Promoter David Higgins and his charge Joseph Parker have been forced out of their comfort zones. Photo / Photosport
Promoter David Higgins and his charge Joseph Parker have been forced out of their comfort zones. Photo / Photosport
David Higgins, Joseph Parker's promoter, describes the past few months - during which he and his team effectively goaded Anthony Joshua into a record-breaking world heavyweight unification title fight - as "surreal".
Higgins says the Cardiff fight on March 31, co-promoted with English promoter Eddie Hearn's Matchroom, will be the richest boxing event in British history. Significantly, too, the bout, which will be watched by a crowd of 80,000 under the roof at Principality Stadium - a world record for an indoor boxing match - and millions of television viewers around the world, is a joint venture between Higgins' Duco Events and Matchroom.
That has meant Higgins and Duco have been investigated by UK authorities before being allowed to open a joint bank account with Matchroom, into which many millions of dollars will flow. "Under UK anti-money laundering law, foreign companies wishing to open joint bank accounts with UK companies must be investigated," Higgins told the Weekend Herald. "I'm pleased to say we passed with flying colours."
Higgins smiles as he says that, and he can well afford to.
There have been many highs and lows for him and his team since September as phone calls and emails have gone back and forth between Auckland and London in order to get the fight agreed, and just as significantly to ratchet up the financial rewards for Parker and Duco, and with only six weeks until fight night, all the indications are that it will be lucrative for all parties.
"I was brought up by a single mum in a state house and had a lot of debt when I left university and never in a billion years would I have thought I would be promoting a world heavyweight unification fight involving two undefeated boxers," Higgins says. "Whether the money comes or not, it shows what you can do if you persevere, it shows what is possible.
"The same goes for Joe on the boxing side in a nation - New Zealand - with little boxing pedigree. He and his mother and father had that belief of being the heavyweight world champion when he was only three years old. He kept at it despite the odds against him."
To get to this point has forced both Higgins and Parker to leave their respective comfort zones - and in particular to highlight what they have described as the "glass jaw" attached to the musclebound and undefeated Joshua, a vulnerability which they say is ignored by the UK boxing media.
It attracted many of what Higgins describes as "haters" but most importantly it got Parker and Higgins noticed by Joshua and Hearn. With pressure also coming from Sky Sports UK, a major backer, the English pair had little choice but to agree to a fight and then enter into negotiations as to how the revenue would be shared - no easy feat in itself.
"My No1 job is to deliver to Joseph what he wants and he said he wanted me to make the Joshua fight happen and for a fair deal and enough money to set him up for life," Higgins says. "That looked impossible in September but we devised a strategy. I was uncomfortable with some of it - [insults] isn't really my style, but we did it. It worked.
"We got the fight and not only that we got a substantially better deal than that which was originally offered. It's satisfying when you come up with a strategy and win against the odds."
The joint-venture nature of the promotion means all the revenue from the fight goes into a pot with costs subtracted and Higgins and Duco taking their agreed percentage, which he won't divulge.
It is understood Team Parker will take home about $12 million.
Joseph Parker with promoter David Higgins during a press conference in Auckland. Photo / Photosport.nz
What Higgins will say is that the millions Duco get from the history-making fight won't put the company in the black as far as its investment in Parker's career is concerned.
"No. Not yet. But it's surreal to be part of such a major global event and also to be treated like a genuine partner. This isn't a case of Matchroom, or Eddie Hearn, running it, it's a genuine partnership where we talk most days and jointly make decisions.
"We're working together closely and very well, I might say. Behind the scenes the teams are gelling very well. I've sold various television markets and so have they."
Higgins adds: "I'm not rich. But it's been a great journey. It's been fun and very memorable. It's been a heavy investment but it's one that has paid off. Joseph has fulfilled his side of the bargain. We put a lot of blood, sweat and tears and money behind him and put the foot on the accelerator.
"Joseph has never disappointed us - he's done his job and has been away from his family for a long time. He's kept winning which is the important thing.
"What Team Parker have done - to shoot for the stars and go for the world heavy-weight title and actually win it and try to unify the titles has never been done [by a New Zealander]. It's very high-risk, it's very expensive to build a boxer like that. We're grateful to the fans who have contributed."
In 2009, at the age of 30, Higgins risked it all when stepping into the murky waters of professional boxing with his promotion of the David Tua v Shane Cameron fight at Mystery Creek, a New Zealand grudge match which struck a chord with the public. An estimated 90,000 pay per views were sold, a domestic record which still stands.
Higgins has often said he likes being underestimated, and that's the place 26-year-old Parker now finds himself. The Las Vegas-based boxer has great support in New Zealand and Samoa but few in the UK give him a chance against the powerful Joshua, a 28-year-old who has won all 20 of his professional fights by knockout.
Boxing experts are less sure, though, and it's that sense of the unknown and the fact one man will leave the ring with the WBO, WBA and IBF titles which has resulted in the quick sales and which will likely generate an excellent pay per view uptake around the world.
"This fight is breaking records," Higgins says. "It's going to be the richest boxing event in British history. Right now we are way over budget on general admission tickets, sponsorship sales and international television. We have sold to over 100 countries. This is a truly global event. It will be one of the biggest TV audiences involving a New Zealander in history due to the sheer number of nations buying. Many nations which would have never heard of rugby or cricket will be tuning into watch Joseph Parker fighting Anthony Joshua.
"It will be the biggest single event contract involving a New Zealander and the revenues will put it up there against the yearly turnover of most New Zealand sporting organisations.
"This ticks every box; the underdog versus the big dog, New Zealand and Samoa versus Mother England - you've got competition in the sense that either man could win," says Higgins. "Joshua has a height and reach advantage and might have a touch more power, Parker has faster hands and a better chin, so people are divided on who will win.
"If Joseph can do this it will be like 1995 when Peter Blake brought home the America's Cup but with 100 times the viewership and a global audience."
A win for Parker will change the lives of everyone in his team and Higgins' company and open up the possibility of an even more lucrative re-match. That's when things could really get surreal.
