The rumour mill has been in overdrive this week ever since Showtime’s parent company Paramount Global announced that they cease broadcasting boxing.
The move has left promotional outfit Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) searching for a new broadcast deal before Showtime exits the business at the end of the calendar year.
There has been some suggestion that PBC could join rival outfits Matchroom Boxing and Golden Boy Promotions on digital streaming service DAZN.
“I hear it’s a rumour, but that’s all it is,” Golden Boy chairman and CEO Oscar De La Hoya said to K.O. Artist Sports.
“Imagine PBC and [Matchroom Boxing chairman] Eddie Hearn and Golden Boy under the same roof. Obviously, it would make it that much easier to make fights happen, but my only concern is that if you take a look at what Al Haymon has done in the sport.
“He ruined the relationship with NBC. He ruined the relationship with Fox and he spent Showtime’s money. So every network he goes to, he just ruins it because it has to be his way or no way.
“So I don’t know how DAZN will even entertain anything like that. I’m open to it and willing to work with anybody, but I just want to make sure people understand what has been going on with networks and why it’s been happening.
“Somebody just told me, ‘Well, yeah, because everything that Al Haymon touches turns to bronze, not to gold’. So it’s a concern, but if DAZN or whoever wants to facilitate and have everyone under one roof, yeah, it’ll be better for the sport so we can make those fights happen.
“You got to take a look at the economics of it. You got to take a look at those big fights taking place on pay-per-view, solely on pay-per-view. Al Haymon sprinkled Stephen Espinoza with a couple of good fights on Showtime but nothing to nothing to wow the executives, nothing to renew the contracts, and it’s an issue, it’s been a problem, it’s been an issue.
“What happened to NBC, what happened to Fox and what happened to Showtime? Al Haymon happened.
Earlier this week Matchroom’s Hearn was upbeat about PBC potentially joining DAZN.
“For me, I’m always championing the fact that DAZN is the global home of boxing,” Hearn told FightHype. “If they can bring PBC to the platform as well, I’d be over the moon, I’ll be flying and I think it would be a good acquisition.
“But I’m sure they’re talking to Amazon and maybe more as well. That’s the big job for PBC now, to make sure they have a broadcaster because if they don’t get the broadcast deal they need, the business can’t survive. But they have a good brand, so I’m sure they’ll be okay.”
