Notebook: Joshua signs global deal with DAZN, leaves U.K. broadcaster Sky Sports
Dispute over Jermell Charlo's next opponent; WBA orders vacant junior welterweight title bout; Berlanga apology; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Former two-time unified heavyweight titlist Anthony Joshua, who was poised to re-sign with career-long broadcaster Sky Sports in the United Kingdom, has instead signed a multi-fight deal with rival DAZN.
The announcement, which was made on Monday, will see Joshua move to the streaming service for his events, including his expected Aug. 20 rematch with unified titleholder Oleksandr Usyk, after having spent his entire nine-year career on Sky Sports, where he became a pay-per-view mega star in the United Kingdom.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, who has promoted Joshua for his entire career, moved all of his events to DAZN last summer when his long-term Sky Sports deal expired and DAZN was made available in the U.K. Joshua, however, was the one fighter in the Matchroom Boxing stable who had his own contract with Sky Sports.
That deal expired following Joshua’s decision loss to Usyk last September, but it was widely expected that they would work out a new deal until Monday’s announcement.
“We have been successfully working in partnership with DAZN for many years now and this new announcement with Anthony Joshua emphasizes why they continue to set the standard for the future of sports broadcasting,” Hearn said. “We have a shared vision with DAZN to make it the unrivaled home of boxing for fans across the world. Now with Anthony joining the team the stage is set to do even more together and we are looking forward to getting started.”
As part of the global agreement, Joshua’s fights will remain on DAZN in the United States. His last five fights have all been on DAZN in the U.S., beginning with the service’s first-ever boxing event when he retained his belts against Alexander Povetkin in September 2018.
“I am entering a new phase in my career with a new training environment, new coaches and now a new broadcaster,” Joshua, who recently changed trainers to Robert Garcia, said in a statement. “Negotiations at this level take time so I am pleased to have it all wrapped up and now I can fully focus on giving the fans and DAZN what they want, knockouts in the glamour division.
“I’ve been working with DAZN and following its progress for a long time. We have enjoyed a really successful partnership in the U.S. for many years and I know the team and understand the passion and drive of the business. DAZN’s vision and passion to innovate is what attracted me to the partnership. They are leading the digital landscape in sport and the future of sports broadcasting. I am really looking forward to a long and successful partnership.”
According to the DAZN announcement, Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs), 32, of England, will also become “a global brand ambassador as well as a special advisor to, and shareholder in, DAZN Group.”
As far as whether Joshua’s bouts would be available via a regular DAZN subscription or via its newly created pay-per-view platform, which kicked off with Canelo Alvarez’s upset loss to light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol in May being a pay-per-view in the U.S., a DAZN spokesperson told Fight Freaks Unite that “specific fights are still subject to negotiations but the current expectation is that AJ would be on PPV in the U.K.”
Usyk-Joshua II is expected to be part of the normal subscription for viewers in the U.S.
“AJ is a hugely popular and influential sportsman. His alignment with us and his investment in our business speaks volumes,” said DAZN Group CEO Shay Segev. “This deal is his seal of approval for our vision and our direction as a business. We welcome his passion, his drive and — most significantly — the vast audiences he attracts.
“In addition to being a world-class fighter, Joshua is an entrepreneur and businessman. He founded management business 258 MGT in 2016 and represents boxing’s greatest rising stars, including Josh Buatsi, Derek Chisora and Ben Whittaker. His partnership with DAZN is a testament to his belief in the business strategy.”
Freddie Cunningham, the managing director of Joshua’s 258MGT, also liked the “vision” DAZN mapped out.
“We were really impressed with the vision DAZN showed us for the future of Anthony’s career,” Cunningham said. “It was clear from the discussions that we have a shared goal of bringing the fans the biggest fights possible and a partner committed to investing heavily to make them happen.”
Jermell Charlo mandatory dispute
As the holder of all four junior middleweight belts, undisputed champion Jermell Charlo has various mandatory defenses stacking up, but there is a dispute over which one should be next — IBF mandatory challenger Bakhram Murtazaliev or Tim Tszyu, the WBO mandatory challenger.
On Sunday, BoxingScene reported that Charlo and Tszyu had come to an agreement for the fight, which has not been formally announced but the story quoted WBO attorney Gustavo Olivieri saying, “The Charlo-Tszyu fight is going forward.”
News of the deal came as a surprise to the team of Murtazaliev, who has been the IBF mandatory challenger for more than two years and claims it has a signed agreement to fight Charlo.
Murtazaliev’s team sent WBO president Paco Valcarcel and TGB Promotions president Tom Brown, Charlo’s promoter, a letter on Monday to reminding them that Charlo’s IBF mandatory defense is supposed to come before the WBO’s under the rotation system for mandatory defenses that was agreed to years ago by the sanctioning organizations for them to operate under when there is a unified champion. Under the rotation system the oldest mandatory takes precedence.
“There exists a contract for Jermell Charlo to fight against Bakhram Murtazaliev and it appears that the WBO is interfering with that contract and with the prospective economic advantage of Bakhram Murtazaliev,” Pat English, the attorney for Murtazaliev promoter Main Events, wrote in the letter, which was copied to several others involved, including Team Tszyu and IBF members, and I obtained.”
For all the details on this situation please read my full story on Big Fight Weekend here: https://bigfightweekend.com/news/dispute-erupts-over-who-jermell-charlos-next-opponent-will-be/
WBA jr. welterweight title
The WBA has ordered Alberto Puello and Batyr Akhmedov to meet for its vacant junior welterweight world title. It recently stripped Josh Taylor of the 140-pound belt for declining to face mandatory challenger Puello, costing Taylor his status as the undisputed champion — meaning the holder of all four major sanctioning body titles.
Puello (20-0, 10 KOs), 27, a southpaw from the Dominican Republic, had been the WBA interim titlist and then was placed in the mandatory position when the organization terminated all interim belts last summer. Akhmedov (9-1, 8 KOs), 31, a southpaw from Ukraine, lost a disputed decision to Mario Barrios for the WBA “regular” title in 2019 and has won both of his fights since.
The WBA met with teams of the top six fighters in its 140-pound rankings for their input on who should fill the vacancy and it settled on Puello and Akhmedov, who have until June 25 to make a deal or the fight will be put up for a purse bid. The WBA also stipulated that the Puello-Akhmedov winner will have 90 days to next face Ismael Barroso (23-3-2, 21 KOs), 39, a southpaw from Venezuela, in a mandatory defense.
Also, Sandor Martin (40-2, 13 KOs), 28, a southpaw from Spain, who upset Mikey Garcia by majority decision in a welterweight fight in October, and Ohara Davies (23-2, 16 KOs), 30, of England, were ordered to negotiate a title eliminator. They have 50 days to make a deal.
If any of those five fighters are unable or unwilling to go through with their bouts, the WBA approved former titlist Regis Prograis (27-1, 23 KOs), 33, a southpaw from New Orleans, as a substitute for any of them.
“There will be no special permits for any of the boxers involved in the decision,” the WBA said in a statement. “The decision was made by the head of the WBA Championships Committee after extensive deliberation with the panel that participated in the meeting with the fighters’ teams.”
Berlanga apology
Super middleweight Edgar Berlanga has apologized for attempting to bite Roamer Alexis Angulo during the seventh round of their Top Rank Boxing on ESPN main event on Saturday night at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Berlanga won a unanimous decision in the 10-rounder to retain his regional belt against the two-time world title challenger, but during the seventh round an apparently frustrated Berlanga tried to bite Angulo on the left shoulder while they were in a clinch.
Referee Ricky Gonzalez, who was on the other side of the two, did not see Berlanga’s shocking action so he was not penalized. Had Gonzalez seen it, Berlanga could have been disqualified. After the fight Berlanga joked about the incident, saying, “I was about to do a Mike Tyson on him.”
Berlanga, of course, was referring to the former heavyweight champion infamously biting a chunk out of Evander Holyfield’s ear during their 1997 world title rematch and getting disqualified and having his license revoked.
“He kept throwing his elbows, and I didn’t want to get cut. I was ready to bite him like Mike Tyson,” Berlanga said.
On Sunday, Berlanga said he was sorry in two Twitter posts, although he did not apologize directly to Angulo, (27-3, 23 KOs), 38, of Colombia.
“I want to apologize for my actions and what I said (Saturday night) about the Mike Tyson bite,” Berlanga wrote. “I was in the moment and got a little ahead of myself. It doesn’t take away from the embarrassment that I have caused upon myself, my team, Top Rank, and many others.
“I reacted poorly and take full responsibility. Moving forward, I am going to be more mindful and encouraging in my behavior. Once again, I do apologize.”
Boxing on the eve of the annual Puerto Rican Day parade in New York, Berlanga (20-0, 16 KOs), a 25-year-old Puerto Rican from Brooklyn, New York, won the fight but went the distance for the fourth fight in a row after notching 16 consecutive first-round knockouts to start his career.
Quick hits
Undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin, the unified middleweight titlist, who is moving up in weight for a third fight with his rival on Sept. 17 (DAZN PPV) at a site to be determined, are slated to meet face to face to kick off the promotion of the fight at a news conference in Los Angeles on June 24, a source with knowledge of the plans told Fight Freaks Unite, although the event has not yet been announced. Alvarez is 1-0-1 against GGG in two action-packed and heavily disputed results in middleweight title bouts in 2017 and 2018. Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs) moved up to light heavyweight and lost a decision to titlist Dmitry Bivol last month and elected to bypass his right to an immediate rematch to instead face Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) again in a fight that had already been agreed to.
Per the California State Athletic Commission, here are the official contract purses from Saturday night’s Golden Boy card on DAZN in Anaheim: Jaime Munguia $2 million, Jimmy Kelly $100,000; Oscar Duarte $20,000, Mark Bernaldez $20,000; Yokasta Valle $10,000, Lorraine Villalobos $20,000; Evan Sanchez $8,000, Carlos Ortiz $1,500; Carlos Ocampo $10,000, Vincent Rodriguez $1,500; Alejandro Reyes $3,500, Moises Flores $1,500; Japhethlee Llamido $1,500, Saul Hernandez $1,500; Jorge Estrada $2,000, Hassan Coleman $1,500.
Wasserman Boxing announced that welterweight Josh Kelly (10-1-1, 6 KOs), 28, of England, will face Peter Kramer (12-5-3, 8 KOs), 32, of Hungary, on June 17 (Channel 5 in the U.K.) at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England. The fight is on the undercard heavyweight Nathan Gorman’s fight with Tomas Salek. Kelly, a 2016 Olympian, is looking to bounce back from a sixth-round knockout loss to David Avanesyan challenging for his European welterweight title in February 2021.
Golden Boy announced it has signed IBF women’s strawweight titlist Yokasta Valle (25-2, 9 KOs), 29, of Costa Rica, to a co-promotional agreement MarvNation Promotions. Valle appeared on the undercard of Golden Boy’s Jaime Munguia-Jimmy Kelly event on Saturday night in Anaheim, California, where Valle outpointed Lorraine Villalobos to retain her title for the fifth time.
Show and tell
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, induction weekend at the International Boxing Hall of Fame was canceled in 2020 and 2021. That meant both of those classes and the 2022 inductees all were enshrined together in one enormous and incredible ceremony on Sunday afternoon. It was so big, and there was such a star-studded group of fighters and others being inducted, that rather than have the ceremonies outdoors in the limited space on the grounds of the museum in Canastota, New York, as usual, the event instead took place inside the events center at Turning Stone Resort Casino — which has hosted fights regularly, including on Friday night, and has partnered with the Hall of Fame on activities for the past few years — about 10 minutes away in Verona, New York.
The fighters inducted represented a who’s who of modern legends: Bernard Hopkins, Juan Manuel Marquez, Shane Mosley, Christy Martin and Lucia Rijker (Class of 2020); Wladimir Klitschko, Floyd Mayweather, Andre Ward, Laila Ali and Ann Wolfe (Class of 2021); and Miguel Cotto, Roy Jones Jr., James Toney, Holly Holm and Regina Halmich (Class of 2022). Among non-boxers inducted were promoters Lou DiBella, Kathy Duva and the late Dan Goossen; late Showtime executive Jay Larkin; writers Ron Borges, Thomas Hauser, Bernard Fernandez and the late George Kimball; Dr. Margaret Goodman, a former Nevada ringside physician and current president of VADA; beloved publicist Bill Caplan; and historian and television producer Bob Yalen. I was not able to make to the induction ceremonies but I do have this full ticket to the historic event in my collection.
Charlo photo: Nabeel Ahmad/PBC; Berlanga photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank
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Joshua has always been ppv in the UK so no change there.
I’d imagine that his fights won’t be ppv for US DAZN subscribers just as UK DAZN subscribers didn’t pay for Canelo’s recent fight with Bivol but US subscribers did - could be wrong though.
Looking forward to Charlo's next bout and gotta admit he's really grown in my eyes as to how good he is. Hopefully this recent burst of fighters looking to become undisputed aka the actual real World Champion continues and being one of the many alphabet spaghetti sanctioning bodies belt holders becomes less meaningful. For the long term good of the sport we need to get more undisputed world champs.