BoxRec

Terry D wrote: the venue is atop the student mile, cheap beer, free sex and lots of drugs. Who needs an expensive flight to Vegas?

Feck me Terry, I wasn't going to go until you said that...

[quote="Terry D"]the venue is atop the student mile, quote]

is it?

Terry D wrote:Spud, surely you realise that this is an event type of fight and that these events don't always have great undercards, though to judge this one prematurely seems a little, erm, premature. It is all relative also.

Consider, Hatton versus Juan Urango, Castillo versus whathisname (I know it, can't spell it) aside, was a poor card. Hatton-Castillo was even worse. These two were events and to add insult to injury they took place halfway across the world. So fans paid thousands to attend in order, in reality, to see the one fight. Few grumbled.

Also, Hatton versus Maussa. Trip across snake pass, onto the worst feeder road in the universe and for what? An 'event' fight and a shite undercard. Not getting at Hatton here, or his then-promoters/backroom staff, but those US fights were only good value if you were taken over there for free, got into the fight for free and also got a pass to the post-fight party, gratis, naturally. If not then they were not value for money as the cards were dreadful.

Now, as it stands this card is empty but it would have to go some to match the paucity of the cards above, and it is impossible for this to happen as this fight is here in the UK, most fans can get to easily, the venue is atop the student mile, cheap beer, free sex and lots of drugs. Who needs an expensive flight to Vegas?

So no need to worry mate, I'm sure justice will be served and this card won't be as bad as some of those hugely costly ones I've talked about, good to see you championing the people once again though. Rizpec'.

Good point Terry, just the difference between Haye and Hatton is that he was filling arena's - practically single handily for YEARS before even the Tszyu fight. The Kostya fight made him "global" on the showtime credits and everything.

Plus whilst some of those fights you mentioned weren't "massive" - I would certainly say that the Castillo vs Hatton fight was considered a 50:50 affair with a big claim that the classy Castillo could do it.

My concern is whether Haye can do this practically on his own...... his last few fights there was at least some level of intrigue - Unidisputed Cruiser title, Battle of Britain, The Heavyweight onslaught, and then Golliath - Now he's against a "hard sell" and it wasn't as if he attracted new punters with his exciting style last time.

If the figures are great, both in the arena and on Box office - then I take my hat off (again) to those involved - the gamble paid off, but I have to say it is a much bigger gamble than Hatton vs Maussa. Hatton, was and still is, far more famous.

BigMark,

Your comments especially have made me chuckle - especially the one about - how many big fights have you been too - UMmmmm - where do I start or shall I leave that for another time as there are enough people on here and my phone taking the bait!!!

But with regards my thread - I know its hit a nerve and thats because I am right to raise the points!!! - absolutely correct.

How many of you w*nkers have slagged other promoters for "To be confirmed" fights - but at least then the promoter named his fighter - Hayemaker have not even done that!!!

Terry & Stu,

As always good points - however mine is no matter how poor the undercard is at least one was named - this time around tickets have gone on sale for just Haye v Ruiz - F*ck me I raised the point about Lennox Lewis - on his very last fight in the UK he couldnt sell out the arena on his own and with a quality undercard.

And for the record - Mike Tyson sold out in hours when he came to the UK - Ricky Hatton almost did on his "homecoming" but there was still a quality undercard in both events.

And another one for you - Just under 6,000 tickets have been sold for Haye/Ruiz since tickets went on sale - if I am incorrect I am sure someone will be quick to let me know otherwise - that means only about 15,000 more to sell.

Terry D wrote:Spud, surely you realise that this is an event type of fight and that these events don't always have great undercards, though to judge this one prematurely seems a little, erm, premature. It is all relative also.

Consider, Hatton versus Juan Urango, Castillo versus whathisname (I know it, can't spell it) aside, was a poor card. Hatton-Castillo was even worse. These two were events and to add insult to injury they took place halfway across the world. So fans paid thousands to attend in order, in reality, to see the one fight. Few grumbled.

Also, Hatton versus Maussa. Trip across snake pass, onto the worst feeder road in the universe and for what? An 'event' fight and a shite undercard. Not getting at Hatton here, or his then-promoters/backroom staff, but those US fights were only good value if you were taken over there for free, got into the fight for free and also got a pass to the post-fight party, gratis, naturally. If not then they were not value for money as the cards were dreadful.

Now, as it stands this card is empty but it would have to go some to match the paucity of the cards above, and it is impossible for this to happen as this fight is here in the UK, most fans can get to easily, the venue is atop the student mile, cheap beer, free sex and lots of drugs. Who needs an expensive flight to Vegas?

So no need to worry mate, I'm sure justice will be served and this card won't be as bad as some of those hugely costly ones I've talked about, good to see you championing the people once again though. Rizpec'.

Terry,

Your points ref Hatton v Maussa - that show did not sell out - it was massively hard work to get the people in that were there - FACT

Your points ref Hatton v Urango - that show also did not sell out - although the Chief Support was Castillo v Ngoudjo - in addition even though that particular show did not sell out the capacity in The Paris was also relatively low in comparison to the other arenas in Vegas.

Also - I hope you know that I am very aware that this show is about David Haye - but it is Bigmark who calls me Naive who is actually the naive one here - unless there is an announcement of a top quality undercard - I am willing to bet the MEN will be just over half full - before Ricky Hatton fought KT - even he had his promoter Fr ank W arren fill the undercard with ticket sellers and quality fighters - another FACT.

They don't need a good undercard and they don't need to release the undercard just yet.

So many undercards get announced so early nowdays and what happens they get cancelations all over the show for some reason or another and then fans who have paid to see the show on the basis that their mate on the undercard get disapointed when they cancel their fight or get injured.

It's bound to have a decent mix of Europeans fighting Americans. If your a up and coming boxer and you have a chance to be on a big heavyweight world title show then you will do what you can to be on that show and most opposing promoters/managers would surely be happy for their fighters to be on it.

I can still see at least 2 more title fights at European level or lower.

I think few maloney fighters will be on bill I Did read jamie moore was fighting again about april I wonder if he be on it! I think haye will sell it out if they sold 7000 already thats good start.

leforge wrote:I think few maloney fighters will be on bill I Did read jamie moore was fighting again about april I wonder if he be on it! I think haye will sell it out if they sold 7000 already thats good start.

You are getting warmer!!! - although not boiling hot

ERIC GUY wrote:A very good undercard will be announced soon!!!

That's good enough for me Eric.

8)

According to the EBU website Ryan Rhodes has a voluntary for his Euro title on the 3rd April in Manchester agaisnt a TBA opponent

I heard Rhodes is on the bill too. But the EBU website says Warren promoting in his dreams lol Matthew Hall perhaps he no 7?

MachoMan09 wrote: Let's be honest, none of the chancers dropping hints in this thread have the lowdown on the undercard for the Haye - Ruiz show, no matter how much they bluff to the contrary.

You of course must be right.

BIGMARK wrote:

MachoMan09 wrote:I think some of you are missing Spud's point. He is only putting this topic up for discussion, don't crucify the man.

MARK, you and Adam are partially correct in what you say. The majority of fans do buy their tickets solely on the basis of the main event but Spud is correct when he states that a huge venue, like the MEN, will rarely, if ever sell out on ticket sales for the headline match alone. Not many boxers have a fanbase like a rock band or pop act where their name alone will sell 20K+ tickets.

A good few thousand tickets are normally sold by the boxers comprising the undercard. That is why back in the day the Manchester shows sold so well. Ricky sold the majority, but Arnie and to a lesser extent Gomez and to a slightly lesser extent again Mick Jennings, Tommy McDonagh etc sold a lot of tickets to their own fanbases.

If the shows had solely comprised of Ricky vs Fighter X + a weak undercard, the venue would more than likely got nowhere near capacity. I think that is the point Spud is trying to make.

I'm not trying to crucify the man but it does seem a bit of a pointless thread. Anyway Spud loves putting others down with his "i just got off the phone with..." and "you obviously dont know how boxing works" lines, so just expressing my thoughts that for a man so well connected and knowledgeable its a pretty naive, poor thread. Now i await for him to come back with some high brow post telling me how i dont understand his thread.

Don't forget his one-man crusade to get a brit version of 24/7 going

I actually think the undercard will be very good.

Sounds like Ryan is on the bill.

George Groves will be on the bill (he's still a Hayemaker fighter, just fights on Maloney bills at present) and they've still got Michael Maguire (same situation as Groves) plus Goldenboy, Sauerland and DK's stables to pick from.

Wake up call wrote:I actually think the undercard will be very good.

Sounds like Ryan is on the bill.

George Groves will be on the bill (he's still a Hayemaker fighter, just fights on Maloney bills at present) and they've still got Michael Maguire (same situation as Groves) plus Goldenboy, Sauerland and DK's stables to pick from.

DK and Sauerland are not going to put any fighters on. Can't see Golden Boy doing either as there is no US TV. What would be the point?

What's the situation with Rhodes, because he is managed by Warren?

Rhodes is on the bill the EBU website says he fighting in Manchester on April 3rd on a Warren show that obvioulsy wrong. There rumours that Rhodes turned down a fight with Proska probaly not true at all.

Hope Rhodes is fighting,maybe a remAtch with Moore?

Moore gone up to middle. I hoping RHodes v hall that be good fight! Hall ranked 7th by European Union.

Terry D wrote: Good reply, Spud. All part of the fun and games. Just hoping to show that a weak undercard + huge British name can work miracles as the fans will turn out to support the fighters. Even Lewis, who only caught on late in his career, took a few abroad with him.

Haye is at home, at a decent venue and the tickets are well priced. I think it will all fall into place!

No problems Shaggy - I enjoy the boxing debate - you unlike some can come back with decent boxing argument - where as some have fallen woefully short in their replies

All they can do is reply with "Spud" is a w*nker - f*ck me knew that years ago - Spud only empties bins for promoters - f*ck me someone has to do it and the daft sods paid me to do it in Vegas and Monte Carlo too!!! - god that was painful!!! ;;-)

But lets get back to this thread - Its important to show up the glaring inconsistencies of posters who are so quick to accuse me of!!! - in a DESPERATE attempt to hide their own glaring inadequacies and severe lack of boxing knowledge!!

If this were a F rank W arren or Fight Academy show - there are some on here who would be screaming from the rooftops that what a con it was only announcing the main event - expecting the fans to pay for tickets blah blah and blah.

There are also some on here who really truly believe David Haye will sell out the Arena on the back of his fight with Ruiz!!! - absolute b*llocks !!! - the only people who will win here is Sky - they will invest heavily behind the PPV so the fans stump up their £15 instead of buying tickets at the Arena - once Sky get behind the publicity - do you really think Joe Public will buy a ticket when they can either watch it for free at the pub or just as cheap around a mates house on PPV??

Hayemaker have missed a trick here and that was to announce the homecoming of The Heavyweight Champion Of The World - supported by a number of good quality boxers as well as decent ticket sellers - with the Valuev fight fresh in their minds as well as a good undercard of a possibly a boxer they support in a big fight - that would have sold tickets - F rank W arren, Frank Maloney, Mick Hennessy and Barry Hearn would have ALL announced the undercard or at the very least the "Home" fighters supporting the show - I say they would have done because they are all good promoters who KNOW the business of boxing and how to sell a show!!!

As with the Monte Barrett show - I am telling you now - Hayemaker will now be sweating on the last week ticket sales to provide much needed income - they are now entirely in the hands of the media!!!

Spud they will annnouce fight soon on undercard with Rhodes v someone probably groves and few othes. The venue if accoding to you sold 7000 tickets will sell at least another 10k I think,

i have every confidence in dave n the team coming up with a good card.

as said,the ones who have bought tickets so far have done on the merit of the main fight so no one has been fooled into buying them

I think they have decided to hold the fight in the wrong place, Haye is a London fighter and should really be fighting in London at this stage of his career. Bruno - who was loved all around the nation only fought outside London after he signed for Warren - when there were 10000 screaming Brummies who came out to watch him flatten Carl Williams - Bruno must have thought 'Shit! Why did I not do this earlier' But that doesn't mean it would work for every fighter and I don't think Haye is at that marquee level of going anywhere in the country and selling out an arena like Bruno, Eubank or Benn.

As it has been pointed out by Spud - even Lennox Lewis as undisputed world heavyweight champion could not sell out arenas over here. There have only been a handful of boxers who have been able to do that.

I have nothing against Spud bringing up the topic - its a fair enough question to ask though it is a bit early - if it was next month and there was no undercard then people should be asking questions. But I think a world heavyweight title fight (even against huggy fornicating bear ) It's enough of a marquee event to sell tickets on back of without announcing an undercard just yet. Better than big boy's tactics of announcing undercards and then come fightime it is nothing like the bill advertised.

I hear BigMark V Spud is the main supporting bout?

Carlos,

Whilst I am not back tracking - it would not surprise me if Hayemaker prove me wrong - strong rumours are circulating that the undercard will be indeed very strong - but - it will take the assistance of another promoter or 2 to do that - however - sadly boxing rarely has marquee names that sell out Arena's like Hatton or Tyson - and even Tyson only did that once in the UK - people should remember his second visit to the UK in Glasgow - there were plenty of big gaps in that Stadium.

Hopefully a boxing promoter or a member of his staff will come on here to prove me wrong - but when a big "marquee" show goes on sale - its normally the first 48-72 hours which are critical - if the show is going to be a sell out without a lot of hard media work then normally its done in those first 48-72 hours after the initial press conference to announce the big fight and its supporting undercard - thereafter there is a slow drip of tickets entirely dependant on media coverage of the fight - after that the promoter has to wait until the last week of the fight when there is hopefully a big rush for demand of tickets - but to do that the promoter has to have a decent undercard of ticket sellers and the promoters media man is working overtime writing press releases for the local rags for the undercard fighters - and when selling a show those undercard fighters work their b*llocks off going around all of the pubs making sure tickets and leaflets are dropped off and making sure they receive the money for the tickets.

Let me make something perfectly clear - I want David Haye to be a massive success - he has done fabuously well so far and long may that continue - but some of his closest aides need to start to listen!!!

Who remembers only a short time ago - December 2008 - even with the announcement of the undercard - Hayemaker had to go on a massive media push to sell a lot more tickets for Haye v Barrett - that was coming off the back of that fabulous win against Maccarinelli. I fully appreciate being The Heavyweight Champion Of The World is entirely different and holds a lot more weight - but Haye/Barrett had to come out with offers of 2 for 1 and things like that. Hatton/Maussa ticket problems in the week prior to that show are well recorded and that is despite me shifting over 700 to squaddies.

I will repeat - I want David Haye to succeed British Boxing is desperate for him to do so in my view - but I honestly believe in my opinion there was a touch of arrogance when announcing this latest fight that the show was going to sell out quickly on the back of just one fight.