DAZN and Golden Boy pen extended five-year, multi-fight deal

DAZN, the global sports streaming platform, and boxing promoter Golden Boy have agreed a renewed long-term, multi-fight partnership.

The new five-year agreement will include championship fight nights alongside a new prospect development series - Golden Boy Fight Night on DAZN.

Additional events to follow in 2022 will include the return of undefeated boxers Jaime Munguia, Ryan Garcia, and Vergil Ortiz, Jr. in June, July, and August, respectively.

The extended deal builds on a partnership that was first established in 2018.

Ed Breeze, DAZN executive vice-president of rights, said:  "We are delighted to extend our partnership with Golden Boy. Golden Boy has an excellent stable including some of the hottest prospects in boxing, and their shows always feature non-stop action from the first bell to the last.

“As part of our new partnership we will be looking to unearth the next generation of boxing talent in our new development series 'Golden Boy Fight Night on DAZN'."

DAZN and Golden Boy have had to overcome a rocky relationship in recent years, primarily in regards to Mexican fighter Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.

In 2020, the two parties were embroiled in a contract dispute as DAZN felt Golden Boy, headed up by Oscar de la Hoya, failed to live up to an obligation to deliver what was regarded as one premier event per year involving Alvarez.

Alvarez, one of boxing's biggest pay-per-view draws, had signed a five-year, 11-fight deal worth a minimum of $365 million with DAZN just a month after the service launched in USA in 2018.

At the time, GlobalData Sport learned that DAZN was angry that almost halfway through that five-year partnership, Golden Boy did not deliver the "high-caliber fights” expected under the terms of the agreement.

Ultimately, it was Alvarez who made a move as he sued both the streaming platform and Golden Boy for damages of at least $280 million, filing a lawsuit in a federal court in California accusing the two parties of failing to honor the terms of the contract.

The Mexican eventually parted ways with Golden Boy and ended his lucrative deal with DAZN in November 2020.

The lawsuit had also reportedly been settled, with Golden Boy receiving no money as its contract with Alvarez came to an end.

Notably, Alvarez’s first fight following his split from Golden Boy – a win over the UK’s Callum Smith in December 2020 – was shown by DAZN just months after he terminated his contract with the OTT platform before he ultimately reunited with the company earlier this year by signing a two-fight deal. 

The agreement was signed with both DAZN and UK-based promoter Matchroom. Alvarez's first fight took place earlier this month when he lost to Russian Dmitry Bivol in Las Vegas.