Meanwhile, Steve Kim talked to Bob Arum and it's said that the fight is looking forward this December 26 in Japan once again. So it seems like American money is once again beaten by the Japanese sponsors in trying to bring this undisputed fight to Inoue's home. But at least things are clearer now that this fight will happen. But it's not too late yet for ESPN and its partners to bid more money in order to bring this fight to America.
This venue's a bit of a snoozer, right? Hehe, sorry for being blunt. I think this whole thing should go down on neutral ground. I mean, we're talking about two champions here, it's an undisputed fight, so there shouldn't be any home court advantage. Bringing it over to the US would be a win for boxing – big money's up for grabs there. Not only will the arena be packed, but their PPV subscriptions would shoot through the roof. Let's hope they see the potential in that.
Personally, I also love this fight to happen in the US so that it's a neutral ground for both especially since both are holding 2 belts each. But I won't really be surprised if they announce this fight to happen in Japan again. Japan is the 3rd biggest economy in the world so it can absolutely outbid those American promoters and networks.
If this fight indeed happens in Japan then it only means that the money being offered to stage the fight in America is smaller compared to the Japanese sponsors. The audience and ticket sales can be easily beaten by Japan since it also has a huge population and most of its citizens are rich. If this event is a PPV then the Americans need to pay the subscription to watch this undisputed fight.
What is odd though if this happens in Japan is the scheduled date. Big fights in Japan happen on Tuesdays (Wednesday in the West) while in the US and in Western countries, big events happen on Saturdays. So the PPV buys will absolutely drop since it is a normal working day in the West. But it also means that Japanese sponsors are bidding a huge amount of money that will beat the projected number of PPV buys.