BoxRec

Hobson and Waterman...sinking fast?

The bonanza payday expected by 'Steptoe and Son' AKA Hobson and Waterman looks to be fading quickly as ticket sales for their Hatton 'extravaganza' are struggling to reach Six, yes Six, Thousand.

What sort of Promoters cannot sell Hatton on the back of his Kostya Tszyu triumph? Has the Hatton bubble burst or has the truth suddenly dawned on them that in fact, this is all HE EVER sold without the trusty Mancunian undercard that he continuously fed off? Seems allegedly was right, Hatton does not fill the MEN without alot of hard work from his team and a good undercard.

One of the 'Fight Academy' employees has already revealed that Steptoe and Son are expecting to blow over £200k (ouch!) on the show after Ray 'The Revloutionary' Hatton backed over 2,000 tickets yesterday, hence the "more tickets being released to the fans line".

This show had disaster written on it from day one and proves that the Hattons are working on greed alone. Mind you, that said, any Promoter worthy of a licence (Have they actually got one yet?) should be able to sell Ricky Hatton otherwise what the hell are they doing in the business? What do they need to ensure a full-arena? The second coming of JC himself?

The PPV will be a let-down as will the show itself and then watch the Hatton's scurry back over the Pennines, drop FA and try and find another mug promoter to take a massive risk on their behalf. Audley Harrison tried that one and people soon got wise.

Wouldn't Steptoe's cash be better spent on Clinton Woods, who must be getting piles sitting out for so long? Why isn't he on the show? Because the Hatton's didn't want to cut their cake too thin, that's why.

The Hattons have led these fools a merry dance from day one and I hope they have now learnt their lesson, albeit the hard way, from "The nicest people we've ever worked with" Now you all know why 'Reckless Ray' didn't take out a Promoters licence himself!

The whole thing is a farce.

"I'll be glad when this bollocks is over" said one 'trusted' member of Fight Academy, "we don't even have a firm undercard yet" he continued.

"Hatton couldn't give a toss as his money is being paid by Sky and he isn't helping us one bit cos he's struggling with his weight in MAnchester and Billy Graham is being a complete arsehole being un-cooperatvie (What, is that something new?) this leaves the Promoters facing a financial disaster and one that could finally sink the self acclaimed "New force in Boxing".

Still it was fun while it lasted!

All together now.....................Ahhhhh!

Your comments surprise me BoxingChat. You have always been such a staunch adversary of Mr Warrens, why the change of heart?

How much do you get paid being Warrens human bog roll, you really are pitiful.

You are also coming out with so much bollocks.

Sounds like sour grapes, bottle of whine from the Warren camp, who I understand have their own troubles with the authorities.

boxingchat wrote: Has the Hatton bubble burst or has the truth suddenly dawned on them that in fact, this is all HE EVER sold without the trusty Mancunian undercard that he continuously fed off? Seems allegedly allegedly was right, Hatton does not fill the MEN without alot of hard work from his team and a good undercard.

Good undercard?! Must've missed that one!

Of course it's totally full of bias but he is right on a few counts. The undercard (or lack of) is disgraceful, esp for a ppv card, given the mismatch of the main event

Farnell was the one originally selling big tickets in Manchester and Hatton rose to popularity of the back of Anthony....

Warren undercards are notoriously garbage....... the fact that you cannot stagger home from sheffield is probably the main reason sales arent as good as if it was in Manchester....

But sly Frank managed to obtain the MEN exclusively didnt he???? So Hatton couldnt fight there..... Nice one....

Lenny Albert wrote:Of course it's totally full of bias but he is right on a few counts. The undercard (or lack of) is disgraceful, esp for a ppv card, given the mismatch of the main event

I reckon we could be in for a surprise in the main event.

Lenny Albert wrote:Of course it's totally full of bias but he is right on a few counts. The undercard (or lack of) is disgraceful, esp for a ppv card, given the mismatch of the main event

Mismatch????? where is that coming from???

For mismatch see:

Hatton v Stewart
Hatton v Pedersen

Interesting to know how many people went to see Hatton last time he fought away from home against Olivera...

5,000 tickets eh?! That's not even half full They have fucked up the evening by having a shockingly poor undercard. Who wants to see Ricky's brother fight a bum and a washed up 41 year old Thompson!

Although Boxingshat has his nose far up Warrens' arse, he does have a few points, Maybe Clinton should have been got on the show, even in a non-title fight would have been ok.
The undercard on this one is bad, the fight is on this week and we still don't have all the fights confirmed. I'm not going to shell out my money on the PPV for this one.

KO Atrist wrote: I reckon we could be in for a surprise in the main event.

I'm getting an uneasy feeling about it too. When you're in an easy looking fight, with a durable underdog who's going to soak it up and packs a punch, anything can happen. One slip and Hatton could be in trouble here: Maussa is expecting a hard fight. And deep down, Hatton probably isn't.

After Tszyu, this must look like a walk in the park.

Maussa must hit as hard as Magee, at least....

knockout wrote: Warren undercards are notoriously garbage....... the fact that you cannot stagger home from sheffield is probably the main reason sales arent as good as if it was in Manchester....

I reckon that's the big factor here. Sheffield's a different (rival) county, the hometown of Hatton's big domestic rival, and given the main activity at Hatton - Tszyu before the headline bout was waiting half an hour to buy as much lager as possible, there'll be a few folk who don't fancy driving but will be getting some beers in and getting the PPV for this one.

Plus the last train from Sheffield to Manchester is around 10.20. Not an option there, either.

At least Wellington makes no bones about comming from the Hennessy camp, that it total crap. I wouldn't read too much into it, Undercard isn't great but they don't have such a good stable however Thompson is sure to entertain. I still think the thing will sell out though.

I don't see this as an upset waiting to happen, Ricky will bust him up inside 5 rounds

Yep Boxingchat has gone overboard but the sentiment is right, this card is well overpriced and I'm not surprised that it hasn't sold out. In fact I would have thought that a £200k loss is a bit conservative for 6,000 tickets but I suppose it depends upon PPV as well.

On thing though, if Warren wins his case against Ricky I'm no legal eagle but I suppose he wins damages for loss of earnings from the contracted next three fights of Hatton. But if the shows make no money then Warrens claim is unlikely to be any higher than his legal costs...sort of ironic I suppose :) .

I didn't say Hatton hasn't been in other mismatches but do you guys really think Maussa has a chance unless Hatton does a Harris and has really crap preperation

just because he has a belt doesn't make it a good match up esp with no undercard to speak of

Hatton has had his share of entertaining fights as well as mismatches at the MEN, i'd say Thaxton, Krivolapov, Magee, Phillips, Tackie and Tzsyu were all good fights there

Hatton versus Anyone never sold less than 10k FACT In London at least 12k was sold and that was at Christmas time FACT. London is further than Sheffield and the return transport is worse at night FACT.

Yes, I may be biased but the points I am making are correct and FACTUAL. The empty seats on Saturday will prove it. Quite simply they have turned an event into a damp squib FACT.

In comparison, Williams v Audley Harrsion has sold 13k already for a vacant title fight and their is a waiting list for tickets. So Fight Academy have done a cracking job turning the hottest property in British Boxing into a Sheffield side show.

As for the distance travelling fans will go? Do Manchester City fans not go in their numbers all over the country? They ahve one of the biggest traveling support of any team FACT. The tickets prices are too high for what is after all a routine fight. Maussa may be WBA champ but he is no better than ANY previous Hatton opponent that you criticise FACT.

In fact, Hatton turned him down two years ago because his Daddy thought he was too dangerous!

Why do you keep claiming mismatch for Hatton opponents? He had the choice of several and HE chose all the final opponents FACT.

The Sheffield Arena will be less than half full FACT. The Promoters will do a fortune FACT, the PPV will bomb FACT and harrsion V Williams will sell-out FACT and get massive viewing figures FACT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh and one more thing, If their own staff are openly slagging them off then Fight Academy must be crap Promoters FACT!

Coconut wrote:

knockout wrote: Warren undercards are notoriously garbage....... the fact that you cannot stagger home from sheffield is probably the main reason sales arent as good as if it was in Manchester....

I reckon that's the big factor here. Sheffield's a different (rival) county, the hometown of Hatton's big domestic rival, and given the main activity at Hatton - Tszyu before the headline bout was waiting half an hour to buy as much lager as possible, there'll be a few folk who don't fancy driving but will be getting some beers in and getting the PPV for this one.

Plus the last train from Sheffield to Manchester is around 10.20. Not an option there, either.

In answer to your commnet. Two Yorkshiremen, Hamed and Ingle fought at the MEN and sold out!

And, Witter is from Bradford. Really you must try harder and I am not surprised you know the train times have you got photos as well?

If what Boxing Chat says is true, then he has some fair points. Hobson and Waterman could live to rue the day they staged the fight if they don't make a go of this show.

josh fg wrote:At least Wellington makes no bones about comming from the Hennessy camp, that it total crap. I wouldn't read too much into it, Undercard isn't great but they don't have such a good stable however Thompson is sure to entertain. I still think the thing will sell out though.

Bet you a years money it don't! Thompson entertaining? Is watching a once proud warhorse getting slowly damaged what you call entertainment? You, and the Promoters should be ashamed of yourselves keep putting Carl in. He has served his time and should hang up the gloves. Yes he got lucky with Haye but the Rothmann and Sellers fights were sad to see as Carl stood up and took much better against Eubank which means his punch resitance is gone and red flags should be flying.

If Carl Thompson is the best they can come up with on PPV then this is a sad state of affairs and proves they are penny pinching. Why not Clinton Woods?

.

Ok Boxingchat , you can get down off your high horse, if you read the posts on here, alot of people are agreeing with you, although not in the way your saying it.

I do think that this is a poor show, but i also think that Williams v Harrison is a good fight, the bill would have been better if Skelton v Mcbride and Tak v Magee were also on their, but those fights have been called off.
I bet Frank must be worried that either Williams or Harrison will pull out of the main event

As for Wellington, at least little Mick for all his faults tries to put on a show.

but FA are trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear.

Well, despite your original post having some grain of useful iunfo and and underlying element of fact, you've descended into banal insults and non-sensical leaps of faith as quickly as ever.


Bradford is in Yorkshire. Same as Sheffield. I said county. Your point is non-existant.

I know the train times because I looked it up. It took 30 seconds. I like to call this 'research'. Please do the same with a map of Yorkshire. Should take the same amount of time.

Hamed and Ingle sold out the MEN? What does that say? Hamed fans were more used to going to fights in Manchester. He'd fought there a bunch of times before and had a Manchester fan-base. He also had the Asian appeal. You're not even comparing apples with oranges, you're comparing cars with cameras.

Using London as a benchmark is likewise non-sensical. London's got a massive, massive population. Hatton - Maussa would sell out in London.

Likewise using Manchester City as a benchmark is ridiculous. A Saturday afternoon match is a different ketle of fish to a Saturday night match.

Harrison - Williams has sold 13k on the back of it being promoted as also featuring two fights that didn't happen. I personally know a number of people who are considering not using tickets they've bought or who are actively trying to sell them. And I can't help notice the bill is still being advertised to blue buggery. And once again, the comparison is daft - two London fighters, heavyweights as well, promoted as part of a super-show, of course it will sell. And of course it will get more viewers. You're not comparing the same channels.

Your point about the ticket prices being too high is fair.

However, there's potentially a rejoinder in that the fans from the Tszyu fight had their fingers burned by a bad undercard and can see it happening again.


Your first point was worth a mention. Dragging it out into reams of crass arguments and bitterness does that original point no favours at all. Backing it up with logic as solid as a poo in Pakistan devalues everything you say.