Oleksandr Usyk vs. Anthony Joshua II | Sky Sports PPV - 20 August 2022

[maverick23]

Let's be clear. The money makers from this fight are the fighters and the promoter.

Yet Eddie will be blaming Sky for the PPV price.

It’ll be interesting to see how the promotion for this will work. Eddie did a couple of posts about the undercard but there’s been very little generally from Matchroom and Sky haven’t got long to get things moving.

[garethhop]

Let's be clear. The money makers from this fight are the fighters and the promoter.

Yet Eddie will be blaming Sky for the PPV price.

It’ll be interesting to see how the promotion for this will work. Eddie did a couple of posts about the undercard but there’s been very little generally from Matchroom and Sky haven’t got long to get things moving.

Sky will be ok. They've got 9 Premier League matches running through to it which is a couple of million people at a time plus Sky Sports News machine. They ain't losing their shirt on this.

[tony1234]

I guess SKY paid X for the PPV rights and have to charge Y to make moneys they must have an idea of exactly how many buys they need to make a coin or 2. I just think they may well make quite a loss on the fight at 27 quid, it's a lot of cash to fork out to see a rematch that ended in a comprehensive win last time.

[maverick23]

Let's be clear. The money makers from this fight are the fighters and the promoter.

Yet Eddie will be blaming Sky for the PPV price.

It’ll be interesting to see how the promotion for this will work. Eddie did a couple of posts about the undercard but there’s been very little generally from Matchroom and Sky haven’t got long to get things moving.

Sky will be ok. They've got 9 Premier League matches running through to it which is a couple of million people at a time plus Sky Sports News machine. They ain't losing their shirt on this.

Yeah - I’m not worried about Sky but I struggle to see them doing the probably 8-900k buys needed to break even here. They can promote better than anyone but I thought they did a fab job with Khan/Brook and that only did c.500k buys with a couple of months of promotion.

[Ruthless-RKO]

"This rematch is a massive occasion with everything on the line and so many questions to be answered,” noted Adam Smith, head of boxing development for Sky Sports. “We can't wait to bring it to boxing fans in the UK & Ireland in true Sky Sports fashion with all the build-up it deserves."

"Sky Sports viewers have enjoyed a long history with AJ, watching his every fight since he turned professional in 2013,” pointed out Smith. “We also know Oleksandr Usyk very well, having had the last four of the Ukrainian's fights exclusively live on Sky Sports.”

[Spud]

I am boiling f*cking mad.

I truly cannot believe Sky Sports stance on this.

In the present financial climate you would think Sky would act accordingly.

Nope the greedy ****s should hang their heads in shame

[jimmystone]

Not for me this. I don't do PPV. I'll listen on the radio and watch it online later if it's a good fight.

[garethhop]

I am boiling f*cking mad.

I truly cannot believe Sky Sports stance on this.

In the present financial climate you would think Sky would act accordingly.

Nope the greedy ****s should hang their heads in shame

What are your thoughts on the boxers Spud? Or the promoter? Because, that's where the money's going.

Elliott Worsell did a great article on this online yesterday.

[Spud]

Sky paid the money because they are in my opinion involved in a p*ssing contest with DAZN.

They are paying the Money & thus in charge of quality control. If they weren’t happy with the product they shouldn’t have paid the money.

I totally blame Sky

[Ruthless-RKO]

Hearn has said, win or lose, Joshua will fight again in December.

In a recent interview, Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, was asked whether the Brit would be fighting again this year after the Usyk fight and he replied, “Yes, absolutely.

“One of the problems we’ve had with AJ is of course activity and a lot of that is down to COVID and a lot of that is because he only fights twice a year.

“The one thing he wants more than anything is activity and December will definitely be his next fight.”

[tony1234]

Hearn has said, win or lose, Joshua will fight again in December.

In a recent interview, Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, was asked whether the Brit would be fighting again this year after the Usyk fight and he replied, “Yes, absolutely.

“One of the problems we’ve had with AJ is of course activity and a lot of that is down to COVID and a lot of that is because he only fights twice a year.

“The one thing he wants more than anything is activity and December will definitely be his next fight.”

If he gets a beating then who will he fight and will anyone be interested in seeing it ?

[handsofstone]

I don't think I've seen a single person back Joshua here

[Riddick Bowie]

Hearn has said, win or lose, Joshua will fight again in December.

In a recent interview, Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, was asked whether the Brit would be fighting again this year after the Usyk fight and he replied, “Yes, absolutely.

“One of the problems we’ve had with AJ is of course activity and a lot of that is down to COVID and a lot of that is because he only fights twice a year.

“The one thing he wants more than anything is activity and December will definitely be his next fight.”

If he gets a beating then who will he fight and will anyone be interested in seeing it ?

Him in a loser-leaves-boxing shootout with Deontay Wilder will still sell.

[joshj909]

Hearn has said, win or lose, Joshua will fight again in December.

In a recent interview, Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, was asked whether the Brit would be fighting again this year after the Usyk fight and he replied, “Yes, absolutely.

“One of the problems we’ve had with AJ is of course activity and a lot of that is down to COVID and a lot of that is because he only fights twice a year.

“The one thing he wants more than anything is activity and December will definitely be his next fight.”

If he gets a beating then who will he fight and will anyone be interested in seeing it ?

Him in a loser-leaves-boxing shootout with Deontay Wilder will still sell.

Despite not being as big as before, if AJ loses then AJ, Whyte and Wilder could still make good money against each other and we would all want to see those fights. Would be a bit difficult to build hype and earn a big purse against others not named Usyk or Fury though.

[Frostieballs]

First they came with a PPV at £9.99 and I did nothing.
- I could afford it.

Then they came with a PPP at £14.99 and I did nothing.
- I could afford it

Then they came with a PPV at £19.99….

You get the point. Time to make a stand!

[tigermoth87]

Only a sap pays for PPV nowadays with the wealth of live streams.

I haven't paid for a PPV in years. Why would I give my hard earned cash to help a bunch of billionaires buy a new private jet?

Unfortunately, there are plenty of saps who will pay. Then probably piss and moan about having no money when they next go to the pub

[Spud]

First they came with a PPV at £9.99 and I did nothing.
- I could afford it.

Then they came with a PPP at £14.99 and I did nothing.
- I could afford it

Then they came with a PPV at £19.99….

You get the point. Time to make a stand!

Spot on

[garethhop]

Sky paid the money because they are in my opinion involved in a p*ssing contest with DAZN.

They are paying the Money & thus in charge of quality control. If they weren’t happy with the product they shouldn’t have paid the money.

I totally blame Sky

But the deal for the fight was done separately of Sky. And the promoter did a massive deal with huge guarantees accepted by each fighter.

So unless the Saudis actively chose to make a massive loss on the rights, then whoever was showing this fight was going to have to charge at least 25 quid, and more it turns out, to try and break even on it.

If you don't understand that, then you're probably best not commenting.

[maverick23]

Sky paid the money because they are in my opinion involved in a p*ssing contest with DAZN.

They are paying the Money & thus in charge of quality control. If they weren’t happy with the product they shouldn’t have paid the money.

I totally blame Sky

But the deal for the fight was done separately of Sky. And the promoter did a massive deal with huge guarantees accepted by each fighter.

So unless the Saudis actively chose to make a massive loss on the rights, then whoever was showing this fight was going to have to charge at least 25 quid, and more it turns out, to try and break even on it.

If you don't understand that, then you're probably best not commenting.

I think we’re in a position now in boxing where a lot of fighters are paid more than their commercial value. Particularly with guarantees like this.

Ultimately in this fight, if the reported £90m payment is to be believed, then both AJ and Usyk have been paid far too much compared to what the fight generates. It’s hard to blame them though as the people the work for them should be trying to maximise their income for the fight.

The Saudis will take a big loss, Sky will probably take a loss and they can afford to do so whilst the fighters and their teams make crazy money.

I’d have rather they just do a rights fee with Saudi but control the TV themselves. Probably wouldn’t be as much cash overall but at least then they’d have to hammer the promotion. Eddie’s a promoter and whilst I’m sure he’s done great for AJ getting the Saudi deal he’s currently done little to promote the fight.

I’d imagine the bulk of U.K./US shows are loss making in isolation for DAZN and Sky are, again if the rumours are to be believed, heavily overpaying the Olympians. Hence why we get poor undercards like tomorrow night’s. Frank promotes Fury and probably did well to break even on it or take a small loss.

There needs to be a rebalance of fighter pay but I can’t see that happening for a while when there are so many networks/promoters involved.

[Dioufy]

27 is a lot of money for a night of boxing on tv for a lot of people. Including me.

Last PPV I paid for was Hatton v Mayweather.

That won’t be changing this time.

[mickey1975]

£27 is too much. It's that simple.

[gregregegg]

27 seems a bit cheaky but inflations a bitch... though i wouldent pay it unless i had a couple mates to split it with, the undercard is mediocour. I mean, its 1 trillion times better than Fury vs whyte undercard, but still just dosnt do it for me.

The undercard looks great at a glance, but i dont care about the callum smith fight honestly. hrg vs zhang is fun but neither guy has any momentum right now. spong vs tab is interesting, but once again really nothing. they are 3 fights i might enjoy watching and if so, great. but there isnt a story there to get me excited for them.

Saudis sunk squillions into this, theres just soooooo many fights they could have put on it for a laugh, but there really not theere.

[Counter-puncher]

First they came with a PPV at £9.99 and I did nothing.
- I could afford it.

Then they came with a PPP at £14.99 and I did nothing.
- I could afford it

Then they came with a PPV at £19.99….

You get the point. Time to make a stand!

[Ruthless-RKO]

I don't think I've seen a single person back Joshua here

He’s had a few votes on the poll, but it’s funny, haven’t seen any comments from those telling us how he does it.

Unless it’s one of those, I voted him cus he’s a Brit or I WANT him to win ( but I know he won’t.)

[joshj909]

I don't think I've seen a single person back Joshua here

He’s had a few votes on the poll, but it’s funny, haven’t seen any comments from those telling us how he does it.

Unless it’s one of those, I voted him cus he’s a Brit or I WANT him to win ( but I know he won’t.)

I imagine AJ's route to victory is coming in big and going for a KO in the first few rounds. If that doesn't work he gets KO'd the moment he slows down. If he comes in small like last time he gets outboxed again. If he comes in mid-sized then he'll be too slow and not strong enough to effectively overpower Usyk.