Eddie Hearn has predicted a low fan turnout for the upcoming Tyson Fury and Derek Chisora fight relative to the seats available.
Fury will defend his WBC belt for the third time in a trilogy against ‘War’ Chisora at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – only the second boxing event to take place there after Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk’s first fight.
Hearn – who promoted ‘AJ’ versus Usyk – has given his prediction as to how many fans will be in attendance for the fight at the 60,000+ seater stadium. Speaking on iFL TV, he gave his best estimate at around half capacity.
“It’s very difficult when there’s four shows all in the same city, and another one next week where they’re probably going to do 30,000 at Tottenham.”
“I don’t know whether they’re going to open the top tier, I don’t know. I mean, it’s very difficult, especially in December when it’s freezing.”
Although Hearn’s comments are pure speculation, rumours has been rife about a possible ‘fake sellout’ with tickets being snapped up by touts rather than genuine fans. It was announced that around 50,000 tickets were sold on the first day, so Hearn must believe that many are still available via re-sale websites.
On the face of it there are a few reasons why fans might stay away from the fight, such as the time of year in an open top stadium and the poor economic state the country is currently in, but, to counter that, ‘The Gypsy King’ has proven himself to be one of the biggest draws in boxing.
Hearn did go on to say that selling 30,000 tickets in todays climate is still a good result.
“You know, 30,000, 40,000, whatever it is is still a very good crowd. It’s difficult, you’ve got to create a compelling event.”
Hearn was speaking ahead of Matchroom’s card this Saturday, which is headlined by Dillian Whyte in his first ring appearance since coming up short in his world title challenge against Fury in April.