German pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland has acquired the rights for boxing’s heavyweight fight between David Haye and Dereck Chisora on July 14 in London.
Sky stepped in after ARD said last month that it would not show the fight as the planned contest was not in line with the “image” of the public-service broadcaster.
The British Boxing Board of Control, the sport’s governing body in Britain, has refused to sanction the contest after Chisora and Haye were involved in an out-of-ring brawl in the aftermath of Chisora’s last fight, against WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. The fight is being sanctioned by the Luxembourg Boxing Federation.
“This fight is beyond all of the scandals in the past and the event will create a great deal of curiosity,” Carsten Schmidt, Sky’s chief officer of sports, advertising sales and the internet, said.
It appears unlikely that ARD will show any of the fights on the card at the July 14 event after the WBA heavyweight title fight between champion Alexander Povetkin and Hasim Rahman was pulled from the card for scheduling reasons, according to British boxing promoter Frank Warren. ARD had previously agreed a deal to show the fight.