Don King, to the shock of nobody, defaulted on his purse bid of $1.5 million to gain the rights to the third fight between cruiserweight champion Marco Huck and the interim titleholder Ola Afolabi.
King, who promotes neither fighter, had planned to have the bout take place on May 11 in Germany. However, he was unable to secure a venue, as well as get a television deal, which were needed to cover the costs of the bid. Both sides were waiting for King to finalize a deal, but neither were holding out hope that he would be able to do so.
“We always said that [King’s] bid was a bit over the top,” said Chris Meyer, the managing director of Sauerland Event, which promotes Huck. “It was a fantasy bid, wishful thinking. Now that everybody else has come to the same realization, we can start the planning process.”
This isn’t the first time in recent memory that Don King has defaulted on a winning purse bid. Last year, he bid $1.1 million for the title eliminator between Cristobal Arreola and Bermane Stiverne. Although he actually promoted the fighters, he defaulted there as well. The rights instead went to the second place bidder who was able to get the contest on HBO.
In this case, the rights fall to the second place bidder, Sauerland Event, which offered $914,444 at the time of the purse bid in February. The fight only went to a purse bid after Sauerland Event and K2 Promotions, the promoter for Afolabi, could not come to an agreement.
“At the end [King’s bid] was a waste of everyone’s time and nerves. The fighters lost important time off their respective careers and each at least one bout’s purse,” Meyer said.
With Sauerland’s bid, Huck will enjoy a 80-20 split of the money.
Sauerland should not have the same difficulty as King when it comes to securing a fight date and venue. They have an exclusive deal with the German national network ARD, and are the largest promoter in the country.
“We should not expect any time delays here,” Meyer said.
Meyer added that he would sit down in the coming days with the K2 promoter to talk about a date and venue.
King, after defaulting on his bid, will lose his deposit ($150,000). That money is to be divided up between the fighters and the WBO, whose title will be at stake.
An early target date for the fight is believed to be June 8 in Germany.
Huck (35-2-1, 25 KOs) outpointed England native Afolabi (19-2-4, 9 KOs) when they met in 2009, and also managed a draw in their 2012 rematch. Because that fight was ruled a draw, the WBO ordered this rematch.
