Boxing PPV’s In December: Too Much?

Boxing PPV’s In December: Too Much? 

By Dean Wigzell

With rumours gathering momentum that Dillian Whyte will take on one of Luis Ortiz or Derek Chisora on Saturday 22nd December, boxing fans Christmas stockings are going to be full this year.

On December 1st, Adonis Stevenson fights Oleksandr Gvozdyk in Quebec, on the same night that Tyson Fury takes on Deontay Wilder in Los Angeles.

7-days later, we believe that Chris Eubank Jr will take on James Degale somewhere in London while Vasyl Lomachenko fights Jose Pedraza in New York. Swiftly followed a week later by Canelo Alvarez’s debut at super middleweight against WBA Regular Champion Rocky Fielding.

Josh Warrington and Carl Frampton headline in Manchester just 3 days before Christmas, widely believed to be the same night that Dillian Whyte will fight in London.

Whilst the idea of so much boxing crammed into a month, you can’t help but wonder what cost implications these events will have on the viewing public, particularly with them all coming at such an expensive time of year for many.

Wilder v Fury, Warrington v Frampton and most probably Whyte v Ortiz/Chisora will all appear on PPV channels in the UK. If the ITV Box Office usual model is applied, then Eubank Jr will also be added to the PPV roster for the month.

There is still yet to be confirmation on which UK channel will broadcast Fielding v Canelo, but it would be safe to assume that Canelo’s involvement will make it tempting for broadcasters to deem that PPV worthy too.

That’s at least an extra £80 people who choose to watch from home need to find if they wish to enjoy all of these events, just a month after Usyk v Bellew also appears on PPV.

Add to that the costs accrued by those in attendance in London and Manchester as well as those who travel to LA and NYC to support Fury and Fielding respectively.

The argument to counter those complaining about the cost of PPV shows in particular is usually that people can choose to not order it, but with so many coming so close to the festive period it would seem that broadcasters and promoters alike are at risk of showing disregard for the typical working class fan base that make these boxing events so successful.