May 30th O2 card - PPV but best UK boxing bill for many a year?

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The Bridge Lad

The Bridge Lad

Striker
So today, Eddie Hearn has as expected added Kell Brook vs Frankie Gavin to the packed O2 May 30th bill, and again as expected, has made this PPV.

But looking at the card, it is full of genuine 50/50 relevant title fights instead of the 'names' vs cans in 1/100 fights like the Bellew-Cleverly undercard.

Dave Ryan vs John Wayne Hibbert
Commonwealth Light Welterweight title
http://www.oddschecker.com/boxing/dave-ryan-v-john-wayne-hibbert/winner - Both fighters 10/11.
A rematch for the belt Ryan was supposed to defend against Bradley Saunders in the main event at Newcastle last Saturday

John Ryder vs Nick Blackwell
vacant British middleweight title
http://www.oddschecker.com/boxing/john-ryder-v-nick-blackwell/winner - Ryder 5/6, Blackwell evens
2 highly rated domestic middleweight contenders.

Scott Cardle vs Craig Evans
vacant British lightweight title
http://www.oddschecker.com/boxing/scott-cardle-v-craig-evans/winner - Cardle 1/4, Evans 11/4 - wider, but still fairly close odds in boxing terms
2 young prospects putting their unbeaten records on the line. Cardle with Hearn, Evans with Warren

Anthony Joshua vs Kevin Johnson
I won't put the odds up here as Joshua is a clear favourite and you could probably count the number of shots Johnson throws on two hands and still have fingers remaining, but it is the best 'name' AJ has faced and Johnson despite being in with Vitali, Fury, Chisora etc has never been stopped in his losses, so it would be a bit of a statement if AJ stops him early. Not a great fight, but should add a few buys for the more casual fan with the big man on the card.

Evgeny Gradovich vs Lee Selby
IBF Featherweight title
http://www.oddschecker.com/boxing/lee-selby-v-evgeny-gradovich/winner - Selby 2/5, Grad 2/1
Defending champ Gradovich travels to take on Welshman Selby. Gradovich is unbeaten and the highly rated Selby just has one blemish on his record. Close fight that will likely go the distance, but a great chance for Lee to take the belt.

Jorge Linares vs Kevin Mitchell
WBC Leightweight title
http://www.oddschecker.com/boxing/kevin-mitchell-v-jorge-linares/winner - bookies can't really split them here. Both around 10/11
Another chance for Mitchell to finally win world honours in possibly his last attempt. Linares is well known and has been in some great fights in the past, but this may be the right time for Mitchell to face him as he has looked pretty decent recently, particularly in his last fight. I would expect a stoppage here

Kell Brook vs Frankie Gavin
IBF Welterweight title
http://www.oddschecker.com/boxing/kell-brook-v-frankie-gavin/winner - closer than a lot will expect. Gavin generally 4/1, Brook 1/6 (Gavin was 3s at Lads but has drifted)
Many will criticise this fight and they will have a right to, but i don;t mind it. Hearn always planned this as a fight when he signed Gavin, so in some ways it is good to get it out of the way in a very good show rather than as a stand alone PPV down the line. Gavin is highly ranked by the IBF and was due a final eliminator against Bradley (after Khan pulled) out, but has jumped the queue due to both having the same promoter and a voluntary defense for Brook. Kell should win and if this was it for him until Dec/Jan (fighting twice a year like most) then it would be a bit poor, but it is a ranked opponent and he is plannig on fighting Rios at the end of July / early August so at least he is active and gives himself an opportunity to build himself as a PPV fighter.

I've written a lot more than i intended here, but what an overall card that is :eek:. Loaded with genuine of 50/50 fights where you generally can't call it, unlike the Bellew PPV where it was a case of how many rounds Quigg, McDonnell, Groves etc would lose, if any. All these fights are relevant. I know PPV gets a lot of stick (mainly from me :lol:), but no complaints here. It should be a top night of boxing. The only main issue is 2 PPV's in one month and a lot of the regular Sky shows have been weak of late, possibly because all the efforts have gone in this, but this really is a night of boxing not to be missed.

It is more of a 'hardcore' card with some might not be that interested in Ryan, Cardle etc, but who on here are planning to watch (buy, stream) this?

A couple more fights still to be added as well apparently. Roll on May 30th :cool:
 


Only 2 fights of real interest, Mitchell and Kell.

The rest is just padding out what would be a decent terrestrial card in terms of promoting the sport nationwide but instead it's another monumental fuck up by the British powers that be. Selfish pricks.
 
The Spezial One said:
Only 2 fights of real interest, Mitchell and Kell.

The rest is just padding out what would be a decent terrestrial card in terms of promoting the sport nationwide but instead it's another monumental fuck up by the British powers that be. Selfish pricks.
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No interest in Selby's fight mate? That will be a good, tactical one. Gradovich the unbeaten travelling champion. Blackwell-Ryder is also a great contest.

I agree to an extent though, they could have put some of these fights on the weak regular cards that we have been served up recently. If any of those 7 fights were on the Newcastle bill last week then they would have been the best fight on paper, not exaggerating. But if they have to have x amount of PPVs a year and couldn;t land Groves--DeGale, Khan-Brook then give me a stacked card of 50/50 fights anyday of the weak. It is 100% times better than that Bellew card the other month, and while that shouldnt be the standard (as it was so low) i did pay for it :lol:, but have no issues at all paying for this. I have an interest in every fight, even AJ's although he should easily win
 
The Bridge Lad said:
No interest in Selby's fight mate? That will be a good, tactical one. Gradovich the unbeaten travelling champion. Blackwell-Ryder is also a great contest.

I agree to an extent though, they could have put some of these fights on the weak regular cards that we have been served up recently. If any of those 7 fights were on the Newcastle bill last week then they would have been the best fight on paper, not exaggerating. But if they have to have x amount of PPVs a year and couldn;t land Groves--DeGale, Khan-Brook then give me a stacked card of 50/50 fights anyday of the weak. It is 100% times better than that Bellew card the other month, and while that shouldnt be the standard (as it was so low) i did pay for it :lol:, but have no issues at all paying for this. I have an interest in every fight, even AJ's although he should easily win
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I think you've summed it up there mate, the recent cards have been so poor that this one looks stacked when in truth it's ok but not great.
 
The Spezial One said:
Seriously haway, are you excited about the Brook fight? It's a foregone conclusion also. Mitchell I'm only excited by to see if he can carry on this mature version of himself and finally put it all together.
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I just love 50/50 fights mate, even if it was just for a Northern Area title, so to get near enough 5 on one card at atleast British title level is like porn to me :lol: - forget Brook and AJ, the other 5 you can't predict with any certainty and all could go either way. Give me this over Groves, Quigg etc in complete mismatches, where the main issue is if they will lose a round, anyday.

As for Brook, most know he is my favourite fighter so his presence here is a bonus for me. I explained my thoughts in the OP. Yes it's not a great fight on paper, but as Gavin is in the top 3 of the IBF ratings (for whatever reason) then it is a legitimate defence - i accept most will find it a weak opponent and the fight itselft doesn;t add too much to the card, but if it is just to keep him active before Rios on August 22nd then it's all good to me. While Gavin's pro career has been a disappointment, i do still see something in him becuase of his amatuer pedigree, but his stock has admittedly fallen these past 12 months. However the 4/1 odds show it is not a complete mismatch and it is a domestic world title fight which you don't see too many of these day.

I was very happy with the card before this was added anyway.
 
Top notch card but my Sky bill could be £115 in May :(. Might have to just buy 1 of the PPV's and stream / Youtube the other, not sure which one yet.
 
Session said:
Top notch card but my Sky bill could be £115 in May :(. Might have to just buy 1 of the PPV's and stream / Youtube the other, not sure which one yet.
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Yeah, that's a good point. If i was to buy only one, it would be this and catch a download of Mayweather the next day personally.
 
[QUOTE"The Bridge Lad, post: 20329850, member: 30663"]Bump.

I wonder if the general fairly negative UK views have any impact on sales for this?[/QUOTE]
Sorry If seb, just posted on the M v P thread, but Sky ppv was a disaster on this, less than a third of the expected sales.
 
The Bridge Lad said:
Bump.

I wonder if the general fairly negative UK views have any impact on sales for this?
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I'm going to goto this now, on your recommendation!!
really like Mitchell now he's more focussed, but going to watch kell brook put in a performance so he can unify the belts by doing mayweather if he fights later this year or next may ;) here's hoping .
 
martinlumley said:
[QUOTE"The Bridge Lad, post: 20329850, member: 30663"]Bump.

I wonder if the general fairly negative UK views have any impact on sales for this?
Click to expand...
Sorry If seb, just posted on the M v P thread, but Sky ppv was a disaster on this, less than a third of the expected sales.[/QUOTE]

Didn't realise this mate. They did plug it well enough to be fair (and doubt they could have done much more), just mustn't have been the demand at 5am in the morning. I'm still suffering a bit now as i stayed up rather than setting my alarm.
 
The Bridge Lad said:
Didn't realise this mate. They did plug it well enough to be fair (and doubt they could have done much more), just mustn't have been the demand at 5am in the morning. I'm still suffering a bit now as i stayed up rather than setting my alarm.
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that and i knew a lot of people who went to one persons house and had a drink together watching it on sky, 20+ watching it in some cases, so if thats a common trend rather than just one i've noted amongst my mates then that impacts quite a bit
 
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