Oscar De La Hoya responded to reports of Eddie Hearn and Matchroom leaving Sky Sports to go all in with DAZN by telling British fight fans: “boxing in the UK has a new home”.
The Golden Boy Promotions supremo, who himself has a major partnership with DAZN in the United States, took to social media on Thursday to congratulate both parties on the reported five-year pact.
The news, first reported by Mike Coppinger of The Athletic, apparently means Hearn’s Matchroom shows in the UK will be broadcast by DAZN from July 1.
Hearn all in with DAZN
Hearn and Matchroom already had a $1billion eight-year deal with DAZN in the United States, but the UK deal means they are now partners in boxing’s two biggest markets. Throw in the global platform DAZN launched last December, and world domination in boxing is now just about achieved.
Congrats to Matchroom and DAZN for expanding their partnership. Looks like boxing in the UK has a new home ????????????
— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) April 22, 2021
The Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua summer superfight should be unaffected by the deal though, as Joshua and fellow heavyweight Dillian Whyte are not part of it.
Fury vs Joshua will likely be a joint pay-per-view in the UK with Sky Sports and BT Sport sharing rights. It is likely ESPN+ (exclusive to Fury) will have U.S. rights with DAZN broadcasting the bout just about everywhere else. The fight is likely to take place in late July or early August in Saudi Arabia.
Big week for Eddie Hearn
It has been a huge week for Hearn, who became Chairman of the wider Matchroom group of companies on Monday when his father Barry stepped aside to take on an advisory role.
Hearn and Matchroom have been beefing up their content capability in recent months, and have launched Matchroom Media. It is thought the freedom to lead on production and shoulder programming is a major factor in Hearn’s decision to go with DAZN.
There has been no official announcement of the deal yet with all parties staying tight-lipped for now.
