May 04, (THEWILL) – Canelo Alvarez’s three-fight reunion with DAZN and Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing had its first two contests announced earlier this year, but it has now come to light how much he turned down to accept DAZN’s offer.
Alvarez decided to stick with the arrangement from DAZN in a new deal that will come to an end with a third pay-per-view fight against an unknown opponent.
If he defeats Dmitry Bivol on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, he will drop from the 175-pound division to the 168-pound limit for his long-awaited third fight with opponent Gennadiy Golovkin on September 17 at an undisclosed location.
All of these was public knowledge, but what had not been acknowledged until now is that Alvarez turned down a pay-per-view bout against undefeated welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. from Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions and Showtime in order to accept DAZN’s offer.
PBC offered Alvarez a $45 million guarantee to fight Jermall Charlo on Saturday night and a $55 million guarantee to fight either Spence at a catch weight of 164 pounds or David Benavidez at the 168-pound limit, according to Tom Brown, whose company, TGB Promotions, represents both Spence and Jermall Charlo.
Had Alvarez accepted all of his matches against Charlo (with a fight record of 32-0, 22 KOs), Spence (28-0, 22 KOs), and Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs), would have been for the IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight crowns. Now, if Alvarez defeats Bivol, Golovkin, the IBF and WBA middleweight champion, will move up from the 160-pound division to challenge Alvarez for his 168-pound titles.
Alvarez’s total salary for the Bivol and Golovkin fights is said to be similar to what he would have received if he had fought Charlo and Spence or Benavidez, so it came down to choices.
Brown believes that Eddy Reynoso, who manages and trains Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs), persuaded the four-division champion to fight Russia’s Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs) and Kazakhstan’s Golovkin (42-1-1, 36 KOs), who turned 40 last month, on a path of less resistance.
“Props to Eddy Reynoso, the ‘Manager of the Year,’ for getting Canelo these huge paydays with the least risk,” Brown remarked.
“He had him take the least risk for the most reward. Because he had a chance to fight a reigning world champion at 160 pounds in Charlo and he also had a chance to fight an undefeated, two-time former 168-pound champion in Benavidez. Or he could’ve fought the reigning welterweight champion. It was a $100 million deal.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
