Hearn explains Canelo breakup: Not every Canelo fight was a financial success for DAZN

Canelo Alvarez’s turbulent relationship with DAZN may be done for good after the Mexican star inked a three-fight deal with Premier Boxing Champions in recent days.

In 2018, Alvarez signed a 10-fight, $365 million deal with the streaming service, but that pact was severed in 2020 after Alvarez sued them and then-promoter Golden Boy.

Alvarez subsequently patched things up with DAZN as nine out of his last 10 bouts were staged on the network, but Showtime will fill the void as the two sides join forces for the first time since 2021, when Alvarez briefly left DAZN to knock out Caleb Plant to become the undisputed super middleweight champion.

Matchroom Boxing head Eddie Hearn, who promoted seven out of Alvarez’s last eight fights on DAZN, explained why Alvarez would not be returning to the network.

“We never made him an offer. We didn’t have a fight for him in September. We were asked to make the [Dmitry] Bivol fight, but that wasn’t possible,” Hearn told Boxing Social.

Following his wins over Gennadiy Golovkin in September and John Ryder in May, Alvarez made it clear that he desired a rematch with Bivol, who soundly outpointed him last May in Las Vegas.

When a deal could not be finalized with the unbeaten WBA light heavyweight champion, Alvarez jumped ship to Al Haymon's PBC. The first fight of his new deal will see the Mexican superstar defend his undisputed 168-pound crown against WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, who will return following a two-year layoff. With a win over Charlo, Alvarez opens the door to possible bouts against fellow PBC fighters in Demetrius Andrade, David Benavidez, David Morrell, and Errol Spence Jr.

Hearn added he has no ill will towards Alvarez.

“He’s got to make his move. I wish him all of the best. It was an amazing run and I am sure we will work together again. Now, we need to look at that huge pot of money that was there for Canelo fights and now start looking at bringing a string of big fights. 2022 was Matchroom’s year, and 2023, right now, is PBC’s year. We are competitors. We want to win. We are rolling up our sleeves in order to give you an unbelievable six months.

“I am not just saying this, but honestly, DAZN is fine [with losing Alvarez]. It got to a stage where not every Canelo Alvarez fight is a success for DAZN. He is a massive name who’s done massive numbers for us. He’s always been a success for Matchroom. But it comes to a point where the broadcaster [says] ‘am I getting value?’ and the fights that are available. The answer is ‘not necessarily.’ If we had the Charlo fight or the Benavidez fight, things may be a bit different, but we don’t.”

While it's still possible that Alvarez may fight on DAZN again in the future, the 32-year-old four-division world champion may not take too kindly to Hearn implying his bouts were not financial successes for the network. Even if true, Alvarez could use that as fuel and potentially finish his career with PBC. But time will tell.