BoxRec

Could someone tell me where they saw this fight announced?

James.

It was on another forum at 3.30 yesterday. I could tell you but I suspect I'd have to kill you.

But the announcement is genuine.

It does make any potential BBC coverage of the September 11th Froch v Dodson (?) bout highly unlikely doesn't it.

Secondsout:

Carl Thompson is to make the first defence of his IBO cruiserweight title against undefeated prospect David Haye at the Wembley Arena in London on September 10. Terms have been agreed between both boxers and posters and ticket have ordered. The clash between the two big punchers is sure to attract a large following and guaranteed to be a real explosive affair.

Thompson produced the most dramatic one punch finish, even by his standards, in winning the title from Sebastiann Rothmann back in February while the 23 year-old Haye has stopped all 10 opponents to date and never had to travel more than 4 rounds. The way these two punch it is very doubtful this fight will go the distance, either.

"This is going to be one if not the biggest domestic clash of the year," said Fight Academy promoter Robert Waterman.. " Carl is a remarkable dangerous fighter at the veteran stage of his career while Dave is just starting out and the most exciting young prospect in the country."

BBC televise will televise the fight

as secondsout.com is run by the same guys who are evans/waterman promotions you can assume its a done deal

As fantastic a match-up this is do you think it's a bit ambitious putting it on at Wembley Arena on a Friday night?

I'll definitely go but have a feeling that despite the quality if this one it won't sell too well. Haye has not been built up too much by the beeb yet and Thompson has spent most of his career on Sky.

Hope it does sell well though as already really looking forward to it.

SecondsOut has been updated and now has some interesting comments from Haye on the fight.

I was told that David Haye and Audley Harrison, were the only two fighters on the Beeb that attracted good viewing figures.

If the beeb gave this fight some proper promotion on Grandstand etc I think plenty of people will watch it. It's not as if they won't be able to find some great action to show, clips of Thompson saying Haye aint ready, no cartoon crap. giving the fighters equal billing. even do a sky and make it into a proper world title fight if it gets more viewers.
shite, all the things they should have been doing to hype Dodson Froch really.

The trouble with the BBC coverage has been two fold.

1 - The product wasn't good enough

2 - They had no expertise involved in either:
i) Boxing advisor
ii) Presenters - Reporters
iii) The Marketing

I think the Audley thing was ill advised, giving him headline billing was not a good idea, he shouldn't have been allowed to showcase himself like that, when he was a novice pro. He would have been far better as part of a show featuring other more experienced fighters. The pressure was too much, and the dissapointment too palpable when his fights failed to live up to the billing. That 1 million could have been much better spent elsewhere in my opinion.

Signing an unproven pro to a 10 fight contract might be a good idea if you are HBO or Showtime with deeper pockets, but for the BBC who have so little to spend on boxing anyway, did it really make sense.

Haye has cost them a hell of a lot less, is more exciting and maybe, just maybe could save terrestrial coverage of boxing in this country.

I was told by a "media expert" via e mail that this fight would never happen because of pay demands and the inability to sell the fight to the public. It seems as good as confirmed now, i guess my source should stick to his mockney interviews

I'm really looking forward to this one too. Thompson is a warrior but I fear him and I hope it's not a one sided beatdown by Haye.

Haye will dominate and stop Thompson within 4 rounds IMO

steve689 wrote:I was told by a "media expert" via e mail that this fight would never happen because of pay demands and the inability to sell the fight to the public. It seems as good as confirmed now, i guess my source should stick to his mockney interviews

You're expert sounds a bit of a Bunce. 8) :x .. whhoopps! sorry , I meant Dunce! 8) 8) 8)

Just by chance I saw David Haye at London Bridge station last night and already he looked in good shape.

7 weeks of training to go so I think he'll do a number on Thompson. THis may sound horrible but I want Thompson to get ko'd quickly and cleanly rather than have to take a beating. He's been great for the sport but as it's been said elsewhere I feel he's just too slow now.

Any ideas on how the undercard is shaping up?

I know exactly what you mean. I don't want to see poor old Carl getting twatted round after round, a quick clinical KO would be better.

However, I have nothing against Carl Winning of course, if he can pull it off, then all the better.

Wilko wrote:Just by chance I saw David Haye at London Bridge station last night and already he looked in good shape.

7 weeks of training to go so I think he'll do a number on Thompson. THis may sound horrible but I want Thompson to get ko'd quickly and cleanly rather than have to take a beating. He's been great for the sport but as it's been said elsewhere I feel he's just too slow now.

Any ideas on how the undercard is shaping up?

I'd imagine Haye is the kind of fighter who is ALWAYS in shape. He could probably fight tomorrow without many worries. It's encouraging to see a pro keep in tip top nick even weeks before a fight.

Perhaps various pie munchers like Hatton should take note. It's all about being professional.

I doubt very much De La Hoya for example goes munching fatty foods and drinking beer for all he's worth when not actively preparing for a fight...