Some decent fights: Cash v Cullen Okolie v Massey Rose v Fitzgerald Fowler v TBA However, surely this card doesn't warrant a 20,000 seat arena. None of the fighters are from Manchester. As good as Jack Massey is, it seems a stretch to have him vs Okolie as the headliner. Very peculiar card on this occasion from Matchroom IMO
3 alright fights, be surprised if they're barnstormers but it is what it is. Agree though, arena choice is odd
Jack Massey is very good? Don’t get me wrong, he appears to be decent , but nothing more than that. Is Buatsi still on the card? Maybe he’s going to be in a significant fight..
Fitzgerald - Preston - at least 2k will travel. Rose - Blackpool - no idea of the numbers. Fowler - Liverpool - again, no idea of the numbers. 3 NW fighters though, 2 of whom are very 2019.
Hearns said before the fight it was Buatsi, but then in the post fight interviews after MSG Buatsi was asked was he on July 6th and he said they hadn't decided yet
Apparently the real headline fight was supposed to be Flanagan vs Selby, with Flanagan signing with Matchroom. Then Flanagan had a change of heart, ditched Steve Wood and signed with MTK.
I heard that Buatsi vs Boesel was the headliner with another decent named fighter also on the card but his team always map out that they may not jump straight into that fight depending on whether he was injury free after the AJ fight and dealing with jetlag etc. I heard they was looking to put Kell Brook on the card in a tick over as its close to when Khan is fighting
Quite a few north west fighters though easy to travel from Blackpool Preston Liverpool Derbyshire etc Plus Massey and Rose both train at Phoenix in Denton. Top tier will be closed off but still get a few thousand, this is the standard to expect from Matchroom nowadays
Hearn seems to be doing this type of stuff more and more...he’s stretching himself all over the place, he doesn’t know whether he’s coming or going.
Massey sells a lot of tickets. Fitzy has picked up a lot of fans since his Fowler win, couple that with him fighting rose, that should get a lot of local interest. Fowler etc are all good names. I do agree though, it seems a stretch for Manc arena Edit...there's only 3 bouts listed for this on boxrec. Ditzy v rose. Ok v mass cash v Cullen. Surely that's not right.
Unless a big main event would have been better putting bill on at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, as it holds around 3,000. Would have also meant cheap digs for visiting fans.
What absolute garbage, is Rose still even fighting? BT sport is fast over taking sky, particularly with boxing IMO.