Perhaps Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn knew what he was doing by making the November 22nd rematch between Tony Bellew (22-2-1, 14 KOs) and Nathan Cleverly 28-1, 14 KOs) a pay-per-view fight on Sky Box Office from the Echo Arena, in Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom. The fight card, which includes the likes of James DeGale, Anthony Joshua, Callum Smith, Stephen Smith, Scott Quigg, and Jamie McDonnell, sold out in just 48 hours after the tickets went on sale.
That’s pretty impressive. The Bellew-Cleverly 2 fight is a decent one, but hardly what you’d call a great one. Neither of these guys have the talent to win a world title at cruiserweight in my view, but that still didn’t stop their fans from quickly buying out the tickets in just 2 days.
“Cleverly versus Bellew is 48-hour box office sell out, making it the fastest selling sporting event in the Echo Arena’s history,” Hearn said via Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. “We had a little taste of the action this week and with same major announcements coming next week, those lucky enough to have grabbed a ticket and those watching at home are in for a wonderful night of British boxing. The atmosphere in the Echo Arena on Nov. 22 will be breathtaking.”
The undercard is totally stacked with big names in British boxing. As of now it’s unclear who all of them will be fighting. Callum Smith will be taking a big step up in class in facing Nikola Sjekloca. Anthony Joshua could be facing Michel Sprott. Jaime McDonnell is taking on Walberto Ramos. DeGale is said to be facing a former world title challenger. That name will be announced next week. It could literally be anybody. DeGale says he wants to take on the top names before he challenges for a world title, but it’s not likely that Hearn will match him tough until he gets a title shot.
