One of the most
consistent themes in recent years here at The Boxing Truth®️ has been an
ongoing chronicle of Boxing’s storied Middleweight division. To be more
specific, what appeared to be a gradual progression towards determining one Undisputed
world champion in the division in what would be the first since Bernard Hopkins
began unifying the division in the early 2000’s before finally completing the
process by knocking out then WBO world champion Oscar De La Hoya in September
2004.
The very goal
of determining one undisputed champion in any division in Boxing and also the
task of keeping the championship fully unified is one that while not impossible,
is certainly difficult to achieve. Difficult for several reasons, but one
reason that most Boxing fans and experts point to is the political landscape
that surrounds the sport. Although some are quick to point out the flaws of the
sport and all too often also quick to accuse the respective sanctioning
organizations that govern Boxing of corruption, at times rightly, sometimes
not, there are other factors that play a role in how difficult it can be to
determine an undisputed champion. Factors such as rival promoters refusing to
work together to make unification fights happen, competing television
networks/platforms, who by paying significant rights fees want exclusivity to a
promoter’s respective stable of fighters, and at times a fighter’s reluctance
to face other champions in his/her respective weight class can all play a
factor and unfortunately serve as roadblocks to an undisputed champion being
crowned.
If the reader
is starting to feel confused by all of the above and are possibly concerned
about the possibility of getting a migraine headache from trying to understand it
all, this observer will try his best to make it as painless as possible. First
and foremost, this column will not be a long drawn out explanation of all of
the above in great detail. Quite frankly, it would take a book perhaps two, or
even three written by yours truly to go over every single aspect of the
politics of the sport in great detail. While that might be something to ponder
in the future, the reader should think of the factors listed above as examples.
This column
will however, focus on one political element that does come up frequently for
fighters who achieve status as a unified world champion. The obligation of
fulfilling mandatory title defenses annually as determined by the respective
organizations who’s world championships a fighter holds.
One of the
stories that generated significant attention in the last week was the decision
of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) to strip current unified
Middleweight world champion Saul ‘Canelo” Alvarez of its World Middleweight
championship. A decision made by the organization following the failure of the
champion, his promoter Golden Boy Promotions, and current mandatory challenger Sergiy
Derevyanchenko to come to terms for a mandatory title defense.
As readers will
likely remember Alvarez, the WBC/WBA world champion successfully added the IBF
crown to his unified championship with his victory over IBF world champion
Daniel Jacobs earlier this year. As can happen when unification bouts take
place, Alvarez by virtue of defeating Jacobs inherited the obligation to meet
the IBF’s number one contender Derevyanchenko within a certain period of time. What makes the decision of the IBF somewhat perplexing is the claim of Alvarez that he was
unaware of the deadline set by the organization for him and Derevyanchenko to
come to terms for a fight to fulfill the mandatory defense. Whether or not
Alvarez or his promoter Golden Boy Promotions were aware of the deadline now
appears to be a moot point as the IBF has already mandated Derevyanchenko to
meet former Middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin, the IBF’s
two top Middleweight contenders for the vacant championship.
Although it is
understandable how fans can and often do criticize sanctioning organizations
whenever a situation like this occurs, it is not uncommon for an organization
like the IBF to obligate a champion to agree to meet a mandatory challenger before
a unification bout between two world champions takes place as to ensure that
the winner of said unification bout agrees to fulfill his/her obligations going
forward. It is also not uncommon to see a negotiation process for a mandatory
title defense take place shortly after a unification bout occurs.
Such
circumstances where a unified champion either outright refuses to fulfill those
obligations and/or cannot agree to terms for those defenses are essentially the
reason why some organizations have adopted interim/regular champion
designations in their respective rankings for their mandatory challengers, most
notably the World Boxing Association (WBA). As this observer has said often over
the years, such designations, though well-intended actually seems to create
more confusion and problems than it actually solves.
In regard to
Alvarez, it was also recently announced that he would not be fighting in
September of this year, which was believed to be his intended target to return
to the ring. This also resulted in some criticism being pointed in the
direction of digital sports streaming network DAZN, who made headlines last
year in signing Alvarez to a mult-year/fight agreement worth reportedly $365
Million. As most know, this was significant as it marked a major transition for
Alvarez, one of the sport’s biggest pay-per-view draws, moving away from the
pay-per-view medium and becoming one of the first stars in the sport to move
toward the subscription-based digital streaming medium, which is the model of
DAZN.
Now, in the
interest of objectivity, I feel it appropriate to once again remind the reader
as this observer has done in the past when discussing DAZN, and the benefits of
the subscription-based streaming medium in various columns here at The Boxing
Truth®️ that I do not currently work for DAZN or any other network, outlet, or platform outside
of my own platform here. Having said this, it is no secret that I have been
supportive of the work DAZN as well as other platforms like ESPN+ and Fite TV
have done not just for Boxing, but for all of sports overall as I feel it
offers the consumer a better and generally more economically reasonable option
compared to the traditional pay-per-view model and increasingly expensive
single sports packages.
In terms of
Boxing and by extension all of combat sports, the Over The Top (OTT) streaming
medium has opened up doors for promoters that were not necessarily available on
traditional television. How often did we hear over the years prior to the advent of digital streaming platforms that a fighter was inactive due to a
network not having available dates to televise a fight, or a promoter not being
able to stage as many cards as they could because of lack of an available
television network to broadcast said events and/or only being willing to commit
to a limited window of dates? This is something that has largely been solved with
the advent of streaming.
There are
however, some things that will remain a part of the business landscape of
Boxing even as the sport is moving in a better, more consumer-friendly
direction. Unfortunately among them, are some fights that may be in significant
public demand, being delayed from taking place. Some of the criticism that has
been directed towards DAZN has been the perceived failure to bring a third
fight between Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin, who is also signed to DAZN, to
fruition in a reasonable timeframe at least in the eyes of some.
It is important
to remember that while multi-sport digital sports streaming networks like DAZN,
while serving as a game changer in sports television are still very much in the
growing stages. Even though from a cynical point of view it is easy to say that
given the amounts of money that are involved that it is and would be easy for a
network like DAZN to essentially mandate a fight to take place through
contractual agreements, the fighters, their camps, and their respective
promoters also play a significant role in when a fight like a potential third Alvarez-Golovkin
fight takes place.
The digital subscription-based
streaming model may indeed be new, fresh, and an economically beneficial choice
for consumers, but some old tactics in terms of Boxing remain. What could be
the silver lining for all involved that will both keep public interest high and
ultimately quell criticism towards DAZN? In this observer’s eyes there is one
obvious answer.
One of DAZN’s
strongest assets in terms of Boxing currently is all of the Middleweight world
championships currently belong to fighters who compete on its platform, this
excludes those fighters who currently hold interim/regular champion
designations, who might compete on other platforms and also keeping in mind
that the World Boxing Council (WBC) recently designated Alvarez as it’s
“Franchise Champion “ due in part to his status as a unified world champion.
While that
subject is one to discuss at a later time, the point is that DAZN will likely
be the stage where a unification tournament will take place over time to fully
unify the Middleweight division. Despite Alvarez being stripped of the IBF
championship, if a fight between Derevyanchenko and Golovkin takes place for
the vacant championship, it will take place on DAZN’s platform. Demetrius
Andrade, the current World Boxing Organization (WBO) world champion is also
signed to DAZN and has been looking for a fight with either Golovkin or
Alvarez. This sets up a scenario where either the Derevyanchenko-Golovkin winner
faces either Alvarez or Andrade, or Alvarez and Andrade meet to unify their
portions of the World Middleweight championship before facing the winner of
Derevyanchenko-Golovkin.
What this could
potentially set up assuming both Alvarez and Golovkin continue to win would be
the much-anticipated third bout between the two, but this time potentially with
the Undisputed world championship in the Middleweight division on the line. If
this is indeed the goal of the promoters involved, it would somewhat justify
the stalling tactics that tend to frustrate Boxing fans. Of course, this is all
a theoretical scenario and the possibility certainly exists that both Alvarez
and Golovkin could lose to either Derevyanchenko or Andrade, which would throw
a monkey wrench into any potential plans for a third fight between the two. All
of the above however, would be seen on DAZN, which would ultimately be a win
for Boxing and the fans/consumers who support the sport.
“And That’s The
Boxing Truth.”
The Boxing
Truth®️ is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.
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