One of boxing’s biggest stars is now a free agent.
ESPN reporters that four-division world champion Canelo Alvarez has been released from his contract with Golden Boy Promotions and DAZN, which puts an unceremonious end to his lucrative $365 million deal with the streaming service after just three fights. Just to clarify, Canelo’s DAZN partnership was through Golden Boy as opposed to a direct agreement with the network, so by ending the GBP relationship the DAZN deal is out the window. This is a hammer blow for Golden Boy, which has relied heavily on Alvarez for their bottom line.
Eddy Reynoso, Canelo’s trainer and manager, released this statement prior to the ESPN report indicating that the Mexican superstar has entered free agency.
“In my role as manager and coach of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, I allow myself to communicate to the boxing community and to all our fans that starting today, November 6th, Canelo becomes a free agent, so we are ready to continue with his boxing career,” Reynoso wrote.
Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs) has not fought at all this year, with much of that attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic but also Golden Boy and DAZN’s inability to come to terms over his purse and finding appropriate opponents. A planned matchup with Billy Joe Saunders fell through and never materialized again. The stagnation of Canelo’s career led to a lawsuit against those two parties, citing breach of contract among other things. DAZN clearly banked on Alvarez fighting Gennadiy Golovkin in a trilogy bout on its platform, but it was never written into his contract so there’s nothing legally binding there.
It’s been no secret that Canelo has been displeased with Golden Boy Promotions and particularly Oscar De La Hoya. Their relationship has been frayed for quite some time and now they’ve appeared to go their separate ways.
Golden Boy and DAZN have not responded to requests for comment by any media members in response to this story.
Make no mistake about it, this is absolutely gigantic news that Canelo is on the market both for network and promoter. He could theoretically avoid signing with any promoter long-term and work on a fight-by-fight basis. According to ESPN, Alvarez could take on IBF super-middleweight champion Caleb Plant (20-0, 12 KOs) on December 19th. Plant is affiliated with Premier Boxing Champions, so it’s possible Alvarez could end up on a FOX or Showtime PPV at year’s end.
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