Sugar Ray Leonard date is cancelled

7:20am Thursday 20th November 2008

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Organisers have been forced to cancel a gala evening of boxing featuring the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard because of ‘dismal’ ticket sales.

The event, which was due to be held at the Weston Homes Community Stadium on Saturday, would have allowed boxing fans to meet Leonard and hear him talk about his amazing career, which included him being the first man to be world champion at five weights.

It was set to conclude with a screening of the Ricky Hatton and Paulie Malignaggi fight in Las Vegas, but promoter Jimmy Clyne has been forced to cancel it through a disappointing take-up of places.

“Ticket sales have been dismal, we haven’t even sold half of them,” he said.

“There were 300 places and we would have had to make 200 to just break even.

“I can’t understand it, as even though the current financial climate isn’t great, it is coming off two big fights with Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton and who is a bigger name than Sugar Ray Leonard?”

Clyne said he had lost at least £10,000 of his own money through the venture, but was looking at the possibility of arranging another boxing night early next year with other big-name fighters potentially being lined up.

Clyne added: “I’ve been offered Ricky Hatton in February and Roberto Duran in March and there is a bit more time to promote it, but I felt I was banging my head on a brick wall with this one.

“People were just not interested for someone of this stature so I’m not sure whether anything will go ahead or not yet.”