Higgins: This is worth $40m
Joseph Parker’s heavyweight boxing world title unification fight with Anthony Joshua has taken significant steps forward after a productive meeting in London between their two promoters.
Parker’s boss David Higgins met with Joshua’s live-wire promoter Eddie Hearn for three hours on Wednesday (NZT) as they attempted to finalise the deal for the huge three-belt fight.
A buoyant Higgins emerged from that meeting to say: ‘‘We’ve had a very productive session, a very constructive meeting. We are heading in the right direction. It’s not signed yet, we still have some outstanding issues. But we are getting closer and closer.’’
Hearn’s operations contract manager Frank Smith was also in attendance as they pored over the fight contract in detail.
This is new ground for Duco Boxing, a mammoth promotion and they are taking no risks.
‘‘Effectively this is a copromotion partnership, worth upwards of $40 million turnover. People wonder why this takes so long but it’s such a big one-off event there is so much to look at,’’ Higgins said.
‘‘Don’t forget this is two partners who haven’t worked together before so you are starting a new relationship and setting parameters. We have been careful with the contract as you would expect.’’
Higgins has had his New Zealand lawyer involved and has used his United States connections at Bob Arum’s respected Top Rank outfit also tp look at the contract.
He will now meet with Wladimir Klitschko’s lawyer in London to have him look for any potential pitfalls, but Higgins is confident this fight will go ahead ‘‘because there is a desire and willingness from both sides to make that happen’’.
Higgins has another meeting with Hearn set up for Thursday (NZT) and Parker looks set to follow him north to promote the fight.
‘‘Once we think it’s 100 per cent, Joe will come up,’’ Higgins said with flights provisionally booked before week’s end.
Higgins and Hearn had also discussed how the fight would be promoted, especially with the adversarial atmosphere building between two boxers who were normally ‘‘quieter, humbler types’’.
Team Parker have publicly riled Joshua with their taunts about his supposed ‘‘glass chin’’ and potential mental weaknesses.
‘‘It will be fascinating to see how they react when they meet face-to-face,’’ Higgins said.
March 31 at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium is the likely venue though Higgins wouldn’t confirm that stadium setting yet.
He did offer this though: ‘‘That’s around 80,000 people ... twice the size of Eden Park ... think about that.’’