Eddie Hearn says the purse requirements from Saturday’s loaded card headlined by Joseph Parker vs. ‘Delboy’ Chisora were too much for Matchroom Boxing not to place the event on Sky Box Office pay-per-view in the UK.
With no crowds possible for the Parker – Chisora card at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, there was no other option but to make it on pay-per-view.
The problem that Hearn has is he has a logjam of fighters in his huge Matchroom stable that want to fight, which makes it necessary to get as my of them out as possible.
When that happens, you get these great cards like the one we’ll be seeing on Saturday. But without fans being present due to the pandemic, it makes it necessary to stage the fight on Sky Box Office.
For some boxing fans, they don’t value the main event fight between former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker (26-2, 21 KOs) and Chisora (32-10, 23 KOs) enough for them to want to pay to see it on Sky Box Office PPV, but when you look at these great fighters that are on the undercard, it makes ith worthwhile:
- Dmitry Bivol
- Chris Eubank Jr
- Katie Taylor
- James Tennyson
- Natasha Jonas
- Campbell Hatton
- Scott Fitzgerald
“If it goes past six rounds, I think Delboy is the favorite in the fight,” said Hearn to iFL TV in giving his prediction on the Parker vs. Chisora match.
“Why is Parker – Chisora box office? I tell you what. Add up the purses for Chisora, Parker, Taylor, for Jonas, for Eubank, for Morrison, for Dimitry Bivol, for Craig Richards, for James Tennyson, for Campbell Hatton, and put in the fact that there are no crowds, this is an unbelievable card on Saturday night.
“If you don’t think you’re getting value or money, you’re not out shopping. You’re out shoplifting,” said Hearn.
With Matchroom Boxing’s contract with Sky Sports expected to end in the next three months, you can argue that’s even more of an incentive to get these fighters out all at once.
When Matchroom leaves Sky, it’s going to leave a huge hole in the schedule where there were once great fighters. Fortunately for Sky Sports, Matchroom heavyweights Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte will remain with the network. Still, there are many great fighters in the Matchroom stable that will be sorely missed.
Hopefully, Saturday’s main event between Parker and Chisora turns out to be a thrilling fight. We know that Parker didn’t look so great in his last fight against Junior Fa in February, and we can only hope that we don’t see an ugly match like that on Saturday.
Saturday’s fights on Sky Box Office PPV:
- Joseph Parker vs. Derek Chisora
- Dimitry Bivol vs. Craig Richards
- Campbell Hatton vs. TBA
- Scott Fitzgerald vs. TBA
- Katie Taylor vs. Natasha Jonas
- James Tennyson vs. Jovanni Straffon
- Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Marcus Morrison
