Froch vs Groves Arena Announced Tomorrow

First topic message reminder :

Eddie Hearn is set to announce this tomorrow, Groves has said he won't go to Nottingham and Froch has said he'll fight him anywhere.

Would be funny if Eddie announces it's at the Copper Box

DAVE667 wrote:Eddie seems to be working on the slightly surreal premise that people will buy tickets just so they can say "I was there" to people who were A/ Also there and won't really care a week afterwards or B/ Couldn't get tickets and will be jealous/angry/violent or C/ Weren't interested and couldn't less care if they were there or not.

The back of the MEN or whatever it's called this week is a bit of a stretch when it comes to "feeling the atmosphere" so Lord only knows how disconnected you'll be sat in ZZ at Wembley watching it on giant screen that in reality will be no bigger than the screen on mid priced smart phone.

Reminds me of the sketch when Lenry Henry talked about seeing Michael Jackson at Wembley with such a poor view, people at the back peering through binoculars asking, "Is that the guy from Diff'rent Strokes?"

It's more Wayne's World 2. Maybe he's been seeing a half-naked Indian?

To get a huge audience there will have to be many press conferences probably all over the Country...

Be interesting to see If Froch ends up throwing a punch........

Maybe If ticket sales are faltering we can have a hide vs bentt..........Followed by french kisses after the fight !!

If Froch throws a punch at the presser it's to be hoped the referee doesn't call the fight off what with Groves being in no position to defend himself.

think if your going to do a football stadium wembleys the best choice in that it has its own pull of its own.

if the boxing "hardcore" were the only ones to turn out they'd struggle to fill the M.E.N (phones4u or whatever its called now). you need the general public to get on board if your going to fill the big stadiums mainly the football fans like hatton did. and thats where you can pull a few more by holding it in a prestigious stadium like wembley. many fans are not lucky enough to get there following there own team and gives them a chance to get to wembley and hopefully a decent fight along with it

Wembley is a good choice as well because they are still trying to pay for the thing...Apparently it came in hugely over budget as all projects do...But this one was extra special in that regard..

The F.A....... probably bit Hearn's hand off

TopHat24/7 wrote:Didn't Froch-Kess sell out in about 2 hours?

Only half that many seats but they were bloody expensive!!

The 2 hours sell out line was spin.  Tickets could be bought that night and days later. Especially the more expensive tickets.


I was on another forum on the night of the so called 2 hour sell out and people were still buying the reasonably priced tickets that night. From memory people had to try a few times to get tickets. The software was telling people there were no more tickets left and then when they tried again they got tickets.

Not many - I know because I tried!!

The fact there were some £250 tickets still available a day later means nothing, almost every reasonably priced ticket (sub£150) was sold within hours.

I was at the first Froch Groves fight and there were only 12 people there. (This is obviously not true but wanted to try and cheer Strongy up)

I also met somebody who knew David Haye and didn't like him !!   

This will do close to 60,000 IMO. This is a huge fight and no amount of sarcasm on this forum will change that. If you have friends who are armchair fans, you know how huge this is to the masses. And it isn't about real fans (of which plenty will buy tickets), it's about pulling in the masses. Well done Eddie Hearn. He thinks big.

I would like to know if Hearn secretly played Froch in all of this. I get the feeling he must have. I cant see that Groves on his own would have been able to convince the IBF to order a rematch. I think Hearn must have wanted it to look that way so that he could make Froch take the rematch. Every time Froch comes out with something it sounds like just a line he has been spun by Hearn. The option of a fight with Chavez, the Groves rematch to happen in Nottingham. As if.

catchweight wrote:I would like to know if Hearn secretly played Froch in all of this. I get the feeling he must have. I cant see that Groves on his own would have been able to convince the IBF to order a rematch. I think Hearn must have wanted it to look that way so that he could make Froch take the rematch. Every time Froch comes out with something it sounds like just a line he has been spun by Hearn. The option of a fight with Chavez, the Groves rematch to happen in Nottingham. As if.

I see STRONGY has finally converted you into a fully fledged member of the "I firmly believe Eddie Hearn is the Antichrist or at the very least a weasely little bast*rd" club

I think Hearn is just a promoter. He deals in BS for a living. Lying is in his job description.

catchweight wrote:I think Hearn is just a promoter. He deals in BS for a living. Lying is in his job description.

A job in the Diplomatic Corps awaits you

hampo171 wrote:I'm hoping to attend this one via my new friendship with Eddie

Other than that it's a cheap hotel and a meet up with anybody on here who's going.

Yeah I'll be grabbing tickets. I can then reveal my true identity, the choices are:

Dale Winton
Arnie
Some little Poopie from one direction
Putin
Pistorious
Lemmy
Barrymore

Take your pic.

And be interesting to see the prices, will be looking at something in the £80 range that should get a half decent view. If he tries to go O2 prices it won't sell 30k tickets so he has to make it cheap to get the masses in

TopHat24/7 wrote:Not many - I know because I tried!!

The fact there were some £250 tickets still available a day later means nothing, almost every reasonably priced ticket (sub£150) was sold within hours.

We must have just been unlucky then Toppy because I tried the day they went on sale and to no avail.

Looking forward to it but if i am to be honest I think they are over hyping the fight a tad, It was a great first fight and the second is an interesting match up no doubt... but lets not forget its not as if Groves is up there quite yet and we could quite easily see a shot Froch get spanked in two rounds....

But to be honest I think Hearn is just milking it for all he can... The fact its at wembley may in its self bring mutual punters...

For me the fight goes either two ways, either Froch comes out slower and more open and gets stopped in 2 or 3 rounds, or he is all good and more cautious of Groves and stops him again later on...

Sounds lovely, anybody have any idea where and when I can buy tickets? I'm a novice at this.

andrewmarkhall wrote:Sounds lovely, anybody have any idea where and when I can buy tickets? I'm a novice at this.

Ticketmaster

Or failing that mug someone outside the venue.

Will your parents be ok with you staying out by the way?

You grooming again izzi?... It was bad enough suggesting a sleep over at yours when you thought the venue was the emirates. 'Girlfriend' still away is he?  

Seanusarrilius wrote:This will do close to 60,000 IMO. This is a huge fight and no amount of sarcasm on this forum will change that. If you have friends who are armchair fans, you know how huge this is to the masses. And it isn't about real fans (of which plenty will buy tickets), it's about pulling in the masses. Well done Eddie Hearn. He thinks big.

Two tickets in the post to you Sean.

First in with the tongue.

milkyboy wrote:You grooming again izzi?... It was bad enough suggesting a sleep over at yours when you thought the venue was the emirates. 'Girlfriend' still away is he?  

Wembley is also just a small squirt round the overground. Should I not fly in on my private helicopter of course.

Seanusarrilius wrote:This will do close to 60,000 IMO. This is a huge fight and no amount of sarcasm on this forum will change that. If you have friends who are armchair fans, you know how huge this is to the masses. And it isn't about real fans (of which plenty will buy tickets), it's about pulling in the masses. Well done Eddie Hearn. He thinks big.

Hatton-Laczano did 55k and that was when people were only interested in watching one of the two fighters.

Agree this can do 60k. Reckon the 80k Eddie's pushing is more than a little fanciful though.

You forget Hatton was a big star..........Who transcended the sport over here !!

Little charismatic chirpy blue collar kid that did well and was exciting......

Yeh agree Hatton was definitely bigger than either Froch or Groves, but bigger than both put together??

He has higher name recognition.........Like you pointed out you came to watch Ricky...here you are paying for a fight....So It's different.

Not sure Wembley is the place for this fight.......I imagine the majority of fans are from the North in this one if the crowd at the last one was anything to go by........Apparently there was demand after it sold the first time!!..

If you are to make the trek to Wembley from the North chances are to enjoy yourself you will have to stay over and London isn't cheap...

Think Old Trafford or the Etihad would have been better choices..

... And he was fighting the 'Hispanic causing panic'

Hatton transcended the sport to some degree but his main attraction was the whole man city blue moon brigade who attached themselves to him. Neither froch nor groves have that core support.

But as fight fans we're starved of big fights in the uk, and I suspect that a combination of that and some heavyweight marketing to tempt the casual fan will fill the void.

City get 45,000 a week.......Men, women and kids.........and they are all boxing fans ? Doubt it !!

If Hatton got 55,000 for Laczano your point is bollox.......If that was his main attraction.

Hatton attracted 55k in Manchester. Calzaghe did 50k in Wales. Groves is a London lad but he doesn't have that support.

I'd genuinely be amazed to see it crack 30k (tickets actually purchased) unless they follow the Klitschko route and actually price the tickets fairly (as they would a football match).

Is this bigger than Froch-Kess II??

TopHat24/7 wrote:Is this bigger than Froch-Kess II??

I'd say so -- what did that do?

hazharrison wrote:Hatton attracted 55k in Manchester. Calzaghe did 50k in Wales. Groves is a London lad but he doesn't have that support.

I'd genuinely be amazed to see it crack 30k (tickets actually purchased) unless they follow the Klitschko route and actually price the tickets fairly (as they would a football match).

Won't happen Mate............Germany price their tickets fairly all over the board not just Boxing.....They have great deals for their soccer supporters home and away at their top clubs.......

They go lower in price so they attract more...........Probably to greater financial reward...

Everything sports wise is highly priced here.............This fight will be no different.

hazharrison wrote:

TopHat24/7 wrote:Is this bigger than Froch-Kess II??

I'd say so -- what did that do?

Sold all but the very most expensive seats (so about 20k) in a matter of hours.

I logged on at lunchtime and couldn't buy anything for less than £250.

Don't see why this couldn't do double that, if not more if selling all the way till fight week.

I think people want to see the fight fail, nothing to suggest it does poor numbers if the last fight is anything to go by.

Think people want to see the fight........Not sure people give a toss If It "fails" whatever that means...

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Think people want to see the fight........Not sure people give a toss If It "fails" whatever that means...

Exactly. A packed house would be great news for the sport. I just can't see it, though.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:City get 45,000 a week.......Men, women and kids.........and they are all boxing fans ? Doubt it !!

If Hatton got 55,000 for Laczano your point is bollox.......If that was his main attraction.

It was the hook. Football fan, blue shorts, city tattoo, man of the people, hang out with oasis. You only had to be on the bbc board during hatton fight week to realise how many of his fans were fans of boxing. Kaylor did it to a lesser effect with west ham in the 80's.

And Warren tried with Mitchell and West Ham too, before his car crash performance....

milkyboy wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:City get 45,000 a week.......Men, women and kids.........and they are all boxing fans ? Doubt it !!

If Hatton got 55,000 for Laczano your point is bollox.......If that was his main attraction.

It was the hook. Football fan, blue shorts, city tattoo, man of the people, hang out with oasis. You only had to be on the bbc board during hatton fight week to realise how many of his fans were fans of boxing. Kaylor did it to a lesser effect with west ham in the 80's.

It's just bullcrap.......His appeal was across the board......Getting very patronising Milky in your old age.....

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

milkyboy wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:City get 45,000 a week.......Men, women and kids.........and they are all boxing fans ? Doubt it !!

If Hatton got 55,000 for Laczano your point is bollox.......If that was his main attraction.

It was the hook. Football fan, blue shorts, city tattoo, man of the people, hang out with oasis. You only had to be on the bbc board during hatton fight week to realise how many of his fans were fans of boxing. Kaylor did it to a lesser effect with west ham in the 80's.

It's just bullcrap.......His appeal was across the board......Getting very patronising Milky in your old age.....

Says the man who thinks all 'poor people' eat is junk food and takeaway

Cutting my argument to pieces with reasoned debate I see truss. Who am I patronising? You? The thousands of fans singing blue moon at his fights? The guys who'd come on the old bbc board proclaiming his greatness and making him favourite for the mayweather fight. I know... It was a 50:50 fight

His fans weren't just football fans, but to suggest that team hatton didn't ride that marketing opportunity and that it didn't contribute hugely to his fanbase, is naive. Just my opinion.

milkyboy wrote:Cutting my argument to pieces with reasoned debate I see truss. Who am I patronising? You? The thousands of fans singing blue moon at his fights? The guys who'd come on the old bbc board proclaiming his greatness and making him favourite for the mayweather fight. I know... It was a 50:50 fight

His fans weren't just football fans, but to suggest that team hatton didn't ride that marketing opportunity and that it didn't contribute hugely to his fanbase, is naive. Just my opinion.

Hatton did indeed use the Man City angle -- numerous fighters have done so over the years; Robert McCracken did the same with Birmingham City (remember the riots at Birmingham's NEC on a Nigel Benn undercard)?

Never said he didn't work the City angle...........

With the attendance of 55,000 at the fight and the thousands paying ppv.........Taking into account the amount of male football fans at city.........I imagine the City angle didn't work with reds!!

A minority of his fans were football yobo types like Milky and the majority sports fans, boxing fans and types who found him appealling and easy to like........as well as his style..

Hatton transcended.........

The reds angle would only work for a London based fighter truss 

Most football fans are adult males. All big clubs have many thousands of 'plastic' fans who only go to the occasional game but are still passionate... And try and get tickets for a big game. City's home gate isn't a reliable estimate for the number of supporters. Whichever, I never said that hatton didn't 'transcend' I suggested the core of his support was city fans.

Infact it was that core of fans that provided the cash cow that enabled to him to get Tszyu at home after a lengthy diet of stiffs... that makes kel brook look like a risk taker. The cheeky chappy persona helped give him a broad appeal and  helped him transcend later in his career.

You're calling them a minority, you don't know that. Just as I don't know the proportion. But the middle class all round sports fans from Surrey might have bought a ppv, but I suspect they weren't the guys filling the MEN singing football songs.

He was a very good fighter, and would have been well supported regardless, but the debate was on numbers guys could pull live. Football fans like live sport. They inflated his figures significantly in my view.

Whichever lets leave it, I think the only thing about hatton we've ever agreed on is that he was outclassed by floyd. And actually I thought he put up a creditable performance in than fight.

milkyboy wrote:The reds angle would only work for a London based fighter truss 

Most football fans are adult males. All big clubs have many thousands of 'plastic' fans who only go to the occasional game but are still passionate... And try and get tickets for a big game. City's home gate isn't a reliable estimate for the number of supporters. Whichever, I never said that hatton didn't 'transcend' I suggested the core of his support was city fans.

Infact it was that core of fans that provided the cash cow that enabled to him to get Tszyu at home after a lengthy diet of stiffs... that makes kel brook look like a risk taker. The cheeky chappy persona helped give him a broad appeal and  helped him transcend later in his career.

You're calling them a minority, you don't know that. Just as I don't know the proportion. But the middle class all round sports fans from Surrey might have bought a ppv, but I suspect they weren't the guys filling the MEN singing football songs.

He was a very good fighter, and would have been well supported regardless, but the debate was on numbers guys could pull live. Football fans like live sport. They inflated his figures significantly in my view.

Whichever lets leave it, I think the only thing about hatton we've ever agreed on is that he was outclassed by floyd. And actually I thought he put up a creditable performance in than fight.

City's support back then was less than it is now Mate.......Doubt they turned 40,000 before the Sheiks...rattled and rolled

i made a fair few hatton fights and im from the red side of Manchester, the city thing annoyed me if anything. but then again im more into boxing than the majority of the city hatton fans.

i do think a large proportion of hattons fans simply jumped on the bandwagon from the city angle, i was at the lazcano fight and the stadium was half empty up untill the hatton fight. although that could also be simply mancs obsession with getting on the ale at any major event, most gigs i go to are similar

compelling and rich wrote:i made a fair few hatton fights and im from the red side of Manchester, the city thing annoyed me if anything. but then again im more into boxing than the majority of the city hatton fans.

i do think a large proportion of hattons fans simply jumped on the bandwagon from the city angle, i was at the lazcano fight and the stadium was half empty up untill the hatton fight. although that could also be simply mancs obsession with getting on the ale at any major event, most gigs i go to are similar

A lot of big fights in the US are empty till the main event........Most people pay for the star..

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

compelling and rich wrote:i made a fair few hatton fights and im from the red side of Manchester, the city thing annoyed me if anything. but then again im more into boxing than the majority of the city hatton fans.

i do think a large proportion of hattons fans simply jumped on the bandwagon from the city angle, i was at the lazcano fight and the stadium was half empty up untill the hatton fight. although that could also be simply mancs obsession with getting on the ale at any major event, most gigs i go to are similar

A lot of big fights in the US are empty till the main event........Most people pay for the star..

they didnt miss much to be fair, the best thing about the PM v n'dou fight was the haircut, and we got to see how average matthew hatton was.

Compelling and rich... You didnt sing along to blue moon then I take it?

milkyboy wrote:Compelling and rich... You didnt sing along to blue moon then I take it?

wash your mouth out milky, of course i didnt   

trying to remember was that the fight when hatton came out in a fat suit?