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I was joined on the call by Riku to talk about all this weeks boxing including the WBSS finals between Inoue vs Donair and Taylor vs Prograis. We also spoke about Canelos win against Kovalev and Crolla’s testimonial fight. We also touched on the WBC’s poor 2019.
I was joined the line by Nathan Dowie and Riku to speak about all this weeks big boxing news including Jamel Herring picks up a World Title, Hughie Fury and will he ever fulfil his early potential . We also spoke about AJ/Ruiz as well as all the rest of the goings on in the Heavyweight Division.
I was joined by Craig Smith as we got stuck into some of this weeks biggest boxing news including the aftermath of Spence/Garcia , Farmer/Carroll GGG to DAZN and Broner latest antics.
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
Here in Britain we really don’t appreciate how simple our lives are when it comes to boxing . Yes we may moan about having to pick up Boxnation and BT Sport on top of our Sky Sports Subscription ( Unless you click on the Satplex picture below which you can thank me for later ) all just to watch boxing . Here in the UK we accept boxing is not one of our main sports but we see it as a stimulant . Our Boxing platforms don’t wrap up boxing in a bow and serve to to us , boxing is there to excel the Liverpool vs Man Utd game that may have took place earlier on in the day , or to keep you tuned In after the Celtic vs Rangers game has finished and do you know what it’s worked , it has came off for guys like Eddie Hearn who have brought boxing to the masses and tapped into that football ( soccer ) mad culture that engulfs all of these small isles .
With the formula of success in his hands who could blame Eddie Hearn for heading to the biggest sports market in the world shouting ” I am here to take over ” . Many people fall into this belief that there is a “western culture” due to there being a McDonnald’s in New York as well as London , due to there being a Taco Bell in Glasgow as well as in LA . The Atlantic Ocean is often overlooked as a pond that separates the UK and the US but it isn’t , it is a massive wild ocean which separates two very different cultures of people and businesses . Eddie Hearn is finding out the hard way that the wars of American Independence of 1775 have made him an outsider , in fact he is now a red coat looking to repatriate the US shouting ” I am here to take over ” . 
Hearn has announced he has teamed up with DAZN in an attempt to take over the US , an online streaming platform with Hearn claiming its a deal worth $1B . Now i have been very sceptical about this deal since Eddie announced it , especially since Eddie announced that AJ was not part of the deal , which seems weird as AJ seems to appears on most of there online posters . 
Now a major part of modern American culture is Cinema . With Mafia movies being classed as Cinematography masterpieces . Movies such as the Godfather Trilogy , Goodfellas and Casino being all described as classics in there own right . These movies are powerful due to the fact they show what the modern America was really built on . Instead of being fictional stories they are seen more like documentaries of how some came to the US and ” Took ” the American Dream . Hearn is finding out that there is a MOB mentality ingrained in the US boxing market , with the five families being Top Rank , PBC , Golden boy , DiBella and Tom Loeffler (K2) and like the mafia these people don’t need nor want any outside interference .
As Eddie Hearn has flashed his $1B he has found door after door slammed shut on his face . Hearn didn’t factor into his plans that he is an outsider in a country that is becoming increasingly more insular . With US super powers such as Top Rank already having deals with ESPN , Golden Boy with ESPN + Facebook and PBC now officially teaming up with Showtime there is no need for DAZN . Time and time again we have seen guys like Mikey Garcia, Errol Spence, both Charlo Twins and Adrian Broner say ” Thank’s but no thanks ” .Hearn is finding himself more like Oliver Twist begging for the the scraps from the table rather than the a man who’s landed in the states looking to claim boxing back in the name of King George the III . 
Eddie Hearn is a shroud business man who has took boxing and the live boxing show’s experience to a new level here in the UK . There is a whole new generation of boxing fans here in the UK that believe that Hearn invented sport and that the UK is now Mecca in boxing terms . To these people i say the sport needs you but take yourself back away from the pin hole you look through , Mecca is still a bingo hall in the UK , the home of boxing is and always will be in the US . Eddie Hearn is learning the hard way that a big fish outside the bowl will die , whilst the the big fish inside the bowl will fight over scraps .
Steven Donnell
djayboxing 