Joseph Parker vs. Andy Ruiz

Background

In late October, the Parker verse Ruiz title fight had been officially sanctioned by the World Boxing Organization. The organisation had granted permission to Parker fighting Andy Ruiz for their belt with their championship committee voting unanimously in favor of the title fight.^[2] The belt was vacated by Tyson Fury, who was battling depression and drug issues and hadn't fought since last November when he beat Wladimir Klitschko to snare the WBO, WBA and IBF titles.^[3] Although the WBO president Francisco Varcarcel said his preference was to set up a four-man box-off for the vacant title involving the four leading available contenders for their belt but it had gone down the route of their own rules book which gave number one ranked Parker the first rights to challenge.^[4] With number two ranked Klitschko targeted the WBA belt, cleared the way for number three Ruiz to step up against Parker.

Discussions and negotiations began after Fury was expected to be stripped of his WBO belt over inactivity and testing positive for cocaine.^[5] With his sudden announcement that he would relinquish his various heavyweight world title belts due to his issues with various problems, it was unclear exactly how the WBO and WBA would go about filling the vacancies. But before Fury vacated, Duco Events promoter Dean Lonergan announced in early October he had been negotiating an alternative WBO title fight against Andy Ruiz, suggesting he had a chance of reaching a deal with Bob Arum. He pointed out that WBO rules stated that the two best classified contenders' will challenge for the title.^[6] Arum told ESPN.com that he was in talks with the WBO about making it for the vacant title. He also said his experience dealing with Parker and his team has so far been a pleasure.^[7]

Parker and Ruiz also had their previous encounters. It had been well-documented that the last time they met, was during a sparring session in Las Vegas two years prior, Ruiz was said to have rattled the jaw of Parker so badly that he could not eat properly for three days. Parker said that his trainer Kevin Barry was looking for work for him. Ruiz had a lot more experience than himself and that he had underestimated Ruiz because of his size during their sparring session.^[8]

Controversy

Several issues occurred prior to the fight being announced. The date of the then proposed fight between Parker and Ruiz came up for discussion when the two heavyweights' promoters talked about the bout. Top Rank's Bob Arum was unsure the 10 December date preferred by Parker's handlers Duco Events. He said Ruiz and himself would prefer the fight to be held in January, but that wouldn't work for Duco as they could list a number of reasons why.^[9] Although the 10 December date was agreed upon after Parker's handlers told Stuff.co.nz the Ruiz deal was 95 percent done. Dean Lonergan said he and Ruiz's promoter Bob Arum had been in discussions and they had agreed to the date and were close on money.^[10]

Before it being confirmed that the bout would remain and take place in New Zealand, speculation lured that the fight would be moved overseas after Duco announced they needed financial backing following Auckland Council's denial of their bid for public funding. That denial meant that there was a chance the contest would be relocated to California, with Ruiz's promoter Arum giving Duco a seven-day deadline to find the supposed shortfall of several hundreds of thousands of dollars, which ultimately was provided by the TAB, Gallagher, and Burger King sponsorship. Martin Snedden confirmed the price of hosting the event would sit around the $4 million mark but that, despite the sponsor backing, the total cost was yet to be accounted for.^[11]

Broadcasting

As Parker had exclusive relationships with the broadcaster of Sky at the time of the fight, the telecast of the fight was aired on Sky Arena in New Zealand. The fight was televised through a pay-per-view (PPV) produced by Sky and Duco Events. Sixteen days out from the fight, Duco Events revealed it would cost New Zealand television viewers NZD$59.95 for the sporting event at Auckland's Vector Arena as it featured on Sky's Sky Arena.^[14] The broadcast of the fight is said to stretch into 100 countries.

In Samoa, a free broadcast of the fight had been made possible through a partnership between Digicel Samoa and Apia Broadcasting Limited, owners of TV3. Digicel Samoa chief executive Rory Condon, TV3 owner Hans Joe Keil and TV3 managing director Verona Parker officially announced the partnership with a sponsorship of the broadcast worth approximately WS$30,000 tālā.^[15] BoxNation confirmed via Twitter they would live stream the event on their website and television for their subscribers.^[16] ESPN and Fox Sports were the main broadcasters that aired the fight in Brazil, Latin America and many Caribbean countries while BBC Online streamed the fight in all United Kingdom territories.^[17]

Prime broadcast a documentary special called Parker v Ruiz Jr: A Fighting Chance, focusing on the two fighters as part of the lead-up to the fight. Sky also aired the programme. It included past Parker fights, coverage of their lives outside of boxing, and special interviews with both their trainers and surrounding media experts, including commentator Bob Sheridan.

The following afternoon of the fight, Sky television announced they were taking down a large amount people for streaming the event online illegally. Estimated the numbers of streamers reached into the triple digits. The broadcaster and promoter Duco Events have been battling to stop people illegally streaming Parker's fights. The day beforehand, a court ruled against seven individuals found to have unlawfully streamed July's fight between Parker and Solomon Haumono. The judge found each of the seven had infringed Sky's copyright, granted an injunction restraining any further infringements and ordered each defendant to destroy any copies and pay nominal damages of NZD$100 as well as costs of NZD$2,670.^[18]

International broadcasters
Country	Broadcaster
Australia	Fox Sports
	Seven Network
Brazil	ESPN
	Fox Sports
New Zealand	Sky Arena
United Kingdom	BBC Online
	BoxNation
United States	HBO
Samoa	TV3

Belt

The winner of the fight received the world champion belt by the WBO. The belt, valued at around $5 thousand, is of red color and has gold-plated motifs with encrusted crystals and features the names of the two fighters and the bout details. Once the belt arrived in New Zealand, it was announced it would do a nationwide tour. The tour took place in Hamilton, Tauranga, Rotorua, Hastings, Palmerston North, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Invercargill, Dunedin, New Plymouth and Whangarei. It was displayed at the premises of fight sponsors Burger King in those cities.^[19]

Headlines evolved after Ruiz was caught with getting his hands on the belt early, saying feeling the prize gives him motivation for the fight. It was said to believe Parker stayed away from touching the belt when it was repeatedly put in front of him during fight promotions.^[20]

Aftermath

After the fight, Ruiz showed interest in a possible rematch. With many criticism over who was the winner, he had a valid case in regards to believing he dominated large periods of the contest. Although no rematch clause was included in the contract. Parker's camp showed very minimal interest in giving Ruiz another shot when a path towards bigger fights in England could be possible. Ruiz's trainer, Abel Sanchez, supported his boxer's call for a rematch.^[21]

A lot of criticism surfaced, believing Parker lost the fight after his encounter with Ruiz. Parker's promoters were disappointed on what they heard, coming out saying some of the most vocal critics have been bitter towards Parker's success from early in his career. Duco's David Higgins said the criticism was crap, and that the public deserved to be told the full story. Some, most notably New Zealand Professional Boxing Association president Lance Revill, described the majority decision by the WBO-appointed independent judges as bullshit, with Revill adding he was embarrassed to be a New Zealander after watching the fight at Auckland's Vector Arena. Rather than score the fight close, Revill had it 118–111 to Ruiz. Most experts ruled it a close Parker win or a draw.^[22] After his comments, Revill resigned as president of the NZPBA stating that "I was getting criticised by members of my own association who were saying 'Lance is out of line' and saying I shouldn't be saying that as president, Well, if I can't say it as president, who can say it? I want to be able to say what I like and speak my mind because I don't like the way boxing has been run at the moment."^[23]

Scorecard