Haye-Harrison: 17,000 tickets already sold for their November 13th bout

By Boxing News - 09/24/2010 - Comments

Image: Haye-Harrison: 17,000 tickets already sold for their November 13th boutBy Matt Stein: With slightly less than two months to go before the November 13th clash between World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight champion David Haye (24-1, 22 KO’s) and Audley Harrison (27-4, 20 KO’s), there are a reported 17,000 tickets that have already been sold for the fight, which will be taking place at the M.E.N. Arena, in Manchester, England. This is an astounding number, because the Arena seats 23,000 at full capacity and it would be huge if the fight were to sell out this early on. It would be a big sign of how popular heavyweight champion Haye is, because Harrison doesn’t bring in big numbers like this in his fights.

It’s strange that the fans are scooping up the Haye-Harrison tickets, because outside of the UK, this fight is seen somewhat as a joke. Boxing fans outside of England see it as Haye cherry picking an easy opponent to try and milk his WBA heavyweight title for as long as he can before taking on and losing to one of the Klitschko brothers. However, if Haye is able to get these kinds of numbers fighting less than the very best heavyweight contenders in the division, it’s kind of telling.

It shows that Haye’s British fans will pay to see him in high numbers no matter who he fights. It’s kind of reminiscent of the Filipino fans attraction to watching Pacquiao’s fights. They purchase his fights in high numbers, even when he’s facing opponents that are less than popular and who are hopelessly over-matched. Outside of the UK, boxing fans pretty much only care to see Haye fight one of the Klitschko brothers. They’ve already see Haye take on a bunch of older heavyweights since moving up in weight from cruiserweight in 2008.

Fans are now interested in seeing Haye finally fight a good heavyweight for a change. They’re going to have to wait a little longer until Haye gets done with the “London championship,” which is the name that IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko has given to Haye’s bout with Harrison. It’s hoped that once Haye gets a certain amount of milking down of his WBA title, that he’ll finally want to take on the Klitschko brothers. He doesn’t have a lot of time with Haye talking about retiring next year at 31. If he’s going to be fighting the Klitschko brothers, he needs to do it soon.

Harrison, 38, has a puncher’s chance of beating Haye. Harrison has to attack Haye early and look to take him out before Haye can stun Harrison with one of his pot shots that he likes to throw. Harrison has the power to take Haye out, but he’s got to get past his timid fighting style and look to take Haye out with one of his killer shots before Haye gets warmed up.



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