Alvarez sues DAZN, Golden Boy Promotions and Oscar De La Hoya

[X]

Canelo obviously has a beef with DAZN.

Its just a shame its tainted

[Master]

Canelo Alvarez's fight plan should look familiar

Pay him — or else.

That’s the implied threat in the lawsuit that Canelo Alvarez filed this week against promoter Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions, as well as streaming broadcast partner DAZN.

In addition to more than $280 million in damages, Alvarez is asking for the freedom to fight on shows promoted by entities other than Golden Boy and broadcast by companies other than DAZN.

In essence, he’s demanding control over his career.

Similar to how De La Hoya did.

Ironically, De La Hoya was the fighter who fundamentally changed the power dynamic between box-office champions and the companies that stage their fights.

Twenty years ago, De La Hoya sued Bob Arum to break his promotional contact with Top Rank. He won.

The two sides briefly reconciled, but De La Hoya eventually made their split permanent when he became his own promoter.

The fighter was now the boss, a mind-set adopted by Floyd Mayweather Jr., who succeeded De La Hoya as the sport’s top attraction.

Mayweather once paid $750,000 to break his contract with Top Rank.

Mayweather continued working with promoters, but under his terms. He didn’t work for the promoter. The promoter worked for him. Mayweather absorbed more risk. He also gained more upside.

So, if history was a guide, Alvarez was bound to try to venture out on his own.

What prevented this from happening earlier was the record-breaking offer he received from Golden Boy, an 11-fight deal for $365 million. The contract stipulated Golden Boy would pay Alvarez $15 million to take on 168-pound champion Rocky Fielding and $30 million per fight thereafter.

Golden Boy had a separate contract with DAZN, which agreed to pay it a $20-million licensing fee for every card that was headlined by Alvarez.

In his complaint, Alvarez said he was unaware that DAZN signed its deal with Golden Boy under the assumption the promotion company would deliver a fight between him and Gennady Golovkin. Alvarez’s deal with Golden Boy included no such stipulation. In fact, Alvarez said in his court filing that Golden Boy was obligated to pay him an additional



$25 million if he agreed to take on Golovkin.

Alvarez and Golovkin fought twice on HBO’s pay-per-view arm. Both fights generated well over a million pay-per-view buys.

The only Alvarez fight that sold better was his loss to Mayweather.

A subscription service, DAZN figured it could increase its customer base by streaming a third fight between Alvarez and Golovkin. DAZN was invested enough in the plan to sign Golovkin to a separate $100-million contract.

Alvarez fought twice on DAZN in 2019, defeating Daniel Jacobs and Sergey Kovalev. Not until he showed an interest in fighting Kovalev was Alvarez made aware that DAZN was displeased with his choice of opponents, according to his complaint. Alvarez said he didn’t know DAZN had the right to reject his opponents based on the terms of its deal with Golden Boy.

DAZN accepted Jacobs and Kovalev, but no more. If Golden Boy couldn’t produce a Golovkin fight, DAZN wouldn’t pay the $40-million licensing fee — and it hasn’t. Alvarez hasn’t fought this year.

Who knows if the relationships are salvageable? In retrospect, it has become evident that DAZN overpaid for boxing in a desperate attempt to gain a foothold in the U.S. market. It’s also become clear that Alvarez doesn’t trust De La Hoya or Golden Boy.

If the three-way partnership falls apart, the question is what will come next.

When De La Hoya became his own promoter, he fought less but made sure his fights were cultural events by having them on Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day.

Mayweather adopted a particularly unlikable public persona, figuring it made no difference to him whether fans paid to watch him lose.

In the cases of De La Hoya and Mayweather, they had visions for their careers. They also received the advice necessary to execute their plans, De La Hoya from Richard Schaefer and Mayweather from Al Haymon. And when they triumphed, boxing triumphed.

The sport hasn’t enjoyed many victories lately. More than ever, boxing needs the kind of vision that De La Hoya and Mayweather provided.

Alvarez could deliver that if he becomes a promotional free agent, in which case this legal mess would benefit

not only him, but the entire

sport.

https://news.yahoo.com/column-canelo...034205508.html

[Master]

A federal judge in California on Friday dismissed Canelo Alvarez’s lawsuit against DAZN, Golden Boy Promotions and Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya on technical legal grounds, and gave Alvarez until Sept. 28 to refile the suit correctly.

Assuming the suit is refiled correctly, there are two astonishing allegations in the suit that are related.

First, the suit alleges that De La Hoya gave the final right to approve Alvarez’s opponents to both Alvarez and DAZN. Alvarez had that right in his Oct. 17 agreement he signed with Golden Boy, but the suit alleges DAZN acquired that right in its deal with Golden Boy that was finalized on Oct. 11 in exchange for the right to broadcast Alvarez’s fights.

Sources said Alvarez was furious when he discovered that, and the DAZN deal nearly fell apart at the last minute. According to his suit, “Notably, the Alvarez Contract did not mention that DAZN would have any right to accept or reject any opponents selected by Alvarez.”

That’s when the second, even more astounding allegation comes in. Paragraph 31 of Alvarez’s original lawsuit notes that De La Hoya personally guaranteed liability for DAZN’s payments to Alvarez.

Thus, De La Hoya could potentially be on the hook for the $280 million Alvarez is seeking in the suit.

The suit notes that DAZN agreed to pay Golden Boy $40 million per Alvarez bout, and Alvarez was to get $35 million of that each fight. The suit said that Golden Boy received a “reduced license fee,” for the Dec. 15 bout with Rocky Fielding. Alvarez was paid $15 million for that fight, the suit reported, but Golden Boy’s share is unknown.

Paragraph 31 makes a considerable allegation against De La Hoya. It reads:

The Alvarez Contract required Golden Boy to pay Alvarez guaranteed payments totaling $365 million for his next eleven boxing matches ($15 million for the December 2018 bout with Rocky Fielding and $35 million dollars for each of his next ten bouts thereafter), expected to be on or about May 5 and September 16 of the years 2019 to 2023. Pursuant to the Alvarez Contract, Oscar De La Hoya, Golden Boy Promotions’ CEO, personally assumed liability for all guaranteed payments.

As part of the deal it made to bring Alvarez’s fights to DAZN, Golden Boy negotiated another deal with the streaming service to put its other shows on DAZN.

This was critical for Golden Boy because less than three weeks prior to Alvarez signing with DAZN, HBO announced it would no longer do boxing following an Oct. 27, 2018, card. At that point, Golden Boy rivals Top Rank and Premier Boxing Champions had television output deals. Top Rank had a long-term deal with ESPN while the PBC was working with Fox and Showtime.

It would have been a killer for Golden Boy not to have a deal with a broadcast service that would have produced regular income for it.

That irritated Alvarez as well. Though none of the parties have commented publicly, several sources have said Alvarez’s issues are more with De La Hoya personally and Golden Boy than with DAZN. ESPN Deportes quoted Alvarez manager Eddy Reynoso as saying, “It would be a lie to say that we have a great relationship [with Golden Boy]. We already had some disagreements behind the scenes. There wasn’t a great relationship.”

Alvarez and DAZN did not have a contract with each other. The contracts at issue in this case were between Alvarez, Golden Boy and De La Hoya on one side and Golden Boy, De La Hoya and DAZN on the other.

The lawsuit also would allow DAZN’s lawyers to talk directly with Alvarez and his lawyers. If there is no lawsuit, Golden Boy could accuse DAZN of tortious interference in their deal.

Though the suit has been withdrawn, this case isn’t going away any time soon.

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/making-t...181859759.html

[TitoFan]

Ginger, Fishnets, and DAZN all going after each other in court.

Priceless....

[NoSavingByTheBell]

Oscar better start pole dancing for some big money. Extra coke and black, sunken-in eyes

[SlimTrae]

I'm trying to understand what is Canelo's concern. Is this a major part of the problem DLH got dealt:

This was critical for Golden Boy because less than three weeks prior to Alvarez signing with DAZN, HBO announced it would no longer do boxing following an Oct. 27, 2018, card. At that point, Golden Boy rivals Top Rank and Premier Boxing Champions had television output deals. Top Rank had a long-term deal with ESPN while the PBC was working with Fox and Showtime.



If, so, than that is understandable why DAZN came into play. A backup plan? Canelo has gotten some really heavy bread for a solid fighter, not a GOAT contender by any stretch of the imagination.

[TitoFan]

I'm trying to understand what is Canelo's concern. Is this a major part of the problem DLH got dealt:

This was critical for Golden Boy because less than three weeks prior to Alvarez signing with DAZN, HBO announced it would no longer do boxing following an Oct. 27, 2018, card. At that point, Golden Boy rivals Top Rank and Premier Boxing Champions had television output deals. Top Rank had a long-term deal with ESPN while the PBC was working with Fox and Showtime.



If, so, than that is understandable why DAZN came into play. A backup plan? Canelo has gotten some really heavy bread for a solid fighter, not a GOAT contender by any stretch of the imagination.

Canelo's concern? In my (totally biased) opinion, it's that the well-oiled machinery that is his career development ran into a glitch. A glitch of the type Canelo is not used to. In the past, Canelo's influence alone and his cozy relationship with the WBC got him fights against subpar or totally degraded opponents for vacant, or even so far as "made-up" titles.

Once you get used to that, it's tough to hear all of a sudden that so-and-so is not being allowed as an opponent because, frankly....... we need someone credible. That is hard to digest when you've gotten used to getting your way throughout over 50 fights in your career. Solid fighter? Absolutely. But before Canelo, it was unheard of having "solid fighters" being figuratively carried around on golden thrones.

There's a Silver Lining here, though:

Not all of us were thrilled when HBO left boxing and DAZN swooped in and attempted to take over the way we've always watched boxing. It was headed toward "either you subscribe to DAZN or don't watch boxing." A nose-thumbing at fans in general. But now DAZN is getting it's legal ass kicked... and I couldn't be happier. It's like when two enemies of yours start a war with each other and end up blowing each other to bits....... and you're sitting on the sidelines eating popcorn. I hope this legal mumbo-jumbo between Canelo and DAZN (and GBP) drags on till Canelo's hair turns gray, and DLH has a middle-aged paunch. F*ck 'em.

Meanwhile, fans are rediscovering that there's PLENTY of life in boxing without the likes of Canelo and his Hype Machine.

[Denilson3.0]

DAZN and Golden Balls may try to use a defence that involves Force Majeure because of the pandemic. Businesses all over the world have been unable to comply with contracts because of the restrictions due to the pandemic.

So Canelo suing in the middle of a pandemic when the courts won’t even hear his case for at least a year is strange. It is time for him to leave DeadZone though and pull a Mayweather and start to promoting himself. His fanbase won't turn on him for this. Hell, with the reputation boxing has for screwing fighters, he may come out of this with MORE fans.

Or he could go back to Showtime. Espinoza remains a huge admirer yet has a personal beef with Oscar. And Dazn can focus on building young lions like Ryan Garcia, Vergil Ortiz and Devin Haney. A non English speaking fighter will always be hard for them to sell subs outside of Canelo’s base.

But ESPN would match Nelo hard. You seen that with Wilder Vs Fury. They demand that the best fight the best because boxing is like this, you can walk the line and no one pays attention. However walk a tight rope 500 ft up and we can’t turn away.

Everyone would have watched Canelo vs Andrade, Billy Joe Sanders, Callum Smith, Big Charlo, David Benevidez or Artur Beterbiev. These are great fights. Though he would start as the fav in all of them. it's far from certain he would win, so they never happened.

It would be interesting to see how taking a loss impacts Canelo contractually. They were really idiots if they said losing voids the agreement. That would explain why Canelo has been choosing safer opponents and kind judges.

I just hope there's not an Andre Ward situation were Canelo sits out for a couple of years. Ward kept suing Goosen and losing. Then appealing and losing. That case would probably still be in court if Dan Goosen didn't die.

[SlimTrae]

DAZN and Golden Balls may try to use a defence that involves Force Majeure because of the pandemic. Businesses all over the world have been unable to comply with contracts because of the restrictions due to the pandemic.

So Canelo suing in the middle of a pandemic when the courts won’t even hear his case for at least a year is strange. It is time for him to leave DeadZone though and pull a Mayweather and start to promoting himself. His fanbase won't turn on him for this. Hell, with the reputation boxing has for screwing fighters, he may come out of this with MORE fans.

Or he could go back to Showtime. Espinoza remains a huge admirer yet has a personal beef with Oscar. And Dazn can focus on building young lions like Ryan Garcia, Vergil Ortiz and Devin Haney. A non English speaking fighter will always be hard for them to sell subs outside of Canelo’s base.

But ESPN would match Nelo hard. You seen that with Wilder Vs Fury. They demand that the best fight the best because boxing is like this, you can walk the line and no one pays attention. However walk a tight rope 500 ft up and we can’t turn away.

Everyone would have watched Canelo vs Andrade, Billy Joe Sanders, Callum Smith, Big Charlo, David Benevidez or Artur Beterbiev. These are great fights. Though he would start as the fav in all of them. it's far from certain he would win, so they never happened.

It would be interesting to see how taking a loss impacts Canelo contractually. They were really idiots if they said losing voids the agreement. That would explain why Canelo has been choosing safer opponents and kind judges.

I just hope there's not an Andre Ward situation were Canelo sits out for a couple of years. Ward kept suing Goosen and losing. Then appealing and losing. That case would probably still be in court if Dan Goosen didn't die.

Well said.