Krassyuk: "The Olympic Stadium Would Sell Out"

Alexander Krassyuk, promoter and CBDO of Ready To Fight, discussed the potential of hosting a fight featuring WBA, WBO, IBF, and IBO heavyweight (over 90,7 kg) champion Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) at the NSC "Olympic" in Kyiv, Ukraine.

– Usyk recently spoke again about his desire to perform at the 70,000-seat Olympic Stadium in Kyiv. Obviously, now is not the time to discuss such an event. Is it really feasible to hold a mega show at the Olympic with Usyk? Can it be made profitable?

– Well, we did it in Poland. It worked out there.

– Is the purchasing power higher there? Perhaps the ticket prices are higher?

– No. Who mainly bought the tickets there? 85% of the tickets were purchased by Ukrainians. Television rights do not depend on the venue. Sponsor advertising? I would say that we would have collected more money in Ukraine. Tickets? We would definitely have sold more tickets. The Olympic would have 'flown off the shelves'.

– And what was the capacity in Poland?

– 40,000.

– Almost twice as much...

– Yes. And everything else... It could be done without any problems. It's very feasible. When a boxer has a global name, it's very feasible. Because then he doesn't depend only on locals. For Usyk, for example. Globally, the rights to the fight were sold in 80 countries. That's a lot.

Oleksandr Usyk's next fight will be against WBC titleholder Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) on May 18 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The title of undisputed heavyweight champion of the world will be at stake.