By Gerardo Granados: As you all must already know, two days ago, Canelo Alvarez sued DAZN and Golden Boy Promotions. I bet that the contract signed last October 2018 by both parties was drafted by a top lawyers firm contracted by DAZN, so this contract must guarantee absolute protection to the company.
None the less, I also bet that Canelo Alvarez must have had the contract revised by his legal advisor too, before signing it and before deciding to sue.
Saul Alvarez sues for breaching of contract, asks for damages up to $280 million, and basically aims to break free from DAZN and Golden Boy Promotions contractual obligations.
I think that the reader must remember that it was reported on boxing media that the contract was offered to Canelo by DAZN, in which the company guaranteed to the boxer a ridiculous never seen before sky-high payment per fight. The amount reported was around 35 million per fight on a total of eleven fights to take place in five years.
Canelo hasn’t fought this year yet; in fact, he hasn’t fought since last November. So far this year, the rumor mill surrounding his next opponent has had many names involved in three different weight divisions. Most of the names that had been mentioned are top-level boxers. But it seems like someone hasn’t agreed to approve of those potential fights. So, none of those potential fights have come to fruition, leaving the boxer inactive.
In my opinion, the problem isn’t related to the quality of the possible opponents, but instead of the money that those boxers can bring in. In other words, there aren’t any big-name boxers around left that can generate that much money on a single fight.
As they say, it takes two to tango, do the reader believes that Canelo by his own can generate one million pay per view buys against a boxer who lacks a solid fan base? I would be surprised if Canelo wouldn’t struggle to get eleven big names in a row to generate the amount of money agreed in that contract.
I think that we can agree that this type of lawsuits often lasts for an eternity. When a client finally decides to lawyer up, it is because he pretends to win the lawsuit. And in this particular case, the amount of money at risk is huge. So my best guess is that this is not a gamble. Because even if Canelo Alvarez wasn’t able to fight in the years to come. He could still get the chance to win a huge fortune by winning the lawsuit.
But hey, boxing waits for no one, so, with Canelo out of the picture, who do you think will take his spot?
It will be interesting to see how DAZN and Golden Boy Promotion are affected by and handle losing his big-name high income signed boxer. Maybe the other promotion companies will be able to take the five de Mayo date from now on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hws-4eDDchw&t=168s
Perhaps the hungry young lions on the rise will make the best out of this opportunity to rise to the top. There is a possibility that this can bring us to fight fans the chance to see more competitive fights. It even could get us the opportunity to see if MMA could push to steal the interest from young fans.
A friend of mine asked who I believe will take Canelo´s spot. I took a few seconds to respond. I replied, right now, no one can take his place. So he asked, why not?
The Mexican fan base is one of the biggest and more influential in pro boxing, no disrespect meant to the other great boxing fan bases; let me be clear, I state this based only because of the amount of money that the Mexican fan base can generate. So right now, even if I consider Francisco Gallo Estrada as the best Mexican boxer, he lacks the charismatic personality to take Canelo´s spot.
I do believe that Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua could capitalize on Canelo´s absence. They have magnetic personalities, are skilled, and for sure can sell a fight.
There are many great boxers around that haven’t been able to become pay per view draws. Be it Naoya Inoue, Vasyl Lomachenko, Terence Crawford, Mikey Garcia, Aleksandr Usyk, Callum Smith, Francisco Estrada, Miguel Berchelt, Jermall Charlo, Arthur Beterbiev, Demetrius Andrade, or Erroll Spence Jr, just to mention a few.
Hey, it is time for the new blood to take full advantage; Teofimo Lopez could rise to the sky if he beats Vasyl Lomachenko next October 17. This fight has now become more attractive than ever, and the hungry young lion must know it.
Gervonta Davis could finally reach his potential, and Floyd Mayweather´s TMT Promotions could also make an effort to crown his most talented boxer. Next month Davis takes on Leo Santa Cruz in a fight that I believe that he will look great stopping the rugged experienced Santa Cruz.
I think that with Canelo out of Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De la Hoya should invest in developing top contender Vergil Ortiz and avoid gambling with Ryan Garcia. I believe that if Vergil could get the correct fights, that he could soon take Canelo´s place. If De la Hoya could get him Manny Pacquiao next, for sure, it could be a risky fight, but it also can be a high reward if Vergil was to beat the old Senator.
From my point of view, I see these three young fighters as real possibilities. But I must ask, who do you see rising to the top while Canelo is absent?