Tag Archives: deal

Posted on 10/17/2018

Canelo Alvarez (50-1-2, 34 KOs) – the undisputed king of pay-per-view boxing – will usher in a new era in the sport by signing an 11-fight deal with global sports streaming leader DAZN. The journey begins Saturday, Dec. 15 when Canelo makes his first appearance at the historic Madison Square Garden challenging Rocky Fielding (27-1, 15 KOs) for his WBA Super Middleweight World Title. This groundbreaking deal with Canelo will be the richest athlete contract in sports history.

As part of the partnership, Golden Boy Promotions will put on up to 10 high-caliber fight nights per year that will stream live on DAZN beginning in early 2019.

The historic deal marks a major change in the boxing landscape, where its biggest stars traditionally fought on pay-per-view. Now, sports fans can view Canelo’s fights and the deep Golden Boy Promotions stable for a low monthly subscription cost. These fights will be available in all DAZN markets, including the United States, Canada, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan.

“I’ve always liked a challenge, and this is yet another challenger in my career,” said Canelo Alvarez. “Being part of this historic deal will require me to prepare myself even more and offer fans even better performances. At the same time, I am humbled to be selected to lead this new vision for the sport of boxing, which will without a doubt be for the benefit of the fans.”

“This is easily one of the best days in the growing history of Golden Boy Promotions,” said Oscar De La Hoya, Golden Boy Promotions Chairman and CEO. “We are committed to making this sport as accessible as possible and at an affordable price for all the fans. My dream has been to make boxing a sport for all. DAZN has the perfect platform to make this dream come true, and with the biggest star in the sport at the helm of this journey, I have no doubts that we will succeed in unimaginable ways.”

“We are thrilled to be exclusive partners with Golden Boy Promotions and Oscar De La Hoya,” said John Skipper, DAZN Group Executive Chairman. “By bringing Canelo’s fights to DAZN, we will turn his pay-per-view success into a growth engine for subscribers – a truly transformational moment for our business and the entire industry.

Alvarez is coming off the biggest win of his career in September, a thrilling majority decision victory against Gennady “GGG” Golovkin to become the WBC, WBA, Lineal and Ring Magazine Middleweight champion. His 50-win career also boasts victories over Miguel Cotto, Amir Khan, Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara, Austin Trout, “Sugar” Shane Mosley, among many others. Now Alvarez will seek to join a small and illustrious list of three-division world champions from Mexico as he steps up to 168 pounds to challenge Fielding.

DAZN burst on to the scene just over two years ago, debuting in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan. Its early success across Europe and Asia was followed by launches in Canada (2017), Italy (2018) and the United States (2018), where DAZN announced blockbuster deals with Matchroom Boxing and Bellator MMA to deliver a stacked slate of fight sports content upon entry into the market.

The DAZN-Golden Boy deal includes a large production element, which places Oscar De La Hoya as Executive Producer of the 12 live fight nights annually. The live productions will be a collaboration between DAZN and Golden Boy Media and Entertainment, De La Hoya’s in-house production arm, and will push the boundaries of traditional boxing shows by incorporating new features with virtual graphics and social media interaction.

Oscar De La Hoya’s 7,000-hour library of fights spanning his career as a boxer and a promoter are included in the partnership and these classic bouts will be available on DAZN. Additionally, Golden Boy Media and Entertainment will produce volumes of shoulder programs for the DAZN platform, including live studio shows such as “Between the Ropes” and its award winning “Mano a Mano.” De La Hoya has had a vision for the sport of boxing, and part and parcel to that vision are new approaches to telling the stories of the fighters for a global audience through live, scripted and social media programming. The new partnership between DAZN and Golden Boy allow this vision to flourish and to create narratives that appeal across demographic categories worldwide.

About DAZN:
Globally, DAZN is a live and on-demand sports streaming service created by fans, for fans, that is leading the charge to provide access to sports anytime, anywhere. DAZN guarantees no long-term contract, no bundles, just one affordable price for access to all the service’s sports on connected devices including Smart TVs, smartphones, tablets, games consoles and PCs. DAZN is currently available in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Japan, Canada, Italy and now the U.S. at just $9.99 per month after a one-month free trial – where it is set to become a must-have service for fight fans, with 100+ fight nights already lined up from Matchroom Boxing, Bellator MMA, the World Boxing Super Series, Combate Americas and the newly announced Golden Boy Promotions.

About Golden Boy Promotions:
Los Angeles-based Golden Boy Promotions was established in 2002 by Oscar De La Hoya, the first Hispanic to own a national boxing promotional company. Golden Boy Promotions is one of boxing’s most active and respected promoters, presenting shows in packed venues around the United States on networks such as HBO, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, EstrellaTV and the newly announced partnership with DAZN.

Posted on 01/23/2018

By: Ken Hissner

Former 2-division world champion & Olympic Gold Medalist Evander “Real Deal” Holyfield is bringing his REAL DEAL Showcase Series 1 to the SugarHouse Casino Events Center on Friday January 26th! First bout 7pm.

The weigh-in is scheduled for 5pm on Thursday January 25th. This is also at the SugarHouse Casino 1001 N. Delaware Avenue, Philadelphia. There are 10 bouts scheduled. Matchmakers Eric Bentley and Kevin O’Sullivan.

Philadelphia’s young lightweight prospect Steven Ortiz, 7-0 (2) will be making his main event debut against D.C.’s Joshua Davis, 11-2 (5), scheduled for 8 rounds.

Philadelphia’s most outstanding prospect Welterweight Jaron “Boots” Ennis, 17-0 (15), meets Mexico’s Gustavo “Vitaminas” Garlbay, 13-9-2 (5), Distrito Federal, MEX, over 6 rounds. Female Middleweight Kali “KO Mequinonoag” Reis, 13-6-1 (4), in a rematch with southpaw Sydney “Ginger the Ninja”, 4-5-1 (0), of Gretna, LA, over 6 rounds.

Super Middleweight Edgar Berlanga, 6-0 (6), of New York City, takes on Osbaldo Camacho Gonzales, 6-1 (4), of Tulsa, OK, over 6 rounds. Cruiserweight Lyubomyr Pinchuk, 4-0 (3), of Pittsburgh, PA, takes on Kennedy Katndem, 2-0 (1), of Uganda and NYC, over 6 rounds.

Super Middleweight Brandon Robinson, 8-1 (6), of Upper Darby, PA, takes on Juan Celin Zapata, 5-11-2 (3), of Honduras and The Bronx, NY, over 6 rounds.

Welterweight Janelson Bocachica, 8-0 (5), of Detroit and Super Featerweight Joshafat Ortiz, 2-0 (1), of PR-Reading, PA, will be in separate 6 round bouts.

Philadelphia’s Marcel Rivers, 3-0 (2), takes on Rafael De Jesus, 0-1 (0), of PR-Allentown, PA, over 4 rounds.

Philadelphia’s Poindexter Knight, 1-0 (0), takes on Jordan Morales, 2-3 (2), of PA.

Posted on 08/28/2017

By: Sean Crose

Perhaps lost in all the mania surrounding the Floyd-Conor weekend was the huge news that ESPN has announced a major deal with Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions. Arum, one of boxing’s most prominent promoters (perhaps the single most prominent one) is now letting his stable of boxers fight exclusively in the domain of ESPN (which is part of the Disney universe).

According to Variety, ESPN “will have the exclusive ability to televise and stream live Top Rank fights in the U.S., as well as deliver pay-per-view events with the promoter’s matches.” Long story short, the network, which has been having troubles of its own recently, is getting into the rejuvenating sport of boxing in a significant way.

ESPN had already indicated its newfound interest in the sweet science this summer by showing Manny Pacquiao’s stunning – and controversial – loss to Jeff Horn to huge ratings. It then showcased rising stars Vasyl Lomachenko and Terence Crawford respectively. Now, according to the network’s boxing writer, Dan Rafael, “high-level cards are on the way, with 18 on tap for the first year of the deal.” This is nothing but good news for fight fans, as the home of Arum’s fighters until very recently was pay-cable outlet HBO.

The Arum-HBO relationship cooled, however, and now names like Pacquiao, Lomachenko, Crawford and others will be found on basic cable– at least more than they ever have been. Pay Per View cards will still be a part of life for fans, only now Top Rank pay per view cards will be brought to the public via ESPN. The deal is set to last four years. If the marriage of the two entities proves successful, however, it can be expected to last longer.

All of this is – of course – a considerable development for followers of the sweet science. Top names on basic television are never a bad thing. Yet fans will be disappointed if Arum goes the road boxing guru Al Haymon did when he had his name fighters appear in top fights on basic television sporadically, at best. Top fighters, at least the top fighters in Arum’s stable, will need to be matched strongly with at least some regularity in order for the ESPN partnership to prove successful. If the deal works out, however, boxing will effectively take a huge step back into the mainstream of American sports, a place it hasn’t been in a long time, save for the occasional superbout.