It’s been a long time now hasn’t it. It’s very hard to remember anything other than PPVs and Next Gen.
Yes, it's difficult to believe Whyte sells many tickets in the US. He does have high ranking with 3 different organisations though and is perfectly placed to get ESPN a seat at the table at purse bids for Joshua, both with Pulev and Whyte and now Wilder. Does this all end up with AJ having to fight on ESPN if he wants a rematch clause? With this and the Fury deal Arum has taken two of the three most credible opponents for AJ off the table and made his network relevant in HW division. Does this increase the chance of seeing AJ vs Wilder? Get the undisputed title along with the Ring belt and AJ becomes far less vulnerable to mandatory issues.
Seems like this is a network arms race with each one taking turns to pick their pieces of the puzzle. The only issue I see so far is that of all of the top guys only Hearn has stated that Joshua can fight on other networks and he is happy to work with other networks. If Top Rank and Haymon do not do the same then us fans will miss out. For me I can see a situation in the future these fights will only happen if their is a blind purse iprocess for all of the rights to the fights.
sky must be fuming with Eddie Hearn now. Joshua in the states. Whyte fighting there as well now. DAZN has made other US companies wake up & investing more money into the sport.
the UK had the most world titles in the world and world title holders 3 years ago. That isn't hype thats facts.
No chance of that next in my view. Bob is getting his special marinade ready and the basting process can begin once they've found the turkeys.
Nobody wants them to fight bums, but it's quite an intriguing situation. Neither have sold well in America, neither are American, and neither have a world title. Yes, their respective profiles can be built up, but to what point? Will Whyte be anything other than a guy Joshua knocked out until he rematches him? Can you really build Fury up to be the sort of guy who a casual, US fanbase will look at and think 'I've absolutely got to see the Tyson Fury fight tonight?' How they are built is the question. A fight between the pair of them could be good if Whyte manages to get near Fury. If Tyson does a five punch a round special it'll absolutely stink. Whyte could fight a handful of top ten opponents and produce some decent action. For me Fury is the intriguing one. I just don't get how you sell him on his own.
I think your final point is a good thing in fairness. Sky won't be fuming for as long as Joshua is on Sky. Yes, I'm sure they'd rather have him on at a better time for the UK but he brings in so much more money than anyone else that what can they do? I doubt they're looking at BT for example and thinking 'if only we had that.'
He's only got 1 fighter under contract afaik, and that won't bring that much in. Maybe he can build up a good reputation as a good manager and " look after his lads" it would be a way to stay in boxing and earn a living, once he's "hung em up"
There's an interview with Shelly Finkle saying Wilder is prepared to fight on other channels to get one of the big fights, but only for a one-off, not tied down to multi fight deals. Good news for us, if he's telling the truth.
While I'm pleased to see that Fury will fight Whyte some time soon, your statement is correct. The circus has officially left the UK and gone to America. We're gone back to the days of having to stay up all night to watch quality boxing. Although I will say it was inevitable. America is just too big and pays too well. To think people thought the UK had it sewn up is gas. Fact is boxing peaked in the UK. Incredible job well done and great times, but there's only so far you can take it. For Whyte, I'm assuming he's signing a multi fight, multi million dollar deal so fair play to him. No more relying on PPV sales. There's clearly a heavyweight power struggle going on in America. ESPN have captured two of the top five so they mean business. A lot now relies on who gets Wilder on their platform. Huge bids beckoning I reckon.
For me it's too early to say this. I know I've said it many times and I imagine you'll be straight on at me for repeating it, but the oft-quoted figures regarding just how much money Joshua has made can't be ignored in this context. To become the 25th richest athlete on the planet for 2018 whilst operating entirely within the UK certainly indicates that the boom isn't necessarily over. What would make me think that domestically heavyweight boxing is gone would be huge successes made by British fighters in the US. Obviously this hasn't happened yet. Fury has had one PPV fight, as a B side, and it didn't do that well. Joshua hasn't had any and hasn't even fought there yet. Whyte is a guy who AJ absolutely splattered and is very much an unknown quantity. And I still think there are lessons to be learned from Wilder's career. Lets have it right; an unbeaten knockout artist heayweight world champion should be doing better than he is. He's just had his first PPV, after 40 fights, and it generated fewer buys than, for example, Lewis v Tua. Would I expect an American unbeaten world champion against a talker like Fury, also unbeaten, also 'lineal,' to do more than a Canadian/Brit vs a Kiwi in the US? Probably.
