Venue confirmed for Haye fight

[fugaziuk]

FRANKFURT (AP) — Wladimir Klitschko's defense of his heavyweight title against David Haye on June 20 will be staged at Schalke's soccer stadium, which has a capacity of more than 60,000.

The arena in Gelsenkirchen, where Schalke plays its Bundesliga matches, seats 61,673 for soccer matches and has a retractable roof that can be closed in 20 minutes. It will be the first fight to be staged there.

"I've always wanted to fight in a football stadium before such a large audience," said Klitschko, who holds both the IBF and WBO titles.

Bernd Boente, managing director of Klitschko's management group, called it one of the "most attractive and modern" stadiums in Europe, a "gigantic arena."

Haye is a British former cruiserweight world champion who could win the heavyweight title in only his second fight at that class.

Klitschko stopped Hasim Rahman in seven rounds in his last defense in December and hasn't lost in more than four years to build a 52-3 record to Haye's 22-1.

Haye moved up a division more than a year ago after unifying the cruiserweight titles by knocking out Enzo Maccarinelli in two rounds. He has had only one fight as a heavyweight, knocking out Monte Barrett in five rounds in November.

Confident that he will beat Klitschko, Haye has vowed to then go after his older brother Vitali, the WBC champion, in an attempt to unify the heavyweight titles.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.


Im going to look into going to this - anybody else?

[Fenster]

60,000 seater?

Guess Haye is a bigger draw than many think.

[ono]

[ono]

[Kel]

Should have been here

[smashup]

Great news and what a venue

Can't see more than 5,000 going over from the UK to support Haye though.

Let's face it the majority of people outside of boxing probably don't know who he is and he's no Hatton.

Think they'll struggle to fill it unless every fight fan in Germany makes it which may happen due to the "Event" itself and the fact the venue looks so appealing

Think it's a big ask for UK fans to flock over given theres a recession going on

Gonna be a great fight though and exactly what the Heavyweight division needs to give it a kick up the ass.

I Still think Haye can win this!

[Mark TKO]

surprised at this venue choice - don't think they'll get anywhere near a sell out. Was hoping for Berlin as plenty of other stuff to do.

Never been a fan of stadium fights as you end up seeing eff all most of the time.

Then again its not Vegas and some fight fans may see it as a cheaper option to go to a title fight.

What the hell is near ther anyway ?!? And where would flights go ? Am presuming Dusseldourf is the city ??

[Mark TKO]

and attendess shouldn't bank on seeing any more than 10 minutes action at best

[ono]

surprised at this venue choice - don't think they'll get anywhere near a sell out. Was hoping for Berlin as plenty of other stuff to do.

Never been a fan of stadium fights as you end up seeing eff all most of the time.

Then again its not Vegas and some fight fans may see it as a cheaper option to go to a title fight.

What the hell is near ther anyway ?!? And where would flights go ? Am presuming Dusseldourf is the city ??

Airports close to Schalke, Germany

The closest airport is ESS - Essen Mulheim, located 16.3 km south west of Schalke. More nearby airports include DUS - Duesseldorf Dusseldorf 33.5 km south west, DTM - Dortmund 36.7 km east, MGL - Moenchengladbach Monchengladbach 51.4 km south west, ZCA - Arnsberg Menden 56.8 km east,

I can probably find out a decent amount of information about getting there because i have some pals who went to watch Man City beat Schalke in November last year in the Uefa Cup.

Forum full of pals went from Manchester/Gatwick...actually pretty much from all over England. I'll ask for some useful info and i'll post it on here for those that are going to make the trip from the UK.

[Conrad]

Airports close to Schalke, Germany

The closest airport is ESS - Essen Mulheim, located 16.3 km south west of Schalke. More nearby airports include DUS - Duesseldorf Dusseldorf 33.5 km south west, DTM - Dortmund 36.7 km east, MGL - Moenchengladbach Monchengladbach 51.4 km south west, ZCA - Arnsberg Menden 56.8 km east,

I can probably find out a decent amount of information about getting there because i have some pals who went to watch Man City beat Schalke in November last year in the Uefa Cup.

Forum full of pals went from Manchester/Gatwick...actually pretty much from all over England. I'll ask for some useful info and i'll post it on here for those that are going to make the trip from the UK.

Damn it, I read the first post and thought it was in Frankfurt. I was happy with that as I booked up for a dance festival there only last week and got a Ryanair flight for just £53!!!

Good job you posted that info Ono or I may have booked up for bloody Frankfurt!!

With that in mind it does seem a strange choice of venue, no big airports nearby thus making it expensive for British fans to attend the fight.

I wonder if this was intentional on Klitschko's part to take away any minor advantage Haye may get by having UK fans there to support him

[Conrad]

Just had a quick check, Flybe operate a flight to Dusseldorf.

I can get a flight from Birmingham for £75 return, not too bad I think. WIll be a PITA getting from Dusseldorf to Schalke though, train the best I'd guess. I wonder how much the fight tickets will be....

[JazMerkin]

Yeah, would appreciate the info. Would definitely have gone over if it was in Berlin, because there's plenty to do for the weekend, but Gelsenkirchen ain't quite the same. Have to see what else's on offer in the town & if there's anyone else interested in going there. I hate Team Klitschko, they could at least have done it in one of the Munich stadia or in Berlin's stadium. Would appreciate any info Ono

[Mark TKO]

yep , crap venue for doing anything but going to the fight.

And wherever you stay you are going to have to travel to the fight 30 miles or so (not a lot in US terms but to us Brits thats other end of the country !!!)

Am now undecided

[HattonTheHammer]

only chance haye would of had of winning this is if they`d held it inside a london phonebox

[littlebif]

What a poor city to choose for the fight, what is there to do there anyone know