DeGale heads to US for world title fight.

[Black Sam Bellamy]

Great news for Degale. A purse surely beyond his wildest dreams.

[Counter-puncher]

outstanding

[whiskey]

The real loose end amongst all this drama - is that the worldwide television rights will now be up for grabs to the highest bidder that Al Haymon chooses.

Now he can do Eddie / Sky a favour and ensure they get last shout at it, but by the same token an absolute ton of his fighters have adorned Bxontaion in the last 18 months and there is definitely a relationship there too.

Given what he has shelled out to land this fight, I can see the UK rights simply going to the highest bidder.

The talk is that it's April 24th in Chicago for the fight.

I wonder if Sky will try and build a show for that evening in the UK, then cut across to America - and sell it all as a PPV ? obviously they would need to know right now if they can air it.

It's tricky and the clock is ticking.

[whiskey]

I find it interesting that Sky's share prices are dropping on the FTSE due to the recent news they are paying 83% more money than previous years for the football.

It equates to costing them £11m a single match (£4.2bn overall)

BT has still snatched 42 matches from them, and their share prices are on the up and up.

[ScottDetonator]

It all seemed to good to be true from Eddie, didn't it? Froch vacating and Matchroom having their own little event for James to be his successor...

A bigger pay packet for DeGale but slimmer odds of victory. He has fought abroad twice before, Canada and Denmark. This is an entirely different prospect though. It's got 12 round chess match written all over it but I'm pretty optimistic for James if he can stay focused for the full 12.

Just hope this isn't tied in with the UK show for a bumper PPV...

If you are going to be a champion for any amount of time in the current climate, you are going to have to travel to the US mainly, for a few fights. Let's hope DeGale puts it on Dirrell and floors him.

[orbtastic]

outstanding

Definitely.

[expe]

The bid of 2.105 million suggests Hearn thought it would be tight, but thought he had it in the bag (extra .005 suggests that in my opinion). Huge bid from Al Haymon, and I have every belief that DeGale will go over there, win UD and come home with a world title to place next to his Olympic Gold Medal as well as 1.55 million quid

$2.105 million is £1.4 million, give or take as the exchange rate moves, I don't think it was down to him thinking it would be close, he went with the lowest number he thought he could win with and make a profit on.

But is that not his job as promoter?

Obviously, he should do his best to get his man home advantage, but he and his company are the same as any other company....there to make profit.

£1.4 million isn't really a lot if he thought he could sell out the O2 and have it on PPV. 20,000 tickets at an average of £70 would cover the purse bid, with the PPV money being used to pay for the undercard, leaving him a huge profit. If he'd been prepared to cut his profit a bit, he would have had a better chance of getting his fighter home advantage. In a fight like this, it's unlikely either will knock the other out and Dirrell will spend the fight on the back foot, with DeGale chasing him, a lot of the rounds will be close IMO, away from home, that's advantage Dirrell.

[freddydoesdallas]

Can't see them even considering trying to get PPV event together for this date. Surely they would just build a card for the following week with Mayweather & Pacquiao

[black panther]

It's a bit strange of Haymon to bid so much for a boxer like Dirrell who has been in the wilderness in terms of exposure since leaving the super six tournament. He's also not a major draw at all. I really hope Chunky pulls it off: really not a fan of Dirrell. Dirrell has all the ability to be a fantastic fighters but doesn't have the stomach for a tough fight. Degale if pretty darn good on the inside; if he can close the distance effectively he's in with a good shout. But I hope they do their homework and protest if it's a US referee. In a fight like this, if Dirrell is allowed to hold excessively, he'll skitter on the outside all night, hold on for dear life when Degale gets close and pick up a points win.

[nitro5912]

Could al Haymon be looking at a brothers v Brits world title show???

[Stuarty]

Could al Haymon be looking at a brothers v Brits world title show???

Possibly! Would like to see that.

[expe]

Could al Haymon be looking at a brothers v Brits world title show???

Anthony is fighting Badou Jack 24th April, he might put them both on the same show, but I don't think it will be against Groves and DeGale.

[ALI]

Paddy Power make DeGale a 4/6 on favourite, with Dirrell at 6/5 against.

I fancy DeGale can win this fight and reckon those odds are about right, though i was hoping the bookies would put Dirrell in as favourite so i could get a bit of value on DeGale.

[ILikeBeer]

DeGale is an absolute stone cold certainty to win.

The reason? I don't like him.

[danamba7]

Paddy Power make DeGale a 4/6 on favourite, with Dirrell at 6/5 against.

I fancy DeGale can win this fight and reckon those odds are about right, though i was hoping the bookies would put Dirrell in as favourite so i could get a bit of value on DeGale.

Interesting. Wonder when the last time a Brit was odds on to beat a yank in America for a world title?

[whiskey]

I think the bookies have got this one wrong myself if they think Degale will beat Dirrell in 'merica.

[rio]

Paddy Power make DeGale a 4/6 on favourite, with Dirrell at 6/5 against.

I fancy DeGale can win this fight and reckon those odds are about right, though i was hoping the bookies would put Dirrell in as favourite so i could get a bit of value on DeGale.

Interesting. Wonder when the last time a Brit was odds on to beat a yank in America for a world title?

I bet $200 on brook last time in the states and won $240 plus my $200 back

[crusader]

Can't say Degale's shown me enough to warrant being the favorite in the US.

[Monte Fisto]

Blessing in disguise for degale. He will win in the US

[Counter-puncher]

Can't say Degale's shown me enough to warrant being the favorite in the US.

i certainly think dirrell is far from the boxer for degale to shine against, and think degale could have big problems being out-sped for possibly the first time

[mickey1975]

Is Eddie starting to believe his own hype? How can he dismiss the American's and question if they had the cash? Where was he getting 20,000 ticket buyers from at 6 weeks notice for DeGale and Selby? Did it not occur to him Dirrel has no intention of boxing abroad again after the last two times? Could he not have taken a loss on this show to make a profit on future 12st title fights?...

[Counter-puncher]

That's not his 'model' mate. Seems to me he is pretty inflexible in that.

[jameswilson]

That's not his 'model' mate. Seems to me he is pretty inflexible in that.

Despite him not winning the bid he clearly stuck a big bid in. If he genuinely thought he had no chance of winning the bid under his model ala the Porter situation he would have done a deal to go to the USA, ironically probably for a fraction of what DeGale is getting now.

There's certain situations that you should be embarrassed to lose a purse bid in, I definitely wouldn't consider it an embarrassment to lose to a 3million+ dollar bid here, and other promoters and fans of other promoters might be wise after the event and give it the 'ohhhh we'd have bid 3.2mill! Trust me I'm a reasonable guy.' Lets see how well these other guys judge what bids to make against Klitschko and Quillin when it comes to it.

[Boxing Prospect]

That's not his 'model' mate. Seems to me he is pretty inflexible in that.

Despite him not winning the bid he clearly stuck a big bid in. If he genuinely thought he had no chance of winning the bid under his model ala the Porter situation he would have done a deal to go to the USA, ironically probably for a fraction of what DeGale is getting now.

There's certain situations that you should be embarrassed to lose a purse bid in, I definitely wouldn't consider it an embarrassment to lose to a 3million+ dollar bid here, and other promoters and fans of other promoters might be wise after the event and give it the 'ohhhh we'd have bid 3.2mill! Trust me I'm a reasonable guy.' Lets see how well these other guys judge what bids to make against Klitschko and Quillin when it comes to it.

I was going to say "Has Klitschko ever gone to a purse bid?"...then remembered the STUPID numbers put up by that Russian chap...O_O

[jameswilson]

That's not his 'model' mate. Seems to me he is pretty inflexible in that.

Despite him not winning the bid he clearly stuck a big bid in. If he genuinely thought he had no chance of winning the bid under his model ala the Porter situation he would have done a deal to go to the USA, ironically probably for a fraction of what DeGale is getting now.

There's certain situations that you should be embarrassed to lose a purse bid in, I definitely wouldn't consider it an embarrassment to lose to a 3million+ dollar bid here, and other promoters and fans of other promoters might be wise after the event and give it the 'ohhhh we'd have bid 3.2mill! Trust me I'm a reasonable guy.' Lets see how well these other guys judge what bids to make against Klitschko and Quillin when it comes to it.

I was going to say "Has Klitschko ever gone to a purse bid?"...then remembered the STUPID numbers put up by that Russian chap...O_O

Yeah, I don't even know what the second bid was come to think of it. I'll check now.

Fuc k me, the Russian businessman bid 23million, K2 bid 7million. Jesus you'd be annoyed knowing you bid some 16million dollars too much wouldn't you?