Pay-per-view for this is an insult to the fans
On Saturday night, WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will make only his second ring appearance of 2022.
He takes on washed-up Derek Chisora at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, 26 days before the challenger’s 39th birthday.
Despite the fact Chisora has never beaten a top-rank fighter, BT Sport are charging fight fans £26.95 to watch the third meeting between the pair on their pay-per-view channel.
Fury’s other bout this year – against the over-matched Dillian Whyte – was also only available live if you paid for it.
The bouts fight fans want to see – Anthony Joshua v Fury or Deontay Wilder or Fury v Oleksandr Uskyk – remain unmade.
And as the big names duck each other, broadcasters are charging fight fans through the nose for bouts which don’t merit the expense.
It’s a long way from the days when Lennox Lewis was Britain’s heavyweight king, beating 13 current and former world champions in a stellar career.
He made millions by taking on everyone from Mike Tyson to Evander Holyfield.
His manager during that halcyon period, Kellie Maloney – then known as Frank before trans-gender surgery – claims that mediocre pay-per-view shows are wounding the sport.
“There’s no doubt about it,” she insisted. “I won’t be watching Fury against Chisora because I don’t believe it warrants the expense.
“How can they charge £27 during a cost-of-living crisis? It’s scandalous.”
“I watched Fury v Whyte, which was a joke fight – and this is worse.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against payper-view on principle. I’d happily pay to watch Fury meet Usyk, for example.
“But the quality isn’t there. Chisora is well past his sell-by date. Even at his peak, he was only European level. He’s never been worldclass, and this is just a pay day for him.
“Frankly, to have this on pay-per-view is an insult to boxing fans.
“The British Boxing Board of Control is part of the problem because they sanctioned it.
“In my opinion, Sky and BT have ruined boxing with some of the fights they’ve hyped up in recent years.”
Maloney fears that a combination of payper-view, and fake fights between You Tube superstars, are damaging boxing.
“I don’t know who Jake Paul is, or what he did to become famous. But my daughters love him,” she said.
“He has millions of followers on Instagram, and they pay to watch him fight ex-basketball players and retired mixed martial arts people.
“He gets huge audiences – bigger than the best boxers draw – but he’s a terrible fighter. “Boxing is now becoming a celebrity event. “I walked away from boxing in 2013 and, while I’d love to see the good old days come back, I don’t see it happening soon.”