GGG close to signing multi-fight deal with DAZN

By Rob Smith - 02/24/2019 - Comments

Gennady Golovkin is heading towards DAZN to join up with Saul Canelo Alvarez with the streaming company, and looking to sign a multi-fight deal that will see him getting equity with the company, according to RingTV. The negotiations are said to be close to being finalized to bring Golovkin over to DAZN. Having GGG and Canelo signed to DAZN will give the company a one-two punch for as long both guys’ careers are thriving.

The lack of success Golovkin has had in his two fights with Canelo has to be viewed with some concern, as the Kazakhstan fighter can’t continue come up winless if he wants to remain a popular fighter. Since both fights with Canelo were controversial, it would be in Golovkin;s best interest to fight someone that he’s got a good chance of beating if it goes to the scorecards.

This is a move out of necessity for the Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 KOs), who his promoter Tom Loeffler calls, ‘The People’s champ.’ Golovkin previously was under contract with HBO, but they stopped televising boxing, which left GGG and Canelo without a home. Canelo was quickly snatched up by DAZN in signing a monstrous $365 million deal, and now it’s Golovkin’s turn.

The deal that DAZN is reportedly offering former IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 KOs) is said to be a 3-fight guaranteed deal with the possiblity of six fights in total. The additional fights, one would assume, will likely be based on the subscriptions Golovkin brings in, as well him winning. It won’t make sense for DAZN to keep GGG if he starts losing repeatedly to the likes of Canelo, Demetrius Andrade and whoever.

GGG will be getting $10 million for his first of the deal with DAZN when he returns to the ring in the spring or summer. The second fight of the deal would be $30 million for Golovkin to face Canelo (51-1-2, 35 KOs) in a third fight this September. What’s unclear if that fight still happens if one or both of them lose their next matches. Canelo is taking a very risky unification fight on May 4 against IBF middlewight champion Danny Jacobs on DAZN in Las Vegas, Nevada. A lot of boxing fans see that as a 50-50 fight that literally could go either way. If Canelo loses that fight, he’s going to want to face Jacobs in a rematch in September. As such, the Golovkin trilogy fight will need to be pushed to a later date.

Also part of the deal, according to RingTV, is additional dates for GGG Promotions to have their fighters on DAZN.

Golovkin had offers from Top Rank Boxing to fight on ESPN, as well as Premier Boxing Champions.

Canelo vs. Golovkin brought in a lot of PPV buys on HBO in their two fights together. If they can bring in a ton of subscribers to DAZN for their trilogy fight in September, it would be a good thing for the company. Hopefully the judges can come up with some scores that the boxing public agrees with, since the first two fights were incredibly controversial, leaving only Canelo’s boxing fans pleased with the results.