High Noon in Hong Kong was a
World Boxing Organisation
The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...
sanctioned boxing event. It was to feature four fights: a heavyweight title fight between
Herbie Hide
Herbie Hide (born Herbert Okechukwu Maduagwu; 27 August 1971) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2010. He held the WBO heavyweight title twice between 1994 and 1999, as well as the British heavyweight title in 19 ...
and
Tommy Morrison
Tommy "The Duke" Morrison (January 2, 1969 – September 1, 2013) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2008, and held the WBO heavyweight title in 1993. He retired from boxing in 1996 when he tested positive for HIV. Mo ...
;
Steve Collins
Stephen Collins (born 21 July 1964) is an Irish former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 1997. Known as the Celtic Warrior, Collins is the most successful male Irish boxer in recent professional boxing history, having held the WBO m ...
versus American Lonnie Beasley for the WBO middleweight title;
Billy Schwer
William Schwer (born 12 April 1969 in Luton, England), known as Billy Schwer, is a former boxing, professional boxer.
For the majority of his professional career, Schwer fought in the lightweight division but also competed in the light welter ...
would challenge
Rafael Ruelas
Rafael Ruelas (born 26 April 1971) is a Mexican former professional boxer, best known for his knockout loss to Oscar De La Hoya.
Professional career
Shortly after a TKO in 10 over Jorge Páez in 1992, Ruelas earned a shot at IBF lightweight ti ...
for the IBF lightweight title, plus
Frank Bruno
Franklin Roy Bruno, (born 16 November 1961) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1996. He had a highly publicised and eventful career, both in and out of the ring. The pinnacle of Bruno's boxing career was winning ...
versus
Ray Mercer
Raymond Anthony Mercer (born April 4, 1961) is an American former professional boxer, kickboxer, and mixed martial artist who competed from 1989 to 2009. Best known for his boxing career, Mercer won a heavyweight gold medal at the 1988 Summer O ...
in a non-title fight in the
Hong Kong Stadium
Hong Kong Stadium is the main sports venue of Hong Kong. Redeveloped from the old Government Stadium, it reopened as Hong Kong Stadium in March 1994. It has a maximum seating capacity of 40,000, including 18,260 at the main level, 3,173 at exec ...
on 22 October 1994. It was cancelled at the last minute because of major financial problems.
Beginning
According to British sports promoter
Barry Hearn
Barry Maurice William Hearn (born 19 June 1948) is an English sporting events promoter and the founder and President of promotions company Matchroom Sport.
Through Matchroom, Hearn is also involved in many sports including snooker, darts, pool ...
, he met
John Daly, a Los Angeles-based Londoner, in June 1994, who asked him to provide boxers for the event. American boxing promoter
Bob Arum
Robert Arum (born December 8, 1931) is an American lawyer and boxing promoter. He is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a professional boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas. Prior to becoming a boxing promoter, Arum was employed as an attorn ...
was providing
Tommy Morrison
Tommy "The Duke" Morrison (January 2, 1969 – September 1, 2013) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2008, and held the WBO heavyweight title in 1993. He retired from boxing in 1996 when he tested positive for HIV. Mo ...
and Barry Hearn would provide
Herbie Hide
Herbie Hide (born Herbert Okechukwu Maduagwu; 27 August 1971) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2010. He held the WBO heavyweight title twice between 1994 and 1999, as well as the British heavyweight title in 19 ...
and
Steve Collins
Stephen Collins (born 21 July 1964) is an Irish former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 1997. Known as the Celtic Warrior, Collins is the most successful male Irish boxer in recent professional boxing history, having held the WBO m ...
.
Mickey Duff
Mickey Duff (7 June 1929 – 22 March 2014), was a Polish-born British boxer, matchmaker, manager and promoter.
Early life
Duff was born Monek Prager to a Jewish family in Tarnów, Poland on 7 June 1929. His father, a rabbi, helped the family ...
and Jarvis Astaire provided
Frank Bruno
Franklin Roy Bruno, (born 16 November 1961) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1996. He had a highly publicised and eventful career, both in and out of the ring. The pinnacle of Bruno's boxing career was winning ...
for a non-title fight with
Ray Mercer
Raymond Anthony Mercer (born April 4, 1961) is an American former professional boxer, kickboxer, and mixed martial artist who competed from 1989 to 2009. Best known for his boxing career, Mercer won a heavyweight gold medal at the 1988 Summer O ...
, as well as Billy Schwer for the IBF lightweight title challenge against Rafael Ruelas.
The four-fight High Noon show at the Hong Kong Stadium was offered as pay-per-view with a cash flow estimated at US$2.3 million, expected from the American public.
Cancellation
Barry Hearn withdrew his boxers, Herbie Hide and Steve Collins, when their purse guarantees were not in place by the deadline of 5.30 pm local time on Saturday. Bob Arum was the event's nominal promoter but refused to come up with the cash to save it. Daly tried to raise the money which, according to Arum, was around US$2m.
When the local bankers whom Daly thought had agreed to salvage the show refused to advance him a further US$771,000 against anticipated revenue from ticket sales and American pay-per-view subscriptions at US$25 each, Daly had no choice. He said that the boxers' purses were Arum's responsibility, which Arum did not agree with.
Daly had spent at least US$800,000 of his own money into it. "My end of the deal was kept," Daly argued. "I had to arrange the stadium, air fares and all the pre-fight promotional expenses, which I did, but the purses were not part of my obligation."
The 2,000-odd fight fans in Hong Kong who bought tickets, some worth a couple of thousand dollars, had yet to receive refunds a year later.
Responses
Frank Bruno said: "I feel very let down by Bob Arum and the promoters. They were supposed to be top professionals, the creme de la creme. I thought they were the business, but to be quite honest they've been unprofessional, totally unprofessional."
"To cancel a promotion just like that without consulting anyone is very serious. A lot of money has been going into this. Top Rank are big promoters and they should have dug deep in their pockets - they've made enough money out of fighters over the years."
"It's tough for all the fighters, and for the people who worked five days a week to afford to come over here and support us. It's disgusting. It's staggering."
Mickey Duff, who plans to sue Arum and
Top Rank
Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including Muh ...
on behalf of Bruno and Billy Schwer said: "What kind of promoters are these? I've been in the business 45 years and I've never cancelled a show just because I was going to lose money. I'd rather cut my throat than do that."
Barry Hearn said, "But to be honest I was very pleased with myself in Hong Kong. I stood my ground. How many others would have?"
Boxing: Hearn rides the blows: As boxing fights to restore its credibility, a 46-year-old former champion steps back in the front line while the man at the centre of the fiasco in Hong Kong is determined to rise again after High Noon: Simon O'Hagan meets the promoter who refuses to be knocked out of his stride
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References
{{reflist, 2
1994 in boxing
Boxing in Hong Kong
1994 in Hong Kong
October 1994 sports events in Asia
Boxing matches
Cancelled sports events