WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO’S manager, Bernd Boente, has revealed where his fighter’s clash with Tyson Fury in October may land on television in the UK and explained why it will be held in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Weeks of negotiations came to a head yesterday when the two sides came to an agreement on the mandatory defence – four minutes before the WBO’s purse bids were set to begin.
With details of the deal beginning to emerge, Boente revealed to Boxing News that three UK broadcasters have already expressed an interest in airing the fight.
“We are exploring TV options in England in the next couple of weeks, we’ve been approached by ITV, BT and Sky and Mick [Hennessey, Fury’s promoter] and myself will meet the executives in the next couple of weeks and will hopefully have a decision soon,” he said.
The pair will meet at the Espirit Arena, which holds just under 55,000 people, and Boente claimed that it was the perfect choice given the time of year the fight will take place.
“The deal we have in place with the stadium here, both sides expect to make better business than in another stadium in the UK,” he said.
“The TV partners wanted the fight in October, September would have been too close for a promotion anyway, therefore you can’t go into an open-air stadium as it’s too cold, it could rain. This stadium is one of, if not the only, one in Europe that you can close the roof and heat it, which is perfect and it has the perfect atmosphere.
“Dusseldorf is in the west of Germany so it’s close to the UK. Fans can come by train, car or plane and we’ll work with our ticketing partners to make sure thousands of UK fans have the opportunity to come to Dusseldorf and we hope for an atmosphere like at a big soccer match.”
Boente also explained that the location of the fight was never a major issue for Klitschko, who has fought in numerous countries.
“We were considering many options but for Wladimir, this is not an important point,” he said.
“In his last fight he fought an American in Madison Square Garden. Inside the ring, nobody can help you and the atmosphere outside the ring, I think the athletes hear that before the fight but the moment you hear the first bell I think it’s a different story.
“We’ve had two fights in this stadium before, they both sold out, so the expectation for this much bigger fight is for it to sell out again. There are not many options in the UK for an indoor stadium like this with the roof.”
