ANTHONY JOSHUA could soon be defending his world heavyweight boxing belt against the Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev. The bout contested between them was due to take place this month in Great Britain but was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
However, Orsat Zovko could save the day. A Croatian from Las Vegas, a part of Pulev's team who has been organizing bouts around the world for years, has now suggested a Roman amphitheater, the Pula Arena in Croatia as the new venue.
Throughout his successful career, Zovko was organizing boxing, kickboxing, and MMA spectacles across the globe. He is the only non-American who organized ten shows in Las Vegas, and 30 in Europe. He held numerous events in Zagreb, such as Zagreb Grand Prix K-1, Glory Tournament, and the UFC events. He was Mirko Filipovic's manager for seven years.
After his suggestion, the possibility of the bout to take place in the historical setting such as the Arena was broadcasted by the global media, from the BBC to the Sky Sports.
Index spoke with Zovko on the telephone about the reality of the Pula Arena being a new venue for Joshua-Pulev bout, as well as many other topics.
How are the negotiations going? Are we going to see Joshua in Pula?
"I don't know yet, but we're in the final phase. It's up to Joshua's team to make the decision. They may accept or refuse the solution Pulev's team has put on the table. Their tactic is understandable; I would probably do the same if I were them. They're stalling as much as they can so that the event could take place in England if the situation starts to normalize soon. That's what they want because England was the first option. The second option was Riyadhin in Saudi Arabia, but that's irrelevant now because coronavirus cases escalated in the last 20 days.
If only the financial reasons are going to be important in the end, we cannot compete financially with them. We've presented the entire organization and planned it down to the last detail. This opportunity comes once in a lifetime. If it all comes down to finances, we cannot compete with others. If the coronavirus situation hadn't escalated, I'm sure that the bout would have been arranged in one of the Arabic countries."
Zovko is friends with Pulev's manager Ivaylo Gotsev who was the first to come with a different idea about changing the venue. If the initial fight doesn't take place in the planned location, the challenger's team has the right to suggest plan B.
"His idea was for the match to take place in the Colosseum in Rome. My answer to that was: Even if your Dad was the mayor of Rome, forget about it." I tried that once in my life, I had an idea, but I gave up right at the start. But then I suggested Pula, which is a better option because we control the production, we have an experienced team that knows its job. In this situation, it's also important that there is practically no coronavirus in Croatia at this moment."
What would that mean for Croatia in terms of promotion? Is it really a big thing as they are talking about, or is it just a marketing trick?
"From the Washington Post, the BBC, to the Sky Sports - all of them broadcasted the news about the possibility of the event taking place in Pula, so we're talking about the most powerful broadcasters in the world. They've all posted very serious and detailed articles about the Pula Arena. They all like the idea, even the English, no one said the idea is rubbish. They all like the idea. We were aiming at promoting the history of the Arena, that gladiator spirit in the match for the world championship title. So the major part of the promotion has already been done. Even if nothing happens in the end, Pula has gained a lot just with this story."
In the last year, Zovko organized ten events in Las Vegas. Is Las Vegas truly the center of the fighting world in every aspect, as it is being talked about?
"Yes. When we talk about entertainment, especially bouts, Las Vegas is the top of the world. Nevada Athletic Commission has the most rigorous criteria. The difference between Nevada and other American states is enormous. It's easier to arrange ten shows in any other country than Nevada. There is a lot of control in every segment; I've been through the same situation. I was trying to get a license for more than a year. You have to get through an interview after all those testings, and then on the final interview, you are being questioned like a jury in a courtroom so they can finally decide whether they will give you the license. It cost me a lot of time and money.
How challenging is it to organize these events?
"If you take a look at the history of our events, we make a spectacle of production. Of course, the fighters and fighting matches are our top priority, and we work very hard for the bouts to be as attractive as possible. But we also want the people who aren't that much into sports, who aren't huge fans, to go home feeling satisfied and to see some of the production elements they've never seen live before. We want good music, the lightning, the effects, everything to be at a global level. It was helpful signing the contract with Ceasar's Palace and that we have our own arena, which we call the Fight Dome. By and large, the organization is not a simple task. If we accomplish everything we want in Pula, we are talking about a production worth a million. It will be made on a level never seen in the Arena before; we are working on that no matter what may happen in the end."
What did the collaboration with Cro Cop look like?
"I was with him from the very beginning, making the Cro Cop name famous throughout the world and creating the Cro Cop image. After a while, I decided to start working on some other projects, and then I returned just before the end of his career. And regarding his career, what can one say? It's highly unlikely that someone like him will be born and accomplish all these things in the next hundred years. I've seen all kinds of characters in my lifetime, in different sports, but he was special. I've never seen that kind of persistence, passion, and willingness for training in my life, and that, of course, brings success."
Stipe Miocic? The announcements about taking back the title and his relationship with the UFC in general?
"The UFC was having an unfair relationship with him from the beginning. The man had eye surgery because Daniel Cormier nearly knocked his eye out. At that moment, Stipe didn't even ask for a time-out. A similar situation happened in their first fight, but it had happened to him before. One of his first UFC fights was in Manchester against Stefan Struve. It was one of the rare defeats in his career because of the following situation: Struve poked him in the eye so strongly that I have no idea how his eye even stayed in the head, I was watching the live match. Fortunately, it didn't happen against Cormier, but no one from the UFC didn't talk about it. If the situation was the other way around and if Stipe injured Cormier's eye, I think that it would have made the front pages. Why? Maybe the management was not right at the start of his career; there were always stories about him not being a very attractive fighter. The man knocked out everyone on the planet, could he be more attractive? He changed the history of the UFC. Despite all of that, they threaten to take away his title, and all of that based on the stories about the lack of attractiveness and trash talk. I wouldn't agree with that; we are talking about one of the greatest fighters in history."