Quote Originally Posted by JazMerkin View Post
Quote Originally Posted by Fenster View Post
Quote Originally Posted by JazMerkin View Post

I agree. Haye is currently in a similar position to that of Calzaghe around the time of the Lacy fight. Most of the public didn't really know who he was, just knew he was a boxer & had seen a little bit of him. However, the opponent is then sold as being unbeatable as Lacy was & Valuev is due to his size (I know he's been beaten, but most will see 50+ fights with only 1 defeat & think he's amazing).

I think this does quite well, it's probably the best Sky have marketed a fight since Hatton-Mayweather. More importantly I reckon if Haye wins he becomes an overnight star similar to how Calzaghe did after the Lacy fight.
Hmm.. not sure about that.

Calzaghe-Lacy was FREE on ITV. It had a couple of million watching at 2am (over 50% of TV sets were tuned to ITV at the time of the fight) and then bettered that on the sunday morning repeat. And was repeated again on ITV4 later in the week.

Plus Lacy was the NEW Tyson. His young unbeaten American superstar profile really helped sell that fight to the non-hardcore.

Haye-Valuev only has the heavyweight angle going for it. The fact it's PPV means it will do well to have a couple of hundred thousand watching.

If Haye wins his proflie will obviously be enhanced but I can't see it being a huge breakthrough with so few actual watchers.
I wasn't trying to say it would do the same numbers, more that a win for Haye could be a crossover like with the Lacy fight. I agree, it will be a success if a few hundred thousand watch, however, I think it has intrigued people similarly purely off the size of Valuev making him some unstoppable beast, similar to how Lacy was sold as the new Tyson.

I don't think that many people actually need to be watching for it to make Haye a star, I think if he wins, the story of him beating this giant (headline David downs Goliath) will be enough. I think its the story & the resulting media coverage that makes him a star, not the fight itself.
And the fact Britain has it's first HW champ since Lennox Lewis!