Boxing’s biggest star Canelo Alvarez has sued his promoter Oscar De La Hoya and sports streaming giant DAZN.
The news was first reported by The Athletic’s Mike Coppinger.
As per the tweet, the lawsuit was filed by Canelo Alvarez today at the Los Angeles Federal Court. Canelo hasn’t fought in ten months and there were reports earlier that the Mexican star could stay out for the remainder of 2020.
Canelo Alvarez last stepped inside the ring back in November of 2019 when he took on Sergey Kovalev for the WBO light heavyweight title.
Kovalev was knocked out brutally in the eleventh round of the fight by Canelo, thus making him a four-division champion. Meanwhile, Canelo was scheduled to fight Billy Joe Saunders in May earlier this year, but the fight got cancelled because of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
Canelo Alvarez usually fight two-times a year during the Mexican holidays i.e Cinco De Mayo in May and the Mexican Independence Day in September. However, Canelo Alvarez is at odds with DAZN over monetary reasons.
“I’m not scared of any opponent in the ring, and I’m not going to let failures of my broadcaster or promotors keep me out of the ring” Canelo Alvarez said per The Athletic.
Why did Canelo Alvarez sue DAZN?
Canelo Alvarez signed a five-year and a $365 Million deal with DAZN that will see him fighting twice a year. Canelo was expected to be paid $35 Million per fight and DAZN also hoped that he could fight the likes of marquee stars like Gennady Golovkin in order to bolster DAZN’s subscription service.
However, so far Canelo has fought Rocky Fielding, Daniel Jacobs and Sergey Kovalev and none of these fighters are marquee names and they haven’t been able to bolster DAZN’s subscriber count.
So DAZN stated that they were going to pay Canelo about $17 Million to fight WBC super-middleweight champion, Rocky Fielding. This amount is nearly half of what he was expecting as per the contracts he signed in 2018 with DAZN.
“If there was ever a time that boxing needed its biggest star in the sport back in the ring, it is now,” Golden Boy promotion’s Oscar De La Hoya told The Athletic last week. “While other sports are enjoying huge ratings as content-hungry consumers flood back to the market, boxing is stuck with record-low viewership.
“Canelo getting back in the ring instantly changes everything. We are fully committed to Canelo fighting this year and look forward to working with DAZN to make it happen.”
Canelo Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin 3 may happen in 2021
A trilogy between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin may take place in 2021. GGG’s promoter Eddie Hearn stated that GGG has a mandatory challenger to take care of, following which they will proceed to fighting Canelo.
“Triple G has a contract with Kamil Szeremeta, his mandatory, for around November time,” said Hearn.
“He must take care of that this year, and then hopefully challenge Canelo again at Cinco de Mayo next year when the world returns to normality.”
ALSO READ:
Oscar De La Hoya posts image of ripped physique teasing 154 pound return!
