Triller pulls stunner, wins Lopez-Kambosos purse bid for $6M to blow away competition

Offers from Matchroom and Top Rank not even close

Triller, the music and social media company behind the blockbuster Mike Tyson-Roy Jones pay-per-view exhibition in November, blew away the competition on Thursday to win the IBF purse bid for unified lightweight world champion Teofimo Lopez’s mandatory defense against George Kambosos.

Bidding via Zoom video conference, Triller executive Ryan Kavanaugh offered $6.018 million to easily beat two other offers. They were $3.506 million offered by Matchroom Boxing, which was bidding in conjunction with DAZN and Kambosos promoter Lou DiBella, and $2.315 million offered by Top Rank, Lopez’s promoter.

Under the terms of the purse bid, Lopez, as champion, is entitled to 65 percent, which is $3,911,700. But based on Lopez’s promotional contract with Top Rank, 20 percent of his purse ($782,340) goes to Top Rank since it did not win the auction.

Kambosos is entitled to 35 percent ($2,106,300) minus a roughly 25 percent cut (about $500,000) that goes to DiBella.

Both fighters will make by far their career-high paydays.

Triller did not say when or where the fight will take place but it seems likely for it to land on the Triller Fight Club pay-per-view card on April 17 that features YouTube star Jake Paul (2-0, 2 KOs) in an eight-round cruiserweight fight with MMA fighter Ben Askren, a former Bellator and ONE Championship champion.

The result of the purse bid means Lopez will be leaving broadcast platform ESPN, which has a long-term deal with Top Rank, for the bout.

“I love ESPN and the platform and everything they have done for Team Lopez and ‘The Takeover.’ However, I am very thankful that my team and I stuck to our guns," Lopez said in a statement to ESPN. “We knew what we were being offered was disrespectful, and we expected the open market would value us differently. And it showed today. The $6 million from Triller, right there, says that Top Rank doesn't value the best fighter on their roster. I look forward to my title defense against George Kambosos.”

In announcing it had won the purse bid, Triller, which brought in a shockingly high 1.6 million pay-per-view buys for Tyson-Jones, described itself as a “disruptive” force in boxing in its announcement that it won the purse bid.

“It is the latest major step in how the disruptive property is reimagining the sport of boxing for a new, engaged generation,” Triller said.

“This fight will certainly go down as iconic and TFC will make sure it is presented with entertainment for every audience, from the diehard to the casual fan,” said Kavanaugh, whose Triller Fight Club includes music star Snoop Dogg as a partner. “These two undefeated stars transcend their sport not just in the U.S. but around the world, and we are working to reshape the vision of excitement and storytelling in a sport we love.”

Usually mandatory fights hit the auction block when the promoters of each fighter cannot make a deal and the promotional rights go to the highest bidder. That was not the case in this situation. The issue was a major disagreement between Top Rank and Lopez over what his purse should be. Top Rank’s first offer was his contractual minimum of $1.25 million. Lopez manager David McWater, very unhappy with that, shot for the moon and asked for $5.5 million. No real negotiations took place beyond that, according to both sides.

Triller had been rumored for weeks to be interested in bidding but nobody knew for sure until Kavanaugh turned up on the Zoom call.

Hearn was looking to cherry pick the fight for his broadcaster DAZN, which backed his bid, and bid with DiBella’s cooperation.

Top Rank president Todd duBoef told Fight Freaks Unite he was not upset about losing the purse bid. The company has its deal with ESPN regardless of which boxers it puts on and Lopez will be back, win or lose, as he still has about three years left on his promotional deal.

“Triller is a social platform and they’re very good at that. They had a great deal of success with their last fight (Tyson-Jones),” duBoef said. “It wasn’t the normal sports fan or boxing fan they had, so if they can expose our asset, our fighter, Teofimo, to a different audience that expands his popularity, I think it’s terrific, it’s great. We all benefit.

“I would like to have done the fight for our platform (ESPN) but it ends of working well for everyone. We benefit, Lou benefits, our fighters benefit and they also get exposed to a new audience.”

McWater, whose relationship with Top Rank has been icy because of the disagreement over the purse for the fight, was thrilled with Triller’s bid.

“We’re super excited,” McWater said. “I think it says a lot about disrupting the good old boys system in boxing and that’s what these guys are doing and what we’re doing.”

He was not a fan of a Top Rank offer that wasn’t close to Triller’s or even Matchroom’s.

“Top Rank offered us $1.25 million. We’re making almost 300 percent of what they offered us,” McWater said. “Even the Matchroom offer was over 50 percent of theirs.”

DiBella was also thrilled with Triller’s bid.

“When something goes to purse bid the marketplace rules and the marketplace ruled here,” he said. “Top Rank made an offer they thought was appropriate and Eddie, on behalf of DAZN and myself, made a very strong offer and under normal circumstances would have gotten the event. All I can do is congratulate Ryan and Fight Club. Obviously, they intend on being a player in boxing not just celebrity boxing. I welcome them and I’m happy to work with them on this event.”

Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs), 23, of Brooklyn, New York, was picked by many outlets as the 2020 fighter of the year based on his upset decision win over Vasiliy Lomachenko to unify 135-pound world titles on Oct. 17. On Oct. 31, Kambosos (19-0, 10 KOs), 27, of Australia, outpointed former featherweight world titlist Lee Selby in London in a title eliminator to earn the mandatory shot against Lopez.

Photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank