Home Boxing News What does Canelo’s deal with DAZN mean for the sport of boxing?...

What does Canelo’s deal with DAZN mean for the sport of boxing? [$365 million over 11 fights]

Canelo Alvarez
Saul Alvarez, seen here, explaining why he failed his tests for Clenbuterol to the media.

The sport of boxing was put into a whirlwind on Tuesday afternoon, when it was revealed that the biggest cash cow we have, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, has signed an exclusive agreement with the DAZN streaming platform.

Last month, in Las Vegas, Canelo defeated former middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin over 12 rounds in what will go down as his last fight with the HBO network. DAZN, of course, has made a huge splash in recent months, largely due in part to promoter Eddie Hearn announcing a $1 billion deal with them over the course of eight years.

But the Canelo deal was reportedly separate, as Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya and his team worked out a reported deal on their own. What this move does is bring not only Canelo to DAZN, but as well as the rest of the Golden Boy Promotions roster. Golden Boy reportedly will have 10 fight cards a year, in addition to Canelo, on the streaming giant.

Alvarez was in New York yesterday to promote his upcoming fight with Rocky Fielding. Alvarez will attempt to wrestle the WBA super middleweight title away from Fielding on Dec. 15 inside of Madison Square Garden. This will be Canelo’s first official fight with DAZN and he is expected to fight twice a year after that.

If Alvarez follows through with the contract, he will have netted 61 fights by the age of 33, with his only loss coming in 2013 to Floyd Mayweather.

This deal definitely means a lot, especially concerning a third fight with his rival Golovkin. Alvarez and GOlovkin fought to a controversial draw last year in Las Vegas, in a fight many felt Golovkin won, only for Canelo to turn the tables and win a majority decision in their rematch. Each fight was highly competitive and people would love to see it again.

“If the people want a third fight with pleasure I would give him a third fight,” Alvarez told Sky Sports about facing “GGG” again.

“I mean I’m here to give people what they want. I’m here to give them good fights and if that is the fight that people want I’ll give it to them,” said CAnelo.

Golovkin too is now a promotional free agent following his second fight with Alvarez.

The landscape of the sport has definitely been changing in recent years. HBO recently announced that they are exiting the boxing business after 45 plus years covering the biggest events the game has seen.

And Top Rank has an exclusive deal with ESPN, to televise fights on their network, as well as the streaming app ESPN + over the next seven years.

Canelo moving over to DAZN definitely shakes the sport up and he joins a wave of fighters who are now aligned with the streaming service. The other notable name is that of IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, who is promoted by Matchroom’s Hearn, and fought former champion Alexander Povetkin on the kickoff of the service last month, winning by 7th round TKO.

This means we very well could be seeing Matchroom fighters competing with Golden Boy fighters, as well as other stars likely soon to be making their way to the streaming service.

Canelo’s deal has changed the game and we will see the ripple effects in the next few months.