It wasn?t hard for DAZN to green light $365 million for Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez and it sure as hell was not hard for Alvarez to take that money. The hard part, though, seems to be in determining who actually calls the shots in the relationship between the streaming service and the Mexican superstar.
Earlier in the week, media reports indicated that DAZN bossmen were insisting on Gennady Golovkin as Canelo?s September 14 opponent and would only move away from that demand if a bout with light heavyweight titlist Sergey Kovalev could be signed in its place.
Canelo, meanwhile, was holding firm on an insistence that Golovkin was not in his immediate plans by issuing offers, through his promoter Golden Boy, to Kovalev and junior middleweight titlist Jaime Munguia.
DAZN signing Golovkin to a reported nine-figure multi-fight deal this past March may have guaranteed a Canelo-Golovkin part three in their eyes, but Canelo clearly doesn?t feel any obligation to justify the company?s expenditure by embracing a second rematch with the Kazakh former world champ.
In recent days, it?s been revealed that Team Canelo has made offers to Kovalev and Munguia while initiating talks with WBO middleweight champ Demetrius Andrade?s people. Rumors are also circulating about a title bout against super middleweight champ Callum Smith. Meanwhile, efforts to put together anything with Golovkin are nonexistent.
Alvarez?s animosity towards Golovkin is no secret and the two prior bouts signed with ?Triple G? seemed more about saving face after extreme criticism than an acknowledgement that, legacy-wise, they were important to the red-headed native of Guadalajara, Jalisco.
No matter how much money was on the table or how much was invested in making Canelo-Golovkin DAZN?s marquee blockbuster and the key subscription-driver to sustain their business model, actually putting things together was never going to be easy. Insiders say that Alvarez doesn?t want to fight Golovkin again, doesn?t feel he has to, and would like nothing more than to keep this third major payday out of the hands of the man who painted him as a coward for years before they fought and then flat-out declared him to be a drug cheat and protected paper champion afterwards.
Making things even more difficult is Golovkin?s own flexing of star-level muscle, brought on by the huge money spent on him and the accompanying red carpet treatment from the company. The former three-belt champ is reportedly balking at Las Vegas as host of a third Canelo bout, pointing at his draw and loss to the Mexican and declaring that he can?t get a fair decision in what has become Alvarez?s preferred fight city.
Details of the deal between DAZN and Canelo were not released to the public, so it?s not known how much ultimate power the fighter has in selecting his own opposition. But anyone worth $365 million to a company is probably someone that company strives to appease or, at the very least, not piss off.
Canelo seems intent on not fighting Golovkin again, even if it craps on his broadcast partner?s half-a-billion dollar investment in Canelo-Golovkin. To be fair, it?s not his duty to make good on DAZN?s investment and Golovkin was not even in the picture when he signed his deal. You also can?t blame him for being reluctant to piggyback Golovkin to another high-profile fight after Golovkin, Team Golovkin, and the passionately obnoxious Golovkinites in boxing fandom worked so hard to ruin his name and legacy.
It seems possible that DAZN could and eventually might put its foot down and demand Canelo-Golovkin 3, but there?s still plenty a disenfranchised Alvarez could do to live up to the terms of his fat contract while still sticking a thumb into the eye of company big shots.
Canelo?s knee injury, which appears to come and go based on negotiating news of the day, would be the perfect way for him to stick it to the man while looking like he?s not aiming to stick it to the man.
An Alvarez injury would leave the Mexican Independence Day date for Golovkin to fill in a sure-to-fail slapped-together event. Already, there are reports of DAZN exploring a Gennady Golovkin-Jaime Munguia September 14 bout if Alvarez can?t fight due to injury. And, while the fight would be interesting and produce fireworks, it won?t sell many subscriptions like a Canelo fight on that date would.
The injury, whether real or not, would force Golovkin and DAZN to go at least one more date without having the fight they want, setting the 37-year-old Golovkin up for the possibility of a loss and/or another half-year of aging and the streaming service with at least another six months of their only proven subscription-driver being off the schedule.
How this all plays out will offer an interesting look into the power dynamic over at DAZN and to what extent their star possession actually possesses them.
