are fighting to make a living. Nothing greedy about wanting to be paid as much as possible. Its up the consumers to decide if they are worth that money.

 

Hearn is a great promoter and a great salesman. I'm sure he could indeed sell sand to an Arab.

I just don't think he should be using his influence and reach this way. PPV shouldn't be solely based on what Eddie is capable of flogging - there's got to be some respect for boxing fans. If he doesn't have genuine PPV stars in his own stable he should be stepping up his game to recruit them.

 

It was pretty decent. Anything above that is hperbole.

Benn fight was poor. Taylor's was alright. Allen's was poor in reality, though I am happy that he won. Chisora-Takam was real good. Main event was good. Rest of the card was pretty void

 

What exactly do you think greed means?

 

Who is a genuine star? You build fighters into stars.

Tony Bellew never looked like a PPV star. Some fighters have the gifts from the off and are born to be genuine stars while others it takes work.

 

What sort of numbers did this do?

 

For me a boxing PPV star should be able to compete with the very best fighters in his weight division. This does not describe Tony Bellew. I don't like the road we are going down where personality and backstories are overtaking the sport.

Federer and Nadal are the biggest tennis stars and earn the most money because they are the best tennis players. Ronaldo and Messi same thing because they are the best footballers. This is what happens in SPORT.

Boxing and these PPVs are taking steps towards being sports entertainment like WWE. I can't see it being good for boxing in the long run.

 

The best fighters are not always the ones who draw money.

Andre ward would be a PPV star in your scenario but his not. That's just the way it sometimes.

The biggest stars will usually be great fighters and also great personalities but sometimes you will get fighters who can draw money without being the top fighter.

 

Did we have Tony Bellews in the 70s, 80s, 90s who were inferior fighters compared to the best in their division, yet were earning the most money? Genuine question.

I would rather see Hearn use his power to get the best boxers to Matchroom rather than spend so much effort manufacturing guys who aren't worthy to be considered top of the tree.

I was a bit disappointed he didn't sign Frampton. And I think he should have moved heaven and earth to get Josh Taylor on board.

Like I said, the road we're heading down seems to be one where stuff like rankings, titles, mandatories are taking a back seat. Hell, talent itself doesn't seem to be as important these days. As boxing fans I don't think it's something we should be applauding.

 

Toni Bellew is not an elite boxer and him having at least 3-4 servings of PPV pie sums up what is all wrong with boxing.

Toni is a professional actor and his pre rehearsed acting with Clev then Toe ensured the PPV mugs were reeled in quicker than perverts in a peep show.

 

The clev fight should of bombed on ppv. No way it should of sold 250k buys but it did.

What really put him over was the goodison Park fight. It made him a genuine box office star.

 

I don't know wasnt around then but the world has changed.

Now people have access to fighters all the time. Social media puts fans into their lives and people like characters. People may even hate certain fighters but more importantly they will pay to watch them.