Parker v Joshua at Camp Nou?
Joseph Parker’s promoter has put Barcelona’s 99,000-seater stadium on the table as negotiations for a world heavyweight title unification fight with Anthony Joshua accelerate.
Duco Events boss David Higgins confirmed the feeling of Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn that a deal to make the fight happen ‘‘is close’’.
Hearn felt it was nearing time to put down the phones and meet face to face to thrash out the final details and suggested Higgins could be on his way to London to do exactly that very soon.
Higgins told yesterday he wouldn’t be booking any flights until Hearn had come closer to Team Parker’s desire for 35 per cent of the net profit. ‘‘We discussed meeting face to face but I can confirm I won’t be flying there until there is further movement on their side,’’ Higgins said.
‘‘It would be silly for me to go up there and be trapped in England under pressure to close a deal that he won’t do.
‘‘But we are close. We will speak again on the phone and if Edward shows a willingness to move a bit, then I reckon it’s worth me going up to London. If that’s the case I might go up sooner rather than later.’’
Higgins also believed there was a need to think big with this promotion, something Hearn appears willing to do.
Hearn originally felt a JoshuaParker fight might be only be suitable for London’s indoor O2 Arena which holds around 20,000. But interest is ramping in the UK on the back of some aggressive play by Team Parker and Hearn has now conceded a unification fight justified a larger setting. He raised the possibility of London’s Twickenham Stadium (82,000) or Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium (74,500) as options for April.
Why stop there, argues Higgins who suggested the famous Camp Nou, home to Barcelona FC, might be appropriate. It is Europe’s biggest stadium with a 99,354 seat capacity but even more fans could be placed on the pitch surrounding a boxing ring.
‘‘If it was held in Barcelona I reckon it would sell out,’’ Higgins said.
‘‘Why not approach it very strategically and almost tender the fight out like they do Formula One?’’
Higgins noted that Duco had a record for achieving this sort of thing, having pulled off this year’s Jeff Horn v Manny Pacquaio fight in Brisbane against the odds. That had given them a good model to work off. He said Hearn was open to ideas and that was an enjoyable aspect to working with him.
But there is still a game of brinkmanship going on over the main ingredient which is the fair split of the purse.Higgins is eager to hold ground at 35 per cent, coming down from original hopes of 50 per cent and then 40 per cent.
‘‘You can’t really go out there like Joshua has and talked about unification and legacy, then when offered unification turn down 65 per cent of the net profit, even when there’s a rematch clause to insure against your dodgy chin. You look like a bit of an idiot if you dodge that opportunity,’’ Higgins said.
‘‘For that reason I think the pressure is on them to move a little and make a deal.’’
Hearn wants things worked out as quickly as possible.
‘‘There are two perfect fights for AJ - Parker and Deontay Wilder. The Wilder fight is unrealistic because of what they want. The Parker fight is a lot closer,’’ Hearn told Sky Sport in the UK.
‘‘Parker is the frontrunner, he’s the guy we want. But we can’t be in a position where this goes on for three weeks then falls through.
‘‘We’ve got two weeks until we need to start making offers to other fighters, apart from Parker.’’