Brook vs. Khan: Why Wembley Stadium Should Never Host Another Boxing Event
“Eddie Hearn built it and they came in droves. More of the same, please.” These are the words of BBC boxing journalist Ben Dirs in the aftermath of Carl Froch’s eighth-round knockout of George Groves at Wembley in May.
Dirs most-likely penned those words from his privileged seat in the press area on the Wembley pitch, failing to acknowledge the considerably inferior sight endured by the paying members of the general public behind him.
"— Ben Dirs (@bendirs1) May 31, 2014"
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Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has since hinted at another possible British megafight, this time between welterweights Kell Brook and Amir Khan, at the same stadium next year. In fact, he can barely contain his excitement at the notion of another enormous pay-day.
He took to Twitter on Monday to reveal more positive talks have been held with Wembley officials over “another big show” on the back of the financial success of Froch-Groves II earlier this year.
"Great meeting with @wembleystadium working towards another big show in 2015 #80k
— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) September 22, 2014"
With over 80,000 in attendance that night, it was the largest UK boxing crowd since the Second World War, and there’s no doubt demand is high enough for the stadium to be filled for another world title fight. On one glove, this is great for the sport of boxing, but on the other, it’s a considerable turn-off.
Who knows what possessed fight fans to turn out in such huge numbers before 1939, because without the aid of giant screens in 2014, every punch thrown (aside from Froch’s knockout blow) on May 31 appeared speculative to the naked eye.
Maybe not for those at ringside, but certainly for those in the stands who weren’t able to afford or obtain a ticket directly in line with the ring. In any case, most of these were reserved for familiar names and faces in the sports media industry, such as Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft.
"My view for the next few hours. Atmosphere bubbling up nicely here in the stadium #frochgroves2 excited beyond belief pic.twitter.com/DPYbpYhpkT
— David Croft (@CroftyF1) May 31, 2014"
Newly crowned IBF welterweight champion Brook has been sounding out Khan for a number of years, and now that he brings a title to the table, Virgil Hunter’s fighter is finally thought to be interested. It’s a huge fight and one thing Hearn is genuinely good for is making the most sought-after bouts happen.
If this one doesn't come off, for whatever reason, Hearn is likely to continue his Wembley obsession with one of his other fighters. But Froch has ruled out a third bout with Groves and hopes his next defence will be stateside, while the highly anticipated unification fight between super-bantamweights Scott Quigg (WBA) and Carl Frampton (IBF) is likely to take place in a much smaller venue in either Manchester or Belfast.
Alas, it barely even matters what the main event will be. You’ve heard the phrase “styles make fights”, but so too can venues, and Wembley Stadium plus boxing simply doesn't add up. Even 18-stone Anthony Joshua’s enormous right-hand uppercut, which wiped out Matt Legg in the opening round of the night, was hard to spot in broad daylight on the Froch-Groves II undercard.
And it wasn’t just the poor view from the stands that spoiled the customers’ experience—anti-social behaviour was widespread inside and out of the ground. There are 34 bars inside the stadium alone. With the doors officially having opened at 5:30 p.m., and the headline show scheduled for after 10 p.m., this was always going to be a recipe for disaster.
But that was only a side issue; the real problem was the distance between the ring and the stands. To put things into perspective, here’s a few facts taken from the official Wembley Stadium website, confirming the magnitude of the second largest stadium in Europe.
- The stadium has a circumference of 1 km
- The rows of seating, if placed end to end, would stretch 54 kilometres
- It encloses 4,000,000 m³ inside its walls and under its roof. This is the equivalent of 25,000 double-decker buses or seven billion pints of milk
- There are 2,618 toilets, 47 retail units, 164 turnstiles, 26 lifts and 30 escalators
On top of this, the pitch size is 105 by 68 metres. Now, the official dimensions of the ring on the night of Froch-Groves II were not disclosed but much was made of how small it appeared, and how that favoured "The Cobra's" style.
According to International Boxing Association rules, it can’t have been smaller than 4.9 by 4.9 meters. By those measurements, there would have been room for 273 rings on the field that night.
Ahead of his successful title shot at Shawn Porter last month, Brook weighed in at 146½ pounds. Do the above stats suggest this venue is suited to watching two 10-and-a-half stone men trade blows?
All reasonable logic suggests not. Wembley is perfect for FA Cup finals, the odd NFL fixture and perhaps a Bruce Springsteen concert or two. But Boxing? In the words of the great Roberto Duran, “No Mas.”
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