BoxRec

That McAllister fight is absolutely terrible, made even worse because he is not even local. Talking of which, apart from Moore, there don't seem to be any Manchester fighters on the bill. How sad for John Murray that he can't get on a bill like this.
There was talk of Magee fighting Quigley, but that seems to have gone by the way.
This is meant to be a huge PPV show, the undercard should be better than this.

When you have sold 90% of the arena out with 5 weeks to go and the big promotional push has not even started,you can do whatever you like,really.This seems to be more of an "event" than anything,the bars are going to be absolutely packed throughout the whole undercard

gobbles wrote:That McAllister fight is absolutely terrible, made even worse because he is not even local. Talking of which, apart from Moore, there don't seem to be any Manchester fighters on the bill. How sad for John Murray that he can't get on a bill like this.
There was talk of Magee fighting Quigley, but that seems to have gone by the way.
This is meant to be a huge PPV show, the undercard should be better than this.

wish murray was on it

It's a bad undercard.

Moore fighting a no hoper and rightly getting stick for it. Fair play to Groves though.

People will only come for the main even though so who really cares about the undercard. Not me.

orca7 wrote:It's a bad undercard.

Moore fighting a no hoper and rightly getting stick for it. Fair play to Groves though.

People will only come for the main even though so who really cares about the undercard. Not me.

hes coming off shoulder surgery i dont care who you are no1 fighters a top opponantys after surgery

Spud wrote:As mentioned weeks ago - when the undercard was not even put together - now we have this - my personal opinion is with an undercard that weak for a World Heavyweight Title show they might as well not bother - many of you have already stated you are there for only the David Haye fight anyhow - to be honest the undercard is for me is very very poor for what is meant to be such a prestigious show - it is not often we showcase the Heavyweight Champion Of The World - and whether you or anyone likes it or not - the undercard should also befit such an occasion.

Look at the last time - just have a look at the Lewis/Botha show - then look at this one!!!!

It's not a terrible undercard in terms of British names. In fact, it's just a transatlantic version of when we have to sit through some shitty GBP undercard of barely-known US/Mexican names.

However when you compare it to the Lewis-Botha undercard, you're quite right to say it's vastly inferior.

I agree this should be a "celebration" of sorts. However two considerations are that Haye is nowhere near the status that Lewis was at at that time, and also that Ruiz figures to be a more competitive challenger than Botha was. So the Lewis-Botha undercard was more special because a) it was the return home of a legitimate legen, and b) to make up for a main event which looked likely to be a formality - and was.

However, even given that, I'd say this one could be a bit better. Still, when was the last time a HW title DID have a good undercard? Certainly not in recent Klitschko or Valuev memory.

Mr Fennell,

Whilst I take most of your points on board - I disagree to a degree with the GBP point - even on his shows the "Chief Support" at the very least is worthy of a watch!!

You're probably right. However, sad as I am to say it, for whatever reasons the strong undercard seems to be a thing of the past.

the undercard sounds like shit .... hope to have some world class fights on the undercard not these ...seems like a Bob Arum shitfest

jont wrote:the undercard sounds like poop .... hope to have some world class fights on the undercard not these ...seems like a Bob Arum shitfest

This is Bob Arum's next big card: http://boxrec.com/show_display.php?show_id=593960

Hardly a shitfest. It looks good to me.

ArtOfWar wrote:It's a s**t undercard and that is a fact. There are a couple of names on there, but there are no quality match up's which is all important. No point in putting someone like Moore on there if he's not going to be fighting a decent opponant. The main event is the only thing interesting and that's only because we're interested to see if Haye can get past Ruiz and then look to fight one of the Klitschko's.

It could be worse...

Froch v Dirrell undercard. And all that hanging about till 3am. It's poor, but not as bad as that abysmal card.

mickey1975 wrote:When you have sold 90% of the arena out with 5 weeks to go and the big promotional push has not even started,you can do whatever you like,really.This seems to be more of an "event" than anything,the bars are going to be absolutely packed throughout the whole undercard

B*llocks!!!

The big promotional push had started with the press conferences etc etc etc and in my opinion a massive gamble was taken by putting on such a poor undercard - Hayemaker have been totally reliant on the media and thats an even bigger gamble in my view!!!

90% of the tickets sold you say - has it been confirmed the WHOLE ARENA and all of the tiers - is available for tickets??

Perhaps Dave Coldwell can enlighten us - in my view his fantastic show at the Magna Centre at the weekend will have had better quality fights than the Haye Undercard.

Spud wrote:

mickey1975 wrote:When you have sold 90% of the arena out with 5 weeks to go and the big promotional push has not even started,you can do whatever you like,really.This seems to be more of an "event" than anything,the bars are going to be absolutely packed throughout the whole undercard

B*llocks!!!

The big promotional push had started with the press conferences etc etc etc and in my opinion a massive gamble was taken by putting on such a poor undercard - Hayemaker have been totally reliant on the media and thats an even bigger gamble in my view!!!

90% of the tickets sold you say - has it been confirmed the WHOLE ARENA and all of the tiers - is available for tickets??

Perhaps Dave Coldwell can enlighten us - in my view his fantastic show at the Magna Centre at the weekend will have had better quality fights than the Haye Undercard.

The whole arena has been on sell now on ticketmaster. I did expect another title fight on the undercard though.

Spud wrote:

mickey1975 wrote:When you have sold 90% of the arena out with 5 weeks to go and the big promotional push has not even started,you can do whatever you like,really.This seems to be more of an "event" than anything,the bars are going to be absolutely packed throughout the whole undercard

B*llocks!!!

The big promotional push had started with the press conferences etc etc etc and in my opinion a massive gamble was taken by putting on such a poor undercard - Hayemaker have been totally reliant on the media and thats an even bigger gamble in my view!!!

90% of the tickets sold you say - has it been confirmed the WHOLE ARENA and all of the tiers - is available for tickets??

Perhaps Dave Coldwell can enlighten us - in my view his fantastic show at the Magna Centre at the weekend will have had better quality fights than the Haye Undercard.

I meant the big push by Sky.They havent started advertising the fight yet.As for the tickets,they put half on sale to begin with,which went quickly,except for a few of the more expensive seats.They have then been opening up four blocks at a time,which have been selling out.There is only four left to sell.Thats both tiers as well,mate

That undercard looks like total crap if you ask me.

mickey1975 wrote:

Spud wrote:

mickey1975 wrote:When you have sold 90% of the arena out with 5 weeks to go and the big promotional push has not even started,you can do whatever you like,really.This seems to be more of an "event" than anything,the bars are going to be absolutely packed throughout the whole undercard

B*llocks!!!

The big promotional push had started with the press conferences etc etc etc and in my opinion a massive gamble was taken by putting on such a poor undercard - Hayemaker have been totally reliant on the media and thats an even bigger gamble in my view!!!

90% of the tickets sold you say - has it been confirmed the WHOLE ARENA and all of the tiers - is available for tickets??

Perhaps Dave Coldwell can enlighten us - in my view his fantastic show at the Magna Centre at the weekend will have had better quality fights than the Haye Undercard.

I meant the big push by Sky.They havent started advertising the fight yet.As for the tickets,they put half on sale to begin with,which went quickly,except for a few of the more expensive seats.They have then been opening up four blocks at a time,which have been selling out.There is only four left to sell.Thats both tiers as well,mate

Are you for real???

The big push for Sky is to sell PPV for their punters so they can watch it on their screens!!! - they of course want to see a filled arena for good TV shots but Sky will make a push on the fight in the final week for themselves and their financial gains only - they would have a guarantee minimum to pay out to the promoter and a % of the buys to pay out thereafter - after that the money is theirs.

Of course i know Sky are doing it for themselves,but the heavy advertising and the countdown shows will surely have a knock on effect for the live gate,not that its needed.

Zero hour is approaching, the ring walk, the first bell, the power, the future; David Haye’s first defence of his WBA heavyweight title against former two-time holder John Ruiz is ‘go’ for Manchester on April 3 and make or break for the quick, dangerous, charismatic Londoner who won the title just a few months ago in Germany with a disappointingly nit-picking decision over a freakish Russian and needs to show what he can really do as heavyweight champion of the world. Oh, it’s good to see a world heavyweight title fight back in the UK, a world heavyweight champion from the UK!
Ominously, Haye faces a man with a long and horribly established reputation for clinching and clinching decisions, and this is a real worry for the 29-year-old Haye. Ruiz is the mandatory challenger to Haye, not a man anyone chooses to fight, but Haye has no option. Even the Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladimir, who between them have ‘cleaned up’ the dire heavyweight scene prior to Haye’s lightning transition from outstanding cruiserweight to their outstanding rival for the prize of the world’s best heavyweight, conspicuously overlook the spoiling, 38-year-old Ruiz, which says it all. They know how bad Ruiz could make them look.
It also says this: if Haye does a number on the Puerto Rican, he enjoys bragging rights over his two rivals and can expect one or both of the Ukrainians to face him sooner rather than later; if Haye wins but looks poor, the Klitschkos will continue picking and choosing fat surly Americans for another couple of meaningless years before taking on Haye, whom they dislike; if Haye loses, he loses his title and an awful lot of face. The champion has spent much of his brief tenure at heavyweight outrageously and quite rightly ‘slagging’ those lumbering, tiresome, robotic Klitschkos.
Haye is sharp, in and out of the ring, small for a modern heavyweight at 6ft 3ins but with long arms and refreshing fluidity as he showed when he was able to pick off the giant 7ft, 23st Nikolai Valuev in November for 12 rounds for the WBA belt. Robots are no longer the order of the day. Haye moved well and showed a good jab throughout. He staggered the Frankenstein-like Valuev in the last round with a big left hook, although more ‘devil’ in his work from the start would have been nice. Haye says he hurt his right hand and fingers on the hand were strapped together when he returned to England, puffy looking round the face. Valuev held two wins over Ruiz but Haye went into the Lion’s Den and did what he had to do.
Comparitively, this gives Haye an edge next month, an obvious edge. He also holds advantages in speed and power over Ruiz. Combine the latter two and this is what makes up Britain’s David Haye: a big-hitter made all the more big-hitting by the rapidity of his shots. Ruiz has seen it all before, of course, a pro since 1992 and 6-0 alone in Britain, after an early career spell here. He won his two WBA titles through what is known in boxing as “astute political manoeuvring” or just Don King, who essentially gave up on his man when Ruiz lost the titles to little Roy Jones and big Valuev, both on points. For all his mauling and leaning on, Ruiz does obviously throw a few shots and possesses a pretty chin, much like Frans Botha, the last challenger to make his way here for a world heavyweight title crack when he took on Lennox Lewis in London in the summer of 2000. Lewis took him apart, two rounds, almost knocking Botha clean out of the ring in what now amounts to a precedent.
Haye, on home turf, also needs to blow Ruiz away.

Very interesting last line by Bennie!!!

I hope David Haye does blow Ruiz away - British Boxing would get another lift if he does!!!

Because I want him to do so well - cannot help but think there might be a drama or 2 in this fight!!!