Usyk/Takam is a higher profile fight. Heck even Pulev/Fury was a final eliminator and that was on Channel 5.
This will surely bomb? All of Whyte's previous PPV's he's had a solid dance partner. AJ was obviously hugely popular, even at British level. Parker was a former world champion who'd fought AJ. Chisora is a big name and their first match was excellent. This is a different kettle of fish altogether. Rivas is a good fighter but I think even AJ wouldn't get near his usual numbers if he fought Rivas. A total unknown quantity to the casual audience. I don't wish poor numbers on this fight. In fact, I think it'll be an entertaining one. I just don't see how sky sell it. If it does well, then Whyte is a huge star in his own right.
This is sh*t. Chisora is gone now, even if he somehow beats Parker. How do you recycle him into a meaningful fight when he has zero chance of beating the top guys? Parker has been proven as short at top level and quite frankly not that interesting a fighter. He does appear to be a good bloke though to be fair. Okolie v Lebedev is ok but it’s the type of fight that should be headlining Saturday Fight Night with a few decent scraps underneath. Despite the fact he has pretty much cleaned up domestically, the style in which Okolie has won those bouts has left egg in the face of the viewer. Lebedev is about a million years old and about two million miles on the clock. It’s a crossroads fight but in all honesty most people will take it or leave it. Rivas is sh*t. He was getting his ar*e handed to him by Jennings and pulled out the KO at the death. He is not a contender and is simply bringing an 0. I can’t say this won’t do well at PPV because there are simply too many people who don’t understand boxing that will buy it. I genuinely think this is the lowest we have got in terms of mainstream PPV if this garbage ends up being one.
I watched Rivas against Jennings, he was winning on 2 scorecards but to me, he seems very basic. He’s too small and doesn’t move his head. Jennings was throwing the jab but there was no authority behind it. Whyte has a good solid jab and with his size and reach he’ll just grind Rivas down without having to take much risk. Rivas’s style reminds me of Takam or even Jack, he’s very tight and tucked in, keeps a good distance but doesn’t let his hands go enough. I can’t see anything else but a comfortable points win for Whyte. This absolutely should not be PPV.
I watched Eddie’s interview with IFL whilst waiting for Khan fight to start. He said “you know what the alternative is, he’s been offered big money to fight in America, so it’s either PPV or take his fights over there”. There was people on here calling it a “g move by Whyte” going to speak to Top Rank and PBC but now we’re suffering the consequences. It sets a dangerous precedent too, all our fighters are going to want to jump ship and move over there for the money.
Then what's the significance of picking Rivas to the WBC process? He's ranked with them so I wondered if @ButeTheBeast was seeing his selection as in some way pointing towards Whyte taking the WBC route? Fwiw I think he's done enough to be named mandatory notwithstanding this fight. .
