The Boxing Truth®

Credit: DAZN  On March 18th, the focus of the Boxing world focused on Madison Square Garden in New York City where a press conference was held where digital subscription sports streaming network DAZN announced its latest partnership in forming a multi-year worldwide broadcast deal with Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum and Top Rank Inc , marking the latest promotional entity to join the network that has marketed itself as “The Global Home of Boxing.” While the aforementioned tagline is a clever marketing tool, it is really as close to reality as one could claim. After all, in 2018 when DAZN entered the United States market, many laughed at the idea of a strictly streaming-based platform that would operate primarily under a subscription model as a potential power broker in the sport of Boxing. This observer has from the moment I was informed of the network’s entry both into the United States, but also Boxing was supportive of what was being attempted. Before I elaborate further, it ...

One of the themes that this observer has become known for over the many years I have covered Boxing has been my long-standing criticism regarding the pay-per-view model, both here on The Boxing Truth® ️ as well as numerous outlets both online and in print through the years. The primary reason behind the criticism is in two aspects, the overuse of the model in that cards that in years gone by that would have been featured on a sports centric network or as a Friday or Saturday night attraction on a premium cable network like HBO or Showtime, have instead been reserved for pay-per-view, rather than bouts of significant public interest that were heavily promoted and treated and viewed amongst Boxing fans as special events or occasions, which leads to the second aspect. The price points, which regardless of the perceived quality of a card or the main events have only gone up as time has gone on, which has led to declining buy numbers for most pay-per-view attractions.  This in addition ...

Back in 2018, a major shift took place in the sport of Boxing with the introduction of both ESPN+ and DAZN here in the United States. Two digital subscription sports streaming networks that vowed to change the dynamic in how not just Boxing, but sports as a whole was viewed and consumed by introducing reasonably priced subscription-based options as opposed to pay-per-view. While initially met with criticism and mocking laughter from some in the Boxing establishment and even some fans that doubted the significance of such a model, it was not long after both networks launched that one of the longtime power players in the sport HBO announced they would cease broadcasting Boxing at the conclusion of that year.  For some this was truly an unthinkable event that truly signaled the end of an era in not just Boxing, but in sports when HBO officially took its final bow in December 2018 bringing an end to forty-five years of broadcasting Boxing, but also for a significant period of time t...

  The hype that preceded the encounter between Undisputed Super-Middleweight world champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and former Undisputed Jr. Middleweight world champion Jermell Charlo was largely based on the fact that for the first time in modern Boxing history, two fighters, who were undisputed world champions in their respective weight classes at the same time, would face each other as one would move up significantly in weight to challenge the other for his crown. There was however, the small wrinkle in that once Jermell Charlo entered the ring at the T-Mobile Arena on September 30th to face Alvarez, his status as an undisputed champion would no longer be current as it had been known in the weeks prior to the fight that the World Boxing Organization (WBO) would be stripping Charlo of it’s world championship in the 154lb. Jr. Middleweight division for failing to defend its championship against undefeated number one contender Tim Tszyu. A fight that was supposed to take place, but ...

As previously announced earlier this week, Undisputed Super-Middleweight champion of the world Saul "Canelo" Alvarez will defend his crown on May 6th against WBO number one contender and mandatory challenger John Ryder in Mexico, signaling Alvarez' first fight in his home country in more than a decade. While this column will not discuss the fight in detail as we are still more than two months away from the scheduled date, the bout already has generated controversy. How has a fight that is still weeks away from taking place already raised the ire of Boxing fans? The Alvarez-Ryder bout will be broadcast on DAZN internationally, which means that it will be part of a standard monthly or annual subscription to the digital streaming network in many countries around the world. In the United States and Canada however, the fight will be available on DAZN Pay-Per-View. Why has that decision already raised the ire of many? It is important for this observer to state as I have in the...

  Perhaps one segment of the sport of Boxing that has been able to take advantage of the unprecedented circumstances of the ongoing global COVID-19 epidemic has been Women’s Boxing. With many of the top stars of the sport sidelined for most of 2020 due to both risks associated with the COVID-19 virus as well as for economic reasons, several of the top female fighters in the sport seized the opportunity to take the spotlight as several notable stars including undefeated Undisputed Lightweight world champion Katie Taylor, Mikaela Mayer, Teri Harper, Natasha Jonas,, Cecilia Braekhus, and Jessica McCaskill all lead the way in putting Women’s Boxing center stage.  Credit: FITE TV   One fighter who has remained sidelined as the epidemic has continued is arguably the woman who has been the focal point of Women’s Boxing here in the United States over the last several years. Undefeated three-division world champion Claressa Shields. As some may recall, Shields emerged on the Boxin...