• Samoa Major Source of Funding for Parker/Ruiz WBO Title Bout

    Efforts to secure funding necessary in order to make Joseph Parker’s heavyweight title fight in Auckland December coming have fallen short, with the result being that some of the funding is coming from the nation of Samoa.

    The government of New Zealand and the local authorities in Auckland did not feel favourably disposed to fund Parker’s WBO title bout against Andy Ruiz Jr. of Mexico, but Samoa had no issue with contributing $137,000 NZ.

    The source of the funds probably means little to the combatants, other than for the fact that their earnings will escalate accordingly.

    Parker’s promoter, Duco Event’s David Higgins, seemed nonplussed at the prospect that pay-per-viewers could experience confusion over the exact venue of the fight, but for viewers in far-flung locales, such as London or Germany, the white sandy beaches of Samoa and the white sandy beaches of New Zealand appear more than a little similar.

    Thanks to the contribution by the Samoan government, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi will receive the honour of introducing the main event, which to mildly objective observers, seems a pricey honour, but Samoa will receive the value-added benefit of having its national anthem played before the Vector Arena event gets underway.

    Parker was born in Auckland, if anyone is interested.