By Mike Smith: Matchroom Promoter Eddie Hearn says “two-thirds” of a report about a three-fight deal between former middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin and DAZN being close to being finalized is accurate. However, Hearn states that Golovkin WON’T be getting equity with DAZN, and he says he’s been at all the meetings during the negotiation process.
When asked if an announcement is imminent about DAZN’s deal with Golovkin, Hearn said, ‘yes.’ It could be this week.
Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 KOs) will be making $10 million for his first fight of his three-fight deal with DAZN when he returns to the ring in the spring or summer, according to Mike Coppinger of RingTV. The second fight of the deal could be for around $30 million against Saul Canelo Alvarez in September.
Probably two-thirds of what he said [is true],” Hearn said to IFL TV in talking about the report by Coppinger about GGG being close to signing with DAZN. “No,” Hearn said when he was asked if Golovkin will be getting equity within DAZN from his deal with them. “About two thirds accurate. Yeah,” Hearn said when asked if it’s true that an announcement could be made this week about Golovkin signing with DAZN. “I saw another comment about Matchroom not being involved [in the negotiations with Golovkin and DAZN]. I’ve been in every single meeting, and we will be working together in the shows. It’ll be GGG promotions,” Hearn said.
If the deal goes through with Golovkin, DAZN will have two of the most popular middleweights in boxing signed to their platform. As long as those two fighters can remain popular and stay on top for another two to three years, DAZN could bring in a lot of new subscribers to their platform. Currently, the cost of subscribing to DAZN is $9.99 per month. But if DAZN signs Golovkin for a massive amount of money, it’s unclear whether the subscription price will stay where it is or inch upwards to a different price. We’ll have to see what happens. It’s priced nicely right now at $9.99. Canelo recently received a five-year, $365 million deal with DAZN. With the kind of money that Canelo and GGG could potentially make fighting for DAZN, it would be in the platform’s best interest for them to fight two or three more times, as long as the company can afford it.
“It’s about getting him on the platform, because collectively, we’re working together to make this work,” Hearn said about DAZN. “We have to make DAZN work. So it’s my responsibility, Oscar De La Hoya’s responsibility, Canelo’s responsibility and Anthony’s responsibility to work collectively for the good of the platform. Equity isn’t the right word [for what Golovkin is getting from DAZN]. There’s all kinds of incentives. Fighters have been known in the past to have shares in a company or to buy shares in a company. So the way the deal is structured could be amazing,” Hearn said about Golovkin’s deal with DAZN.
Golovkin is ranke #1 with the World Boxing Organization at middleweight. If he signs with DAZN, his first fight with them is very likely going to be against WBO champion Demetrius Andrade in the spring or summer, unless former WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders returns to middleweight to resume his #1 spot. Saunders is scheduled to fight Shefat Isufi at super middleweight on April 13. Their fight was supposed to be for the vacant WBO super middleweight title, but that’s no longer the case now that Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez won’t be vacating his WBO 168 lb title. There’s now no reason for Saunders to fight Isufi. So he can come back down to face Andrade for his WBO title, according to Hearn. He would like that. If that happens, then Golovkin will need someone else to fight in the spring or summer in his first fight with DAZN.
