By Dan Ambrose: Oscar De La Hoya is looking at the possibility of moving his entire Golden Boy Promotions stable from DAZN to the new Triller platform. Golden Boy’s deal with DAZN is up at the end of 2021.
Mike Coppinger says Golden Boy CEO De La Hoya told him of the possible deal for him to move his entire Golden Boy stable over to Triller, which would leave a big hole for DAZN that would need to be filled.
This would be a risky move for De La Hoya, though, as boxing fans might balk at the idea of paying to watch his best Golden Boy fighters Jamie Munguia, Ryan Garcia, and Vergil Ortiz Jr on Triller pay-per-view each time they fight.
“From my personal experience with Triller and watching the numbers they have put up in just their two shows, I’ve been extremely impressed,” De La Hoya said to The Athletic about the possibility of moving his Golden Boy Promotions stable to Triller.
“We are engaged in conversations with executives at Triller and will see where they land.”
The two Triller PPV cards that De La Hoya is referring to are as follows:
- Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr exhibition
- Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren
Those same cards would have done great numbers no matter where they ended up at. The YouTuber Jake Paul, with his millions of followers on social media, he was able to attract a lot of fan to the event.
And as far a Mike Tyson’s fight, it’s obvious why that did well. You could have put Tyson vs. Jones on any network platform, and it would have done huge numbers.
For De La Hoya to think that if he puts his Golden Boy stable on Triller and has the same success as the Tyson-Jones and Jake-Asken cards, it’s very naive.
Ryan Garcia, Vergil Ortiz Jr, and Jaime Munguia, arguably the most popular fighters in Golden Boy’s promotional stable, aren’t going to be able to bring in the PPV numbers on Triller that Mike Tyson and Jake Paul did. It’s crazy even to contemplate selling Munguia, Ortiz, and Ryan’s fights on PPV.
Hopefully, for De La Hoya’s sake, he talks to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, his friend, to hear his thoughts on that potential move. Arum would know whether it’s a good idea or not.
It could be a major fail on De La Hoya’s part if he sticks his Golden Boy stable behind a PPV firewall on Triller. The fans might not want to pay $50 to see the likes of Munguia, Ryan, or Ortiz on pay-view, given that none of them are world champions and proven themselves.
We’re likely to see some of the Triller PPV cards failing big time, starting with the June fight between lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez and George Kambosos Jr.
Teofimo, 23, is just starting his career, and he’s facing a completely obscure Australian fighter in Kambosos Jr, who looked terrible in his narrow victories over old-timers Mickey Bey and Lee Selby.
The New Yorker Teofimo is NOT a pay-per-view fighter, and his mismatch against Kambosos is out of place on PPV, and yet that’s where Triller is sticking it.
If Golden Boy’s cards go to Triller pay-per-view, we could see some abysmal PPV numbers. You can argue it’s unquestionably bad for the fighters in Golden Boy’s stable, as they won’t be seen by boxing fans unwilling to pay to watch them on Triller PPV.
As the saying goes, ‘Out of sight, out of mind.’ Guys like Ryan Garcia, Vergil Ortiz Jr, and Munguia could be forgotten if they end up on pay-per-view on Triller.
It’s nice that Triller likes to sound their fight cards with musical acts, but that’s not going to be enough to make fans want to pay to see fighters that they don’t view as being worthwhile to
If Golden Boy leaves DAZN, the streaming giant would need to ensure that they keep Matchroom Boxing, but also they would need to find another major promotional company to fill in the gaps.
“Oscar De La Hoya tells me he’s exploring a deal with Triller that would see the entire Golden Boy stable, led by Ryan Garcia, leave DAZN. Deal with DAZN expires end of the year,” said @MIkeCoppinger of The Athletic.
With Golden Boy Promotions losing Canelo Alvarez, De La Hoya’s stable isn’t as strong as it once was. They lost their flagship fighter in Canelo, and their next biggest star, Ryan Garcia, is dealing with mental health issues.
We don’t know if Ryan will come back to the sport to be the star that De La Hoya has predicted. Even if Ryan does come back, he’s never shown the kind of ability that suggests that he can beat fighters like Vasily Lomachenko, Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, or Teofimo Lopez.
The combination of how Ryan looked in his last fight against Luke Campbell, his mental health issues, and his comments about wanting to retire at 26 makes him an unpredictable cog in Golden Boy’s future.