Joseph Parker's WBO Heavyweight title with Andy Ruiz is the biggest bout New Zealand has hosted, but the public are more focused on the cost of watching it. Photo/Photosport.nz
Joseph Parker's WBO Heavyweight title with Andy Ruiz is the biggest bout New Zealand has hosted, but the public are more focused on the cost of watching it. Photo/Photosport.nz
When Joseph Parker faces up with Andy Ruiz at Vector Arena late on December 10 for the WBO Heavyweight Title, he will have New Zealand behind him - in spirit.
The belt has been touring around the countryside, stopping in at towns from Bluff to Whangarei, drumming up support and have had reasonable success in doing so.
But whilst the impending bout is by far the biggest fight New Zealand has hosted and a large portion of our sports-mad country is backing Parker, it seems people are more concerned at the price of watching the event instead of the spectacle it is shaping to be.
To buy the event on pay-per-view (PPV) it is $59.95, a fair price for such a big event. If you aren't willing to pay that out of pocket, there are places showing the fight for around $10-$20.
Not having significant government funding means the cost of these PPVs are going to be higher than people want.
The public are baying for Duco's blood as they see them as greedy and money-obsessed.
But people forget how small of a market New Zealand is for sport. If there isn't public buy-in for this fight, Duco's ability to stage big fights in New Zealand will reduce substantially.
The PPV model is fraught with danger for those who decide to go down that route. Roughly 80% of those who make PPV purchases do so within the last two hours so Duco will have no idea if they'll make a profit until after the fight.
Staging this fight is a huge risk for both Duco and Parker.
Should Parker lose the fight, it would mean another 18 months or two years of getting him back to the point of competing for world titles.
Duco, meanwhile, could potentially never host another significant fight if they don't earn enough from it.
This, in turn, is bad for the New Zealand public who obviously want to watch the fight. But they need to realise that you have to pay for it.
While some argue that the public has the right to watch the fight for free, this completely bypasses the fact that money is needed to pay for these types of events.
People pay for the rights to watch all live sport through Sky Sport and are okay with it. Why is this any different?
You can't have your cake and eat it too. Everything comes at a price and, for what you are getting with the Parker-Ruiz bout, it is going to be worth every penny.
Andy Ruiz (right) will be, by far, Joseph Parker's toughest challenge as he as amassed a 29-0 record so far in his career. Photo/Getty Images
As for the fight itself, the TAB has Parker as a firm favourite at $1.30.
Ruiz won't be an easy-beat though. With a 29-0 record, the 27 year old is far and away Parker's toughest test.
He would have seen in Parker's fight against Carlos Takam that he was not great when going backwards and Ruiz would be ill-advised to not try and capitalise on that.
Ruiz has gained a reputation has having remarkable hand speed and body movement for a fighter of his size, though he has vowed to be in the best condition of his career for his shot at a world title against Parker.
But Parker won't go down without a fight. He has declared that "this is my time" and you wouldn't argue it.
Parker, also with great hand speed and a 10cm height advantage, feels he is faster and he showed against Takam that he can definitely take a punch.
Ruiz's far shorter arms will mean he will have to come inside, something Parker has shown he can combat with precision.
Joseph Parker will likely become New Zealand's first WBO Heavyweight champion. But if New Zealand wants to keep him fighting here, $59.95 seems like a small price to pay.
