Canelo Alvarez Signs 11-Fight, $365 Million Deal To Fight On DAZN
When Canelo Alvarez‘s HBO contract ended after his September 15 victory over Gennady Golovkin, he became the biggest free agent in boxing, but has now signed the richest contract in sports.
Alvarez, the current WBA “super” and WBC middleweight champion, has signed a five-year, 11-fight deal worth at least $365 million with the DAZN streaming service. With Alvarez coming on board to DAZN, the streaming service now has its top star which will allow it to compete with the likes of ESPN and its relationship with Top Rank Boxing as well as FOX and Showtime, who signed long-term deals with Premier Boxing Champions. DAZN, through its current relationship with Matchroom Boxing, also has unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua fighting on the platform in the United States.
The deal will allow DAZN to not only be the U.S. distributor of Alvarez’s next fight on December 15 against Rocky Fielding, but it will also give Golden Boy Promotions a place to have multiple boxing cards for the rest of its boxing roster.
The deal comes as a result of HBO no longer doing regular boxing programming starting in 2019, which meant Golden Boy Promotions was left without a stable boxing home as it is also rumored that the company’s existing deal with ESPN is set to expire.
The Yahoo Sports report also stated that it is believed that Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya reached the deal with John Skipper. Skipper is the executive chairman of Perform Group, the global sports media company that owns DAZN and was hired for the position earlier this year.
Alvarez’s fight against Fielding will take place at Madison Square Garden and will be for Fielding’s WBA “regular” super middleweight title. Alvarez recently fought on HBO on September 15 when he defeated Gennady Golovkin by majority decision to capture the unified WBA “super” and WBC middleweight titles.
