Bars seek special licenses to screen Parker fight on Easter Sunday

New Zealand heavyweight boxer and WBO world champion Joseph Parker. Photo / Photosport.nz

Bars around Auckland are seeking special licences to screen the Joseph Parker vs Anthony Joshua world heavyweight unification bout on Easter Sunday.

The fight, one of the biggest events in this country's sporting history, will be held at Cardiff, Wales on March 31 (April 1, NZ time).

Venues wanting to screen the bout live need a special licence if they do not want to be limited by Easter Sunday restrictions, said Auckland Council manager of alcohol licensing Peter Knight.

"Under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act, on-licence holders cannot supply or sell alcohol on Easter Sunday, except to people who are on the premises to dine," he said.

"This doesn't mean people would simply need to order a meal during the broadcast to be able to order drinks as normal.

"Without a special licence, alcohol can only be served to persons who are present on the premises to dine. Simply eating a meal as part of watching a televised sports event is not dining."

Venues could apply to the council for a special licence to sell and supply alcohol for consumption at an event, he said.

Auckland Council, which administers the process, had received several enquiries across the region about the licences - which allow "the premises to sell and supply alcohol as normal".

District licensing committees were responsible for considering and granting the licences.

The Auckland District Licensing Committee had previously indicated factors they expected to see in applications for special licences such as those being enquired about by venues for the Parker vs Joshua clash.

When the council has considered previous applications for televised sporting events, it has looked at the provision of things such as guest speakersand ensuring a "connection between the common purpose of the members of the group and the event being broadcast".

Knight said "we would expect to see any event being completely pre-booked, with no walk-up patrons".

Patrick Lopez, co-owner of The Fox Sporting Bar & Restaurant, in Auckland's Viaduct Basin, said on Wednesday they were putting in an application that day for a special licence.

If successful, The Fox planned to show the full fight drawcard and feature "a special menu" at the 350-capacity venue, which has three projectors and nine TV screens.

Many patrons had been asking whether they were going to screen the bout, he said. "Everybody's talking about it."

Patron predictions for the bout's outcome were mixed. Some said "it's a bit too early [for Parker] to be fighting Joshua", others that the Kiwi superstar is "going to knock him out".

The Paddington Bar and Restaurant co-owner Greg Stride said the Parnell venue planned to apply for a special licence.

If they got it, they also intended to show the full drawcard at the sporting pub, which features nine screens.

Stride said "we're getting asked all the time" by patrons if they were screening the fight. Forecasts by patrons over whether Parker or Joshua would emerge victorious were "about half and half".

Giant British boxer Joshua holds the IBF, IBO and WBA titles. Parker is the WBO heavyweight champion.

Such is the interest in the clash, being held at Cardiff's Principality Stadium, more than 70,000 tickets sold out in just over an hour.