Canelo Alvarez could become boxing's greatest free agent, and Showtime's president says he'd 'like nothing more' than to sign him

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Canelo Alvarez could become boxing's greatest free agent, and Showtime's president says he'd 'like nothing more' than to sign him
Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez.Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images
  • Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, boxing's No.1 fighter, recently filed a legal complaint against Golden Boy Promotions and DAZN, after a failure to agree terms for his next fight.
  • It is not the first time there has been public disagreement between Alvarez and those who represent him.
  • Last year, The Athletic stated that if Alvarez is to gain control of his career, then he must be prepared to walk away from Golden Boy. This year, the apparent animosity has seemingly extended to the broadcaster, DAZN.
  • If Alvarez were to walk away, he would be boxing's greatest free agent since Floyd Mayweather, who finished his career on the Showtime network.
  • Showtime president Stephen Espinoza told Insider that he would "respect anyone's contractual relationship so we're not going to rush in just based on the headlines."
  • But Espinoza added that: "We would like nothing more than to be in business with Canelo again."
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Saul "Canelo" Alvarez could become boxing's greatest free agent, and Showtime would once again love to be in business with him if he were contractually available.

Alvarez is boxing's No.1 fighter, according to Insider, but he has not fought since November 2019, when he beat Sergey Kovalev in the 11th round with a legacy-enhancing stoppage.

It was the 53rd win of Alvarez's pro career, capping an extraordinary year in which he also out-pointed Daniel Jacobs a day before Cinco de Mayo, a popular national holiday in Mexico.

But while some of boxing's other superstar fighters like Vasyl Lomachenko and Errol Spence Jr. have fights scheduled in the coming months, it is unknown when Alvarez will actually return to the ring as he appears to be involved in a bigger battle behind-the-scenes.

Earlier this month, Alvarez filed a legal complaint against Golden Boy Promotions and DAZN, after a failure to agree terms for his next fight.

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The civil suit filed in California alleges the promoter and broadcaster breached the terms of a $365 million deal struck in 2018, with Alvarez seeking to recover damages of $280 million because of apparent transgressions involving, among other things, a breach of fiduciary duty, negligent interference with contract, and fraud, according to The Guardian.

Although the suit was rejected days later due to a paperwork error, Alvarez and his legal team have until September 28 to file an amendment, as reported by Boxing Scene.

As a qualified lawyer and the president of Showtime Sports, Stephen Espinoza is used to contractual negotiations, talent management, and getting deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars over the line.

Espinoza is the one who signed Floyd Mayweather Jr. to a landmark, six-fight, multi-year Showtime deal in 2012, and was an instrumental player in sealing the 2015 bout involving Mayweather and long-time rival Manny Pacquiao — which became the best-selling event in combat sports history.

Speaking to Insider this week, Espinoza appeared to empathize with the situation Alvarez, Golden Boy, and DAZN find themselves in.

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Canelo Alvarez could become boxing's greatest free agent, and Showtime's president says he'd 'like nothing more' than to sign him
Stephen Espinoza with former Showtime marquee client Floyd Mayweather.Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

"It's inevitable that no matter how careful you are in the contract drafting, there are unanticipated events," he told us. "And that's an understatement in boxing."

One of the disagreements between Alvarez and DAZN appeared to be down to the choice of opponent.

Though the Mexican enjoyed an excellent 2019, beating two big-names in two different weight classes, neither fighter was later deemed "premium" by the broadcaster, according to a series of tweets from esteemed boxing reporter Dan Rafael.

As part of the reported broadcast agreement, Alvarez would fight twice a year and at least one opponent would have to be considered premium by DAZN.

The only active boxer DAZN reportedly considered premium was Gennady Golovkin.

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There were three other options, but they all seem farcical for a fighter as talented as Alvarez as they included the UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, UFC star Jorge Masvidal, and Oscar de la Hoya who is 47 years old, has not competed professionally for 12 years, and is supposed to be Alvarez's promoter rather than his opponent.

If Alvarez were to compete against an opponent DAZN regarded to be sub-premium, then his remuneration to fight would be "dramatically cut," Rafael said.

Alvarez had otherwise been linked with fights against Billy Joe Saunders, Callum Smith, and Avni Yıldırım.

The situation is 'chaos right now,' according to Espinoza

This, amongst other things listed in the suit, has driven a wedge between those involved.

"In terms of matchmaking in particular, you can only legislate so much," Espinoza told Insider.

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"In some deals, there might be disagreements about the level of competition of which fighters are approved and most of the time the relationship is solid enough that you reach some sort of agreement — a compromise between what the network wants and what the fighter wants.

"Unfortunately, there seems to be a bigger disconnect in the Canelo-Golden Boy-DAZN deal, it never got resolved, and escalated to the point where it's chaos right now."

It is not the first time Alvarez has fallen out publicly with his representatives

The Athletic wrote in 2019 that Alvarez had been unhappy with Golden Boy Promotions for years, and even barred de la Hoya from entering his gym in San Diego.

Mike Coppinger, the story's author, wrote in October that if Alvarez is to gain control of his career, then he must be prepared to walk away from Golden Boy and de la Hoya.

Alvarez is yet to walk away, but if he did, he would the most prominent fighter to become a free agent since Mayweather in 2006, when he paid his then-promoter Top Rank $750,000 to get out of his deal.

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Investing in himself at a time when he was ranked as the best boxer on the planet proved to be one of the smartest decisions Mayweather ever made because he went on to earn hundreds of millions of dollars — millions of which were earned from fights broadcast by Showtime.

Now, more than a decade later, Alvarez finds himself in a similar position as he, like Mayweather once was, is the world's top fighter, embroiled in a public falling-out with his promoter, and could become a free agent.

Alvarez is not be short of admirers.

Boxing lawyers at the law firm Walker Morris, a legal advice service which counts Amir Khan as a client, told Insider in 2019 that if Alvarez were to leave Golden Boy, Matchroom would be an "obvious fit" given the firm's association with DAZN.

Insider then spoke to the group managing director of Matchroom Sport, Eddie Hearn, who agreed with the lawyers.

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"It would be [the obvious fit] because he'd have to deal with DAZN, and we've got a deal with DAZN as well," Hearn said.

Hearn stressed to us that he would never have a conversation with a fighter who was under contract. "But if he was to become available, would we want to work with Canelo? F------ hell, in an absolute heartbeat."

Fast forward one year and Alvarez remains sidelined, continues to be at odds with Golden Boy, but now the disagreement has extended to broadcaster DAZN.

Alvarez's $365 million DAZN deal in 2018 took him away from a pay-per-view platform and onto a subscription service. DAZN's total subscriber numbers are unclear, and it was hit by a lack of sports during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, recently cutting 2% of its workforce, as reported by the Financial Times.

Veteran reporter Thomas Hauser wrote on Boxing Scene earlier this summer that DAZN will be seeking to rebuild, but has "yet to find a sustainable formula for the United States and has failed to establish the foothold that it expected to achieve with boxing."

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A source at DAZN also told Insider recently that the US side of its business has been struggling.

DAZN itself did not respond to a request for comment from Insider for this story.

Showtime 'would love to see' Alvarez back on its network

Canelo Alvarez could become boxing's greatest free agent, and Showtime's president says he'd 'like nothing more' than to sign him
Mayweather out-pointed Alvarez on a Showtime pay-per-view in 2013.Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

Espinoza, like Hearn, was keen to stress that he would respect the contractual relationship Alvarez has with DAZN.

But if that were to change, Showtime said it could offer familiarity as it broadcast some of Alvarez's biggest bouts in his formative years, is experienced in marquee event planning, and has been able to navigate successfully through the boxing industry for decades.

Espinoza told Insider "we'd love to see" Alvarez go full circle and one day return to the network.

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"We're very proud of the work we did with Canelo," he said.

"We did some great fights, the Austin Trout fight which was a great event in San Antonio, and Mayweather vs. Canelo [in Las Vegas].

"First and foremost, we are going to respect anyone's contractual relationship so we're not going to rush in just based on the headlines.

"But if there's an opportunity and he's contractually available and legally able to pursue other options, well, we would jump at the opportunity to work with him again, and I'd like to think we'd get strong consideration from him as well.

"One of the strengths that we do bring to the table is the experience," Espinoza said.

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The experience with Mayweather alone is, for Showtime, a unique-selling-point. The former five-weight champion fought seven times on the network, generating 14,325,000 pay-per-view sales in the US, culminating with the 2017 crossover bout featuring Conor McGregor — the second best-selling combat sports event in history.

But success at the sport's top table is a tough business.

"It is not easy to make deals in boxing," Espinoza said. "I think we were able to navigate the Mayweather situation very effectively, and it worked out well for everybody.

"That's because of the experience in the entire Showtime team. Sometimes without that experience in the deal-making end, you end up in the situation where DAZN is. You're not quite able to navigate that.

"That all speaks well for our ability to handle deals of that caliber and we would like nothing more than to be in business with Canelo again."

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