KEY POINTS:
The gloves are on as Auckland and Wellington battle it out to host New Zealand's top heavyweight boxers in a long-touted bout.
Shane Cameron and David Tua are set to face each other in the ring on June 6. Auckland's Vector Arena and Wellington's Westpac Stadium are said
to be the prime venue contenders.
Promoter David Higgins said he would look at all the options before making a decision on the venue.
"The city and location the fight goes to will gain massive publicity and a record TV audience, whether it goes on pay-per-view or free-to-air," Higgins said. "There will also be a massive economic gain in room nights and visitors. We might also get an international boxing personality to do some events, so we want to work in partnership with the venue and city."
He said New Zealand's boxing fanbase was evenly split between the two cities.
"Personally, I think the ratio interest will be the same in both cities. Auckland has bigger corporates but generally I think it will be pretty uniform," Higgins said.
With the date of the bout now confirmed, Higgins and his Auckland business partner John McRae have to raise more than $1 million to cover costs and find a television deal inside four months to guarantee the fight goes ahead.
"The purse isn't small, then again events like this only come along once every 50 years," Higgins said.
Each boxer is guaranteed $500,000 for the bout, with the final paperwork set to be finalised at a press conference in Auckland on Thursday.
Former TVNZ chief executive Ian Fraser is to sell broadcast and sponsorship deals, and entertainer Gray Bartlett will devise the entertainment package, in what Higgins said would be an upmarket "Las Vegas meets Madison Square Gardens" type show.
Higgins said the bout would be unique. "There have been questions about how long Tua has been out of the ring, but he's never been knocked out yet. Tua has confirmed that he'll be in the best shape of his life. And Cameron is ranked sixth in the world. Both their styles are to move forward and, historically, they haven't taken a backward step. This should be a very explosive bout," Higgins said.
- NZPA