Dillian Whyte vs Joseph Parker - 28th July, O2 Arena, London

[Ruthless-RKO]

It'll flop big time, no fcuking way is it a PPV fight.

100% PPV in my opinion. We've seen worse fights make it to PPV, and I think it'll do decent numbers. These are two top 5 heavies, and it's a really good match up. If it's supported by a good card, it'll be an excellent night of boxing.

It's an eliminator between two non box office fighters with nothing special in the skill department. I like them both but neither are box office and yeah it's a good match up but people pay through the nose for Sky as it is and fights like this are being humped on to box office. It's a shambles if you ask me!

I don't think it's even an eliminator.

[Enlightened-One]

They're as bad as each other. Hope it bombs! Pity because it's a decent fight and I like both guys...

It’s naïve to think that Sky Sports has some sort of moral obligation to minimise the costs of televising boxing events for their viewers, by adopting the business practices of some sort of non-profit organisation.

The sport of boxing is very popular in the UK and Sky has invested heavily in it since 2015 and already covers a lot of domestic and international events via their normal subscription services, without any extra charge to their customers.

It’s a shame that the sport of boxing in the US wasn’t as lucrative for the TV networks as it is in the UK, because fight fans would benefit enormously, as we’d inevitably get the opportunity to see far more marquee bouts than what’s currently on offer.

It's not a PPV worthy fight though.. I hope it bombs.. It's just greed at the end of the day.

At a superficial level, I totally agree with you. However, Eddie Hearn tends to ensure that there's a stacked undercard whenever the headline bouts isn't strong enough to justify a PPV event on its own (as we've already seen with some of AJ's PPV's).

Let's see what's included in the undercard before we criticise too much.

[Rob3_142]

It'll flop big time, no fcuking way is it a PPV fight.

100% PPV in my opinion. We've seen worse fights make it to PPV, and I think it'll do decent numbers. These are two top 5 heavies, and it's a really good match up. If it's supported by a good card, it'll be an excellent night of boxing.

Whyte a top 5 HW? i highly doubt that

I think based on resume, he is top 5, or at least there and there abouts. It's not like Parker is miles ahead. They've both lost to AJ and both have a list of wins against B level opposition. Based on levels alone, this is the right fight to make.

[Rob3_142]

Have we finished having a winge about the PPV yet?

The poll says most people don't rate Whyte against Parker.
I tend to agree.
Parker fought a much more impoved AJ and while he didn't do much, he survived. And I don't think Whyte could beat 2016 Takem or Huggie either. Parker is going to outwork him and subsequently out point him.
Full credit for Whyte for taking this fight. Big risk.
Can some you UK fans let us know what the English bookies are giving on this one please?

I think Whyte is unfairly underrated. Since the Joshua defeat, he's got a tonne load fitter, demonstrates much improved fundamentals, and stepped up his punching potential.

Aside from the Joshua fight, Parker has failed to impress, limping to points victories against Ruiz, Takam and Fury. He could have lost any of them fights purely on a different view of the scorecards.

I like it, and the outcome will determine who is s genuine top 5 heavy!

[SenorPipino]

Parker has the skills to cruise to a one-sided win.
But he never looks as good as his ability.

So he should squeak by Whyte, who is flying high after his KO of Browne, but is in truth, only a strong fringe contender.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Parker has the skills to cruise to a one-sided win.
But he never looks as good as his ability.

So he should squeak by Whyte, who is flying high after his KO of Browne, but is in truth, only a strong fringe contender.

So true. He only looks good because of opposition. These are the fights including the likes of Miller where we'll see what he can do. No doubt he has improved but I still think Chisora beat him.

[KiwiRider]

Have we finished having a winge about the PPV yet?

The poll says most people don't rate Whyte against Parker.
I tend to agree.
Parker fought a much more impoved AJ and while he didn't do much, he survived. And I don't think Whyte could beat 2016 Takem or Huggie either. Parker is going to outwork him and subsequently out point him.
Full credit for Whyte for taking this fight. Big risk.
Can some you UK fans let us know what the English bookies are giving on this one please?

Opening odds are (PaddyPower):
Whyte to Win 10/11 - Decision 9/4 - KO/TKO 10/3
Parker to Win 5/6 - Decision 6/4 - KO/TKO 11/2

Thanks for that Josh
I don't have access to the UK betting here, only our NZ TAB.
Gee it's a bit of a pickem then.
I thought it might be.

[ClivePatrickLyons]

Parker should win this if its all on a level playing field but we all know what Eddy is like like an over protecting mummy.

[Heretic]

This is hard fight to call. I will be surprised if there is a KO. Both have kind of average power and good chins. Neither has shown too much stamina issues. So close fight that can go either way.

Parker might be bit better of the two but Judges will probably be on Whytes pocket.

If I had to place bet it would be Whyte by decision.

Should be a good action packet fight

[Heretic]

For me both of them are somewhere between ranks 5-7 so this is very good match for the division. Winner might move to spot 4 depending of how the fight turns out. Maybe even 3 if the win is dominant

[Rob3_142]

Parker has the skills to cruise to a one-sided win.
But he never looks as good as his ability.

So he should squeak by Whyte, who is flying high after his KO of Browne, but is in truth, only a strong fringe contender.

So true. He only looks good because of opposition. These are the fights including the likes of Miller where we'll see what he can do. No doubt he has improved but I still think Chisora beat him.

You may well believe Chisora beat Whyte (I had it Whyte by a round), but many believe Parker lost to Fury, and I had Ruiz up a round against Parker. Both may have enjoyed a bit of luck along the way, but we are where we are.

Both fighters impressed on their last outing. The level of opposition is not comparable (Browne v Joshua), but many had Browne beating Whyte before the fight.

I wouldn't be surprised if Whyte executed just as good a game plan against Parker, and failing that, I'm sure he'd be up for a scrap.

[SteveO]

There is no mention of it so far, but I wonder if Whyte's WBC Silver title is on the line?

[jamamb]

n todays divsion whytes a full contender not just fringe

ths is pretty much one of the best matches that can be made w/o aj or wlder

[candyslim]

100% PPV in my opinion. We've seen worse fights make it to PPV, and I think it'll do decent numbers. These are two top 5 heavies, and it's a really good match up. If it's supported by a good card, it'll be an excellent night of boxing.

It's an eliminator between two non box office fighters with nothing special in the skill department. I like them both but neither are box office and yeah it's a good match up but people pay through the nose for Sky as it is and fights like this are being humped on to box office. It's a shambles if you ask me!

I don't think it's even an eliminator.

Not officially it's not but I (we) don't need some corrupt alphabet mafia's sanction to give it genuine credibility.

The first time I bought PPV it was headlined by Joshua v Molina. There was no way that fight was PPV in my eyes, I wasn't interested. What I was paying for was Whyte v Chisora which I thought was a great match and I was expecting at worst an intriguing fight, and at best an explosive slugfest. I don't always get it that right.

To me Whyte v Parker is likewise an intriguing to awesome fight, and just because Kim Yung Sulaiman hasn't given his official blessing is of no consequence to me.

I'll check out the rest of the card before making my final decision, but I fully expect to be lured in. I don't much care for the idea of PPV but I'm not going to deny myself pleasure in a kind of luddite protest which will achieve nothing - PPV is here to stay. Previously It's either left me feeling well satisfied, or mildly disappointed, never (so far) robbed.

I'm sure that would be very different if we were paying US prices, but when you compare the enjoyment/cost ratio of say, watching 6 hours of quality boxing from the comfort of your own couch, to schlepping over to the OS (London Stadium) to watch the depressing crap that passes for football over the last two seasons, then I reckon that's what you call a mismatch.

[jamamb]

neither are in my top 5 actually, but there both clearly top 10 and its a good fight. in itself not ppv quality to me (funny the guy saying it DEFO is is also saying parker could have lost 3 of last 4 and to takam) but with a good undercard the overall show could be

[candyslim]

This is hard fight to call. I will be surprised if there is a KO. Both have kind of average power and good chins. Neither has shown too much stamina issues. So close fight that can go either way.

Parker might be bit better of the two but Judges will probably be on Whytes pocket.

If I had to place bet it would be Whyte by decision.

Should be a good action packet fight

Like the judges were in Hughie Fury's pocket you mean ?

[Heretic]

This is hard fight to call. I will be surprised if there is a KO. Both have kind of average power and good chins. Neither has shown too much stamina issues. So close fight that can go either way.

Parker might be bit better of the two but Judges will probably be on Whytes pocket.

If I had to place bet it would be Whyte by decision.

Should be a good action packet fight

Like the judges were in Hughie Fury's pocket you mean ?

Fury fight was wide enough for that not to matter.

Also I don't think that Fury has that big influence behind the scenes.

[candyslim]

The fight was very close. In pure boxing terms i.e. the number of punches landed irrespective of the power of those punches, irrespective of who's on the front foot forcing the fight, then Fury won at a canter.

I was pleased Fury wasn't rewarded by getting the decision after such a negative performance, but you were clearly suggesting that Parker wouldn't get a fair deal from judges in the UK, and I'm making the point that UK judges had every opportunity to relieve him of his belt against Fury by basing their score on punches landed.

He was looking like he knew the scores would go against him and his expression when they didn't was one of relief and disbelief in roughly equal measure. So much for not getting a fair deal in the UK.

Edit: I just realized I didn't answer your point about Fury not having much influence behind the scenes. I'd like to think such thoughts were just conspiracy fantasy, but you never know with boxing politics .

[joshj909]

It did 474k buys (it looks like) is that higher or lower than any of you expected?

https://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/wee ... g-summary/

[Enlightened-One]

It did 474k buys (it looks like) is that higher or lower than any of you expected?

https://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/wee ... g-summary/

From what I’ve read, the accuracy of BARB’s viewing figures are not considered accurate, since they are (or at least until recently were) estimated based on a sample audience of 5,000 viewers.

The figures also fail to take into consideration the amount of people watching Sky Sports events in the pub or via their web browser on their PC’s.

I’m not an expert on this, but this is what I’ve read from The Guardian website and also BARB itself.

For the record, unless Eddie Hearn discloses the viewing figures, Sky Sports don’t ever publish them, which means we’re unlikely to receive the actual numbers that reflect the PPV buys that were generated.

In the case of the Whyte-Parker PPV, if the figures reported by BARB were accurate, then they kind of meet my expectations, with the £9,456,300 generated easily paying for the cost of the PPV event.

[Ruthless-RKO]

It did 474k buys (it looks like) is that higher or lower than any of you expected?

https://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/wee ... g-summary/

From what I’ve read, the accuracy of BARB’s viewing figures are not considered accurate, since they are (or at least until recently were) estimated based on a sample audience of 5,000 viewers.

The figures also fail to take into consideration the amount of people watching Sky Sports events in the pub or via their web browser on their PC’s.

I’m not an expert on this, but this is what I’ve read from The Guardian website and also BARB itself.

For the record, unless Eddie Hearn discloses the viewing figures, Sky Sports don’t ever publish them, which means we’re unlikely to receive the actual numbers that reflect the PPV buys that were generated.

In the case of the Whyte-Parker PPV, if the figures reported by BARB were accurate, then they kind of meet my expectations, with the £9,456,300 generated easily paying for the cost of the PPV event.

Whatever Barb says, It’s always slightly less.

BARB says Haye-Bellew 1 did like 1.4m viewers or something but thats probably includes replays. Hearn himself said the fight generated 890,000 ppv buys.

[candyslim]

I don't pay a lot of attention to PPV numbers so I don't know how that would compare even if it were definitely accurate, but Eddie was grinning like the proverbial Cheshire cat, so I think it did at least as well as he was hoping.

It was an excellent card altogether, and I'm delighted that a great matchup between two courageous fighters who were not obviously PPV stars was so well supported by boxing fans.

I find it gratifying that people know a good match when they see one rather than just paying to see a huge star beat up an 'also ran'.