The way I see it is like this; Canelo never had a problem with DAZN. However, DAZN had the problem with paying him $30,000,000+ per fight and having very little return on their outlay and investment as a result. They aren't PPV. They are a subscription based network. Canelo appeals to the Latin (Spanish speaking) community. Well, how many Mexicans are you going to rinse? As for DAZN, I am assuming their returns were very slim and Golden Boy were taking a huge slice too from both DAZN/Canelo while padding Canelo's record and rinsing DAZN at the same time. Canelo probably scouted around trying to see who would pay him the most money for a December fight (with 4-6 weeks notice) and ended up back at DAZN on a fight by fight deal. I'll tell you another thing too, no way is he on the same pay deal as before too. He'll be lucky to be getting $10,000,000 on such short notice. Once the Golden Boy contract terminated, so did the original DAZN agreement too. If the viewing figures are decent, Canelo get an increased offer but I doubt any premier athlete - outside of F1 - is making the same money as pre 2020. Kind of ironic isn't it? If DAZN are the ones who will pay him the most, they can insist on only the toughest fights now to get their money's worth.
Canelo just wanted the flexibility of not having anyone authorize who he fights, when he fights and what network he fights on. So now he’s fully become Money Mayweather where he’s in control of everything from concessions, merchandise and even site fees. So if he wants to make a PPV fight on Fox or ESPN next then there would be no restrictions.
Right. Wrong. Mayweather had full control over who he fought and the terms while in the multi-fight Showtime deal. Canelo didn't have that kind of control in the DAZN deal. DAZN wouldn't let him fight who he wanted to. Both sides agreed to cancel the deal, because it was problematic for both sides. DAZN didn't have the $$ to pay him the guarantees, especially given Covid and the lack of fans, and Canelo wants the freedom to fight for whoever he wants, or fight on another network, which he couldn't do while in the old deal. Yup, now Canelo is essentially a free agent, he agreed to fight Smith through DAZN in a one-fight deal, but after that, in his next fight he could fight for any network or PPV. It doesn't have to be through DAZN.
I wouldn't call smith a cherry pick nor would I apply that label on a plant fight If he goes smith then plant I'd be very happy as a fan
I'm also not so surprised. I watched pbc jabs after canelo got out and they were kind of shoveling dirt on dazn and discussing to the point of pitching canelo on pbc Montero talked about how great it was for dazn to get out of the deal financially Mannix and mora had stayed pretty loyal to canelo still covering him positively frequently. At first I figured it was professional of them to not show backlash in their coverage. However now it appears they are still courting canelo despite the deal dying
Soo is canelo gonna pay off judges now? And fighters to take dives, rehydration clauses, steroid testers?
Cant wait to see how his PPV does with Smith. Money was a huge issue with the contract. DAZN didn’t want to pay 40million to GBP to broadcast his fight. They have 4 weeks left to hype it.
Mayweather distorted the reality of the PPV market, making it appear larger than it is. No one can afford to pay what DAZN committed to Canelo, because the fights just aren't there. What's more frustrating to me as a fan is that the bigger fights that *do* exist also aren't happening. There's no way Crawford/Spence would do as much box office as it should, but still the fight is bigger than the other other possibilities and should get made. Or at least make an attempt. The exclusive promoter arrangements are strangling the sport.
