There are not a lot of constants in boxing, it is a sport where things inside and outside the ring are constantly evolving but the one thing the sport will always retain is its power to shock. Today we woke up to the news that boxing’s biggest superstar had signed a five year deal with newly launched (in the US) streaming app DAZN, a deal worth $365m. DAZN may be the new boys in the US market but they are cash rich and look to be throwing everything at cracking the market to becoming one of the world’s biggest online sport’s platforms.
For years Canelo Alvarez has been the face of HBO boxing, the pinnacle of boxing in terms of super fights. A platform steeped in boxing history. A few weeks ago HBO announced it was pulling out of boxing leaving the superstar without a home. Although DAZN are cash rich this deal came as a shock to most as DAZN already have a $1B eight year deal in place with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom and Golden Boy promotions who look after Canelo Alvarez have stated publicly “We are not interested in Co-Promoting Canelo”. As more details have emerged about this deal it has became clear that this deal is between Golden Boy and DAZN, separate from the Matchroom USA deal. This looks like a moment of genius from John Skipper, the Executive Chairman of Performance Group, the owners of DAZN. Skipper looks to have rekindled and relationship with Oscar De La Hoya after both knew each other from their time working together for ESPN, not just bringing in Canelo but also securing a home for Golden Boy and their stable.
So what does this mean for Eddie Hearn and Matchroom USA ?
Well as it stand it is impossible for us to tell for sure. It was reported that on DAZN Apps launch night which featured AJ vs Povetkin fight, that subscription numbers were particularly poor, in the low tens of thousands if some reports are to be believed . This could mean one of two things for Hearn in my opinion. When DAZN announced their $1B deal with Eddie Hearn it was clear from early on that Eddie had targets to hit. Any fighters signed to the new deal was only offered a short term bumper deals, which most declined and any decent names were co-promotion deals. With HBO pulling the plug on boxing this could be a sign that DAZN may have decided to go another way, i mean its not everyday that the biggest star in boxing becomes a free agent. I’m not saying DAZN will ditch Matchroom USA completely, i am saying that DAZN are looking to build a platform on the back of Canelo and not Matchroom, maybe in the next quarter Matchroom USA will find their budget for putting on shows dramatically cut as DAZN have already secured the rights to stream Anthony Joshua fights from the UK along with Canelo’s fights, It doesn’t get much bigger than that.
We could also look at this another way. Eddie Hearn has worked with performance group now for over five years, together they have signed some massive deals outside of the US market so we know that there is a good working relationship between both parties. This may well be DAZN telling Eddie Hearn that they know they had given him a near impossible task to crack the US and this is their way of pushing things along. There can be no doubt that this deal puts matchroom USA in a significantly stronger position as subscribers will buy into DAZN in massive numbers to see Canelo, but these people will still be viewing the platforms other shows putting Hearn in a great position to build his own star.
One thing is for sure, this deal isn’t bad for boxing. The way in which boxing is evolving on the business side of things i think it actually makes sense for a platform NOT to be exclusive to one promoter. Any sort of negotiations between Matchroom and Golden Boy just became a hell of a lot easier.
Steven Donnell
What you may not know is that the movie title “Concussion” is misleading , you do NOT need to suffer a concussive blow for CTE to set in . A study done by Boston University say’s that any prolonged exposure to blows to the head is more Likely to be the cause . It is said that symptoms start to show in people between there late 20’s and 30’s . There is no cure , there is no treatment , study’s also say that further more head trauma can accelerate Alzheimer’s which is another symptom . Amir Khan has given boxing fans some great nights but now his career is past him . Khan is a man with a young family , he has made million’s of pounds in the ring , if there is any chance his later life is going to be permanently impaired and ended prematurely then it is imoral to keep letting him get back in the ring .
The first half of the fight we really seen Canelo look comfortable and relaxed doing some great bodywork , whilst GGG smartly stayed behind that fantastic jab until he could adjust to Canelo, who had clearly caught the champion off guard . Although Canelo looked to be doing the better work it really was getting harder to score as the fight went on . As each round passed by GGG looked to be breathing very heavily due to a combination of great bodywork from Canelo and the high pace of the fight .
I have to admit I thought the fight was beginning to get away from GGG at the end of the seventh but then just before the eighth round GGG’s corner told him he was losing this fight . In the eighth a switch seemed to flick in GGG prompting him to go meet Canelo in the middle of the ring and what came next was like watching physical and violent poetry . GGG was definitely having more success fighting this way and clearly picking up a few rounds , the full time starting to feel pity for the judge’s , and It wasn’t going to get any easier for them . As GGG would dominate the first half of around Canelo would finish stronger and vise versa , rounds would swing back and forward . As the fight came to an end one thing was for sure , this was close , really close .
Now like all dopers Canelo denied any wrong doing blaming the failed test on the notorious contaminated Mexican beef. Now I never bought into this excuse no mater how many times the WBC tried to force it down our throats. Now seeing Canelo coming into this fight with GGG he is noticeably smaller, now I never knew what Clenbuterol done to the human body until i seen Canelo in a picture recently and that for me has removed any doubt that he cheated. As a fan of his boxing style and ability it really has left a sour taste in my mouth. On Saturday night if GGG wins then boxing wins, but what about if Canelo wins ? Will he get the credit for being the first man to beat GGG ?, I seriously doubt it, will it clear his name and legacy ? Nope , will he be remembered for it ? I don’t think so …….which got me thinking .
One of my favourite fighters of all time is Evander Holyfield, for me he is a modern day legend of the sport. Holyfield was involved in some of the best fights to take place in my lifetime and to this day I still go back and watch them, we even have one on our Casuals Corner. What boxing fans like to do is overlook the fact that “The Real Deal” is a drug cheat. When people talk about the Klitschko’s it is often met with “yeah Vitali was the better brother” and people will point to how Vitali was schooling Lennox Lewis until the fight was stopped prematurely due to a cut, another modern day great, another drug cheat. If you didn’t know Roy Jones Jnr was a drugs cheat you would never hear a boxing fan tell you instead they would go on about how he is one of the best fighters ever to grace the squared circle.
djayboxing 