We see the ?Diva? word tossed around quite a bit in boxing. This past week, in reference to Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez and Andy Ruiz Jr., it was bounced around on the online Universo Puglistico like a super ball.
In boxing, a fighter is typically called a diva when he somehow bucks the system, strives for more career self-determination, and/or demands a larger cut of the loot. Anything that fucks with the system and the old school order of things is ?diva-ish.?
Canelo Alvarez, for example, is a ?diva? for not wanting to fight Gennady Golovkin a third time and for lashing out at promoter Golden Boy for the things done in his name, apparently without full consent or knowledge.
The angry lament from many fans and members of the media is that streaming service DAZN signed him to a very lucrative deal, they should call the shots. Okay. But, at this point, Canelo pretty much IS DAZN, at least in terms of what?s been driving subscriptions. At this level, he?s not an employee, he?s a partner.
Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum, who?s a semi-interested observer in the Canelo-DAZN tug-of-war, recently offered up his no-horses-in-the-race take on things
?He?s the only friggin? guy that DAZN has that can move the needle even this much as far as subscriptions?Let him fight who he chooses to fight.?
What would be the worst that could happen if Canelo called his own shots and was allowed to build his Canelo-DAZN base just as he built his own star? As a fighter who pretty much created his empire through his own marketing decisions since he was 17, he knows a thing or two about what sells. You?re fooling yourself if you think Golden Boy did anything more than tag along for the ride and, at best, provide some logistics help when it comes to building Saul into Canelo. And it remains to be seen whether DAZN knows anything about anything when it comes to building something in boxing.
As for Canelo?s matchmaking decisions if allowed to be a fully free man? Well, it?s not like he doesn?t have one of the overall thickest r?sum?s of all active, elite-level fighters over the last six years or so while calling his own shots. Maybe his personal beef with Golovkin keeps him from a Canelo-GGG part 3, but his instincts to deliver Sergey Kovalev, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, and then Demetrius Andrade as substitutes were solid.
Eddie Hearn was brought in by DAZN to succeed or fail in the market based on the merits of his own matchmaking calls, why not afford Alvarez that same respect?
The answer is?because Alvarez is a fighter and fighters should be noble, dumb, silent, and compliant.
Three-belt heavyweight champ Andy Ruiz Jr., meanwhile, got the ?diva? tag this week for reportedly not signing off on the already-announced Dec. 7 rematch with former champ Anthony Joshua in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.
Ruiz, seeing the major Saudi money dumped into this event, is reportedly holding out for more than the $9 million guaranteed to him in the Joshua rematch clause.
?You haven?t heard anything from Andy Ruiz and there?s a reason why,? Ruiz trainer Manny Robles recently told FightHype.com. ?You?ve got the promoter going out on a limb saying we?re fighting Dec 7th in Saudi, but you haven?t heard anything from Andy. Everybody has to hold off and wait.?
Is Ruiz being a diva for insisting that his take for a high-profile fight be proportionate to the incoming revenue? Yes, he signed a contract binding him to $9 million, but even if it was unwise to sign a contract binding him to a specific payout, it also seems borderline illegal to insist on a fighter signing a contract holding him to a specific monetary amount regardless of what happens in his career to change his market value.
Former two-division champ Timothy Bradley was clear in his message when offering advice to Ruiz during a recent FightHype video interview.
?Hold your ground,? Bradley told the IBF/WBA/WBO champ. ?They need you.?
Most of the time, those screaming ?diva? the loudest are not fighters, but fans and members of the media who maybe don?t fully appreciate the demands and dangers of the game. A fair, proportionate share of revenue and an appropriate level of autonomy to go along with it is a fighter?s greatest protection. Every dollar in his pocket and every tiny bit of veto power matters in ensuring that he has a future and that his family has security.
The recent deaths of Maxim Dadashev and Hugo Santillan should serve as a lesson for both critics and active fighters. Those who take the risks and could pay the ultimate price for their efforts SHOULD get every bit of everything they possibly can. It?s not being a diva, it?s being conscious of just how short and dangerous a fighter?s life can be.
