There has been some welcome movement in the heavyweight division this week with the news confirmed that Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte will square off at London’s O2 Arena on August 12.
The price point to watch on DAZN PPV, however, immediately got fans talking, especially as Matchroom CEO Eddie Hearn once famously declared upon leaving Sky for DAZN that PPV was dead. Now, to watch the rematch, it will cost £26.99.
Speaking to talkSPORT, he tried to outline why the price has been set as it is, and why it is more than the £24.95 charged for Whyte vs Tyson Fury for the world title in April of last year.
“It’s a different broadcaster firstly, so all broadcasters have different price points. There will be a fantastic undercard which will be announced at the press conference on Monday. I think the last PPV, Oleksandr Usyk, was it, was £24.99, so it’s always around £24, £26, you know, PPV is PPV.
We’ve been there a million times, this fight is PPV on any platform, the fact it’s on DAZN, but it will be available on Sky platforms as well, it’s a massive fight, it will be a massive undercard, and we could have done it in a stadium. Tickets will go on sale next week, good luck!”
Unfortunately for Hearn, the reaction from fans wasn’t exactly welcoming. The vast majority took issue with the price, with one saying they would happily pay it for the likes of Errol Spence vs Terence Crawford, but not for this.
Others simply laughed at the announcement, predicting a small number of buys to due to the price tag. There were questions about if there were any benefits to current DAZN subscribers who already pay monthly or have forked out annually.
The fight is being billed as History of Violence, referencing the fact these two London big men have squared off twice before. Once was in the amateurs when both were very green.
Whyte took the win in that one, and then they came to blows again in a highly entertaining slugfest in December 2015 for the British heavyweight title, with Joshua wining by knockout.
This time there are no belts on the line, but each man has plenty to lose. They are both coming off rebuild wins against Jermaine Franklin, Joshua following back-to-back losses against Usyk, Whyte after being knocked out at Wembley by Fury.
A loss at this stage in their careers would surely put either fighter out of world title contention for some time, perhaps for good.