Yesterday, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez's manager, Eddy Reynoso, declared the Mexican superstar to be a boxing free agent. The statement, which by all indications is truthful, means that the multi-division champion is free from his contractual obligations to promoter Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya and broadcast platform DAZN. For the past two months, Alvarez has been litigating a $280 million lawsuit against those entities. On the surface, it seems like a win for Canelo and a loss for DAZN but boxing insider Rick Glaser has a very insightful take on the reported settlement.
Glaser wrote: "The Canelo free agent deal is a win-win situation for Canelo, Oscar, and DAZN. First off, Canelo is free to go on his merry way and fight whoever, get active again, after being out of action since November 2, 2019, and he will get to maintain his free agency status. And Canelo looks like he will be fighting IBF 168-pound champion Caleb Plant next on a 'one off deal' with [Al Haymon's ] Premier Boxing Champions. DAZN was losing a lot of money from every Canelo fight, so they can stop the financial bloodbath now. And Oscar, he gets a [small] cash settlement from Canelo, and not only does he get his dates [to promote boxing shows] from DAZN for his other fighters, Golden Boy Promotions now gets more dates, and more money per date for growing Stars like Ryan Garcia, Vergil Ortiz and the other champions that Golden Boy currently promotes. All told, this was the best possible outcome for all three parties once Canelo sued Oscar, Golden Boy Promotions, and DAZN. This definitely was "Making Lemonade out of Lemons" for all concerned parties. A settlement with no losers. And that is very rare, especially in a boxing related lawsuit. Now, the question is 'How does this effect boxing enthusiasts?' Well, it's a win-win situation for the fans too!!! Here's why-- now Canelo will be forced to upgrade the level of competition, not just be guaranteed a lot of money for easier fights. With Golden Boy getting more dates, we will get more opportunities to see Garcia, Ortiz, and Oscar's sother boxers, and now in even bigger fights. As for DAZN, if you're paying for a subscription, you'll get more nights of boxing action, and now there's a much better chance that boxing at DAZN becomes more financially feasible for DAZN, resulting in DAZN staying in the the boxing programming business. The only bad part, Canelo's fights will now be 90 dollar pay-per-views, no matter who he fights. That is the only drawback."
*NOTE: Boxingtalk has not independently verified the accuracy of Glaser's statements regarding the terms of the settlement, but Glaser has access to numerous sources in the boxing business and is generally reliable and accurate.
