Clever Move by Mr Warren.....

EddieShredder · Post by **EddieShredder** » 30 Aug 2005, 11:38

Gets more and more interesting....

http://www.sportinglife.com/boxing/news ... atton.html

HATTON FACING MANCHESTER EXILE
Ricky Hatton faces the prospect of being frozen out of his home city if he fails to resolve his contract dispute with promoter allegedly.

Warren has signed an exclusive two-year deal to promote fights at the MEN Arena in Manchester where the IBF light-welterweight champion has had all but three of his last 15 contests.

For the duration of the contract, only Warren's Sports Network organisation will have the option of promoting boxing matches at the 22,000 capacity indoor arena.

It means that if Hatton were to sever his links with Warren, his chances of continuing to fight in front a big crowd at home would be restricted to an ambitious football stadium event in the summer.

Hatton's advisers believe his contract with Sports Network has run its course - a claim Warren vigorously refutes.

Warren has already fired off formal notices of impending legal action to a number of promotional rivals whom the Hatton team have reportedly been courting.

And Warren maintains he will battle to the bitter end to keep hold of his star attraction whom he has promoted for all 39 of his professional fights.

Warren said: "I have never had a bad word with Ricky throughout this, but I have to protect Sports Network's interests and as far as I am concerned we still have an agreement.

"I am confident that agreement will stand the test of a court hearing but that is not something I want and hopefully this dispute can be resolved amicably.

"But I will do absolutely everything to fight my corner. Ricky has done very well with me in terms of his career and his finances and it is a great shame it has come to this."

You can't tell me thats a coincidence

boxingchat · Post by **boxingchat** » 30 Aug 2005, 11:44

This is better than watching Dallas!

Slapsie Maxie · Post by **Slapsie Maxie** » 30 Aug 2005, 11:46

To be honest, that would be a misjudgement on FW's part

Who else is he going to fill the MEN with? Too early for Khan to top a big bill and RH could fight in any arena in the UK and fill it certainly for his next fight

I suspect it is all just posturing and FW/RH will come to some agreement. It is too lucrative an arrangement for either to walk away just yet.

Slapsie

nickd · Post by **nickd** » 30 Aug 2005, 11:47

What about TBA? He has a pretty big following in Manchester, he's fought on enough cards up there.

Slapsie Maxie · Post by **Slapsie Maxie** » 30 Aug 2005, 11:55

nickd wrote:What about TBA? He has a pretty big following in Manchester, he's fought on enough cards up there.

G-man · Post by **G-man** » 30 Aug 2005, 11:56

Slapsie Maxie wrote:
I suspect it is all just posturing and FW/RH will come to some agreement. It is too lucrative an arrangement for either to walk away just yet.

Slapsie

Don't bet on it.

MightyWarrior · Post by **MightyWarrior** » 30 Aug 2005, 11:56

That's a sharp move, and maybe a desparate one at that. If SN was so sure about their contract I doubt they'd play their cards so early - might seem like check mate, but there's always the option of "an ambitious football stadium event in the summer..." as the press release says.

Good idea in fact

BubiScholz · Post by **BubiScholz** » 30 Aug 2005, 11:57

You can say what you want, but Frankie Warren knows how to make money!

steve689 · Post by **steve689** » 30 Aug 2005, 12:08

Slapsie Maxie wrote:To be honest, that would be a misjudgement on FW's part

Who else is he going to fill the MEN with? Too early for Khan to top a big bill and RH could fight in any arena in the UK and fill it certainly for his next fight

This was my first thought, without Hatton then who else can fill the stadium...nobody i can think of.

Boxingmad · Post by **Boxingmad** » 30 Aug 2005, 15:11

Hatton could easily fill a good portion of Manchester City stadium or perhaps the Reebok Stadium (Bolton's ground) which is only a few miles from Manchester.

kevin · Post by **kevin** » 30 Aug 2005, 16:40

bolton would be ideal if khan was on the card!

Thaxton fights outdoors at Norwich on Saturday and it's only a 6000 capacity even though he could probably sell more

Kev

Phenomenal-Nutrition · Post by **Phenomenal-Nutrition** » 30 Aug 2005, 17:25

Kevin wrote:bolton would be ideal if khan was on the card!

Thaxton fights outdoors at Norwich on Saturday and it's only a 6000 capacity even though he could probably sell more

Kev

Khan won't be on a Hatton card if Hatton goes away from Warren.

Warren should be trying to smooth talk Ricky instead of pissing him off.

Would the MEN really want to turn down the chance of having Hatton hiring its venue 3times a year on Warrens say so?

knockout · Post by **knockout** » 30 Aug 2005, 17:34

is the G-Mex still in manchester???

JimStone · Post by **JimStone** » 30 Aug 2005, 18:36

knockout wrote:is the G-Mex still in manchester???

Yes.

JimmyJamJerusalem · Post by **JimmyJamJerusalem** » 30 Aug 2005, 19:33

Slapsie Maxie wrote:To be honest, that would be a misjudgement on FW's part

Who else is he going to fill the MEN with? Too early for Khan to top a big bill and RH could fight in any arena in the UK and fill it certainly for his next fight

Slapsie

Probably half the reason he's so desperate to keep Hatton is that he has promised to fill the MEN 3 times a year, and without his little ginger bollocks he's fucked!

Bard of Boxrec · Post by **Bard of Boxrec** » 30 Aug 2005, 19:42

FlawedGenius wrote:
knockout wrote:is the G-Mex still in manchester???
Yes.

No, it was airlifted to Albuquerque, where it is now the TexMex arena.

KO Artist · Post by **KO Artist** » 31 Aug 2005, 03:53

Bolton and Shefiield are not too far from manchester.

The Hallam FM arena where clinton woods ids fighting holds cica 13,000 and the reebok atdium is huge.

By freezing out manchester warren must see the promotional threat as british.

knockout · Post by **knockout** » 31 Aug 2005, 04:27

Riddick Blowe wrote:
FlawedGenius wrote:
knockout wrote:is the G-Mex still in manchester???
Yes.
No, it was airlifted to Buenos Aires

Wanker :-)

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 31 Aug 2005, 04:56

Boxingmad wrote:Hatton could easily fill a good portion of Manchester City stadium or perhaps the Reebok Stadium (Bolton's ground) which is only a few miles from Manchester.

Yes, but how much is it going to cost to hire? Also logistically with the football could be hard to find suitable dates.

nickd · Post by **nickd** » 31 Aug 2005, 06:40

KO Atrist wrote:Bolton and Shefiield are not too far from manchester.

The Hallam FM arena where clinton woods ids fighting holds cica 13,000 and the reebok atdium is huge.

By freezing out manchester warren must see the promotional threat as british.

Not necessarily. The US promoters would surely be interested in putting fights on there if they can sell 22,000 tickets. Most of the Vegas fights are 15,000 or so.

I have a feeling that the Hatton's might hook up with a US promoter but do their own thing in the UK.

Lets hope it gets resolved one way or another soon so he can get back in the ring. Its been 3 months since his last fight almost.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 31 Aug 2005, 06:42

I don't see the American promoters staging fights in Manchester, what on earth for. Far easier for them to put them on in Vegas, where they get a nice fat Site fee from the Casino.

Much much easier to juggle the figures than staging it in an area they don't know and trying to convince Corralles/Mayweather/Judah to travel to Manchester where Hatton gets home advantage, when they will have a level playing field in Vegas.

KO Artist · Post by **KO Artist** » 31 Aug 2005, 06:45

I reckon Hatton fights before the end of the year, in England.

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 31 Aug 2005, 06:48

jamesmcdonnell wrote:I don't see the American promoters staging fights in Manchester, what on earth for. Far easier for them to put them on in Vegas, where they get a nice fat Site fee from the Casino.

Much much easier to juggle the figures than staging it in an area they don't know and trying to convince Corralles/Mayweather/Judah to travel to Manchester where Hatton gets home advantage, when they will have a level playing field in Vegas.

But you don't think Hatton could get that installed in his contract should he want it? He is as big a name as any of them mentioned and despite his nationality I think will sell tickets as fast as either Corrales, Mayweather or Judah (Judah often appears as cheif support to big bills, only recently Mayweather has been back in the big fight towns).

I think any promoter would sacrifice the site fee to get Hatton's signature on contract - thats of course if Hatton is adamant he will stay in Manchester. They will make more money with Hatton name on signature than they will with just the site fee.

Coconut · Post by **Coconut** » 01 Sep 2005, 04:10

There's another side to this if the Hatton rumours are true - FW's got to do a load of shows at a major Manchester venue with Hatton gone and Brodie and Farnell retired. This could well mean that we'll see Harrison and Calzaghe in Manchester and, given the number of seats to be filled, it could point to a decent opponent as well. So ,aybe Harrison, Calzaghe, Skelton et al will find themselves with some high-profile opponents.

Or Amir Khan's fan base could be about to be raped.

Slapsie Maxie · Post by **Slapsie Maxie** » 01 Sep 2005, 05:15

To be honest, I don't think Harrison or Calzaghe are going to be MEN fillers on a regular basis.

FW depends not upon boxing enthusiasts but upon partisan local support to fill his shows. Sure, with some competetive matching, he could have some good shows and attendances. Perhaps Calzaghe/Lacey and Harrison/Chi would fill all the seats for one night. But, how many of those can he put together with a fightshy Welshman and a slightly shopworn Scot.

Khan is a money spinner in the making, but I don't think he will bring him on too quickly as a headliner, particularly after his vitriol aimed at Audley for headlining his first fights.

Bizarrely, I think a deal with Audley H could be a good move for him if they can smooth things over. Audley wants to make money and pots of it soon. FW needs a name and a headliner and AH, with a couple more fights could be a genuine name contender who can bring some big HW fights to the UK.

Not sure if they would consider it, but money talks etc...........

Slapsie

P.S - whaddya know 500+ posts and only 25% of them about wine