Reports say that both Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte will be still pushed on the Sky PPV platform, but the rest of the roster will be only seen on DAZN so I am expecting an increased price soon enough.
With the partnership coming to an end, the suggestions are this May card has been put together to satisfy the remaining clauses in the contract and that meant producing another PPV worthy card for Sky.
Some may disagree, but this is a card that is ridiculous to have to pay extra to watch.
If this was a normal Saturday night card with the subscription fees already paid you would say it is a decent offering, but there is hardly anything of note on the show as far as I am concerned and especially not at the stages of the careers of the headline acts or the match making on the undercard that has been put together that suggests it is worthy of the PPV tag.
And judging by some of the 'drama' of Friday I think the sales are probably not doing anything near where the promoters or broadcasters were expecting.
Dereck Chisora vs Joseph Parker
This is a real crossroads fight for two Heavyweights who have failed to crack through to the elite level in the Division.
That is probably a harsher view on Joseph Parker who has been a World Champion and has a win over Andy Ruiz Jr on his resume, but losses to Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte have knocked his standing. He was actually pretty close to beating Whyte and an early head-butt which was counted as a Knock Down proved pivotal in his defeat on the cards.
Joseph Parker has rebuilt with four straight wins and has been calling for a rematch with Whyte, but an awful performance in his win over Junior Fa a couple of months ago has left a bad taste in the mouth. It was a horrible fight and Fa was pretty happy playing spoiler and getting to the cards, but Parker did not do nearly enough and has decided to change his trainer.
Andy Lee was the recommendation of Tyson Fury and Joseph Parker may have been learning to sit down on his shots a little more than he has been used to. For many years people have asked for Parker to be more ruthless if he wants to really move up the World Rankings, although you do wonder how much could he have learned in two months under the tutelage of Lee.
One element that will help Parker is the style of Dereck Chisora who will come forward all night and look to throw big shots and rough up the New Zealander.
The last time we saw Chisora he was having a better than expected performance in his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk, although the Ukrainian did rock him hard in the second half of the fight and Chisora looked to be running on fumes in the final three Rounds. That will have taken something out of the tank of the 37 year old, but Chisora knows only one way to approach a fight and it could see him open for something big.
Dereck Chisora is likely going to use the same blueprint that Dillian Whyte did in his win over Parker and I expect some rough moments for the former World Champion. However I expect Chisora to slow down after the first few Rounds and Parker showed in that defeat to Whyte that he does carry power through the latter Rounds and I think he could put something big on Dereck Chisora once he slows down.
Most will look for Joseph Parker to get this done on the cards, but I think he has the chance of stepping forward in the mould that Andy Lee will want and really put it on a slowing Dereck Chisora as we tick into the second half. The last two times that Chisora has been stopped has come in the second half of a fight and there are some nervy rumours running about his preparation for this one.
I expect Chisora to put it all on the line early, but that may see him ripe for the stoppage late.
Andy Ruiz Jr vs Chris Arreola
Two Heavyweights of Mexican heritage meet in the main event of a big card in the United States this evening and the reality is that feels like nothing more than a showcase event for Andy Ruiz Jr.
The former World Champion took plenty of criticism for turning up out of shape for his rematch with Anthony Joshua and he was comfortably out-pointed over the distance and dropped his belts.
That was in December 2019 and Andy Ruiz Jr has been out of the ring ever since, but he looks to have made some key changes outside of the ring and the desire to the return to the top of the mountain is evident. Joining Eddy Reynoso and working alongside Canelo has to be the inspiration for Ruiz Jr and if things don't fall into place now they never will.
His opponent Chris Arreola never earned the World Titles, but he has reached a pretty good level in his career although at 40 years old you do have to wonder if there is anything left in the tank. He has come in at a career lowest weight, and I do think the desire is there, but Arreola has spent even longer out of the ring than Andy Ruiz Jr and he has tended to be found out at the highest level.
I don't think it will be hard to find Chris Arreola and that does play against him with the faster, more accurate Andy Ruiz Jr likely to have some big opportunities.
After an early tussle, I think Ruiz Jr will start breaking down Arreola and the key for the former World Champion is going to try and show off his return by getting rid of this opponent quicker than Deontay Wilder, a potential opponent for later this year.
I think he may just do that with Arreola fading, but backing Ruiz Jr to win this fight in the mid-Rounds is the way to go for me.
Bermane Stiverne beat Chris Arreola in Six and Wilder did it in Eight and I expect Ruiz Jr to finish the job around the same time after a firefight.
MY PICKS: Joseph Parker to Win Between 7-12 @ 6.00 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Andry Ruiz Jr to Win Between 5-8 @ 2.75 Sky Bet (2 Units)
James Tennyson to Win Between 1-4 @ 2.20 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Dmitry Bivol to Win Between 7-12 @ 2.50 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Chris Eubank Jr to Win Between 1-5 @ 1.80 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Katie Taylor to Win by Decision/Technical Decision @ 1.61 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Erislandy Lara to Win by KO/TKO/Disqualification @ 1.66 Sky Bet (2 Units)
Sebastian Fundora to Win Between 1-6 @ 2.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)
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