Four prominent British promoters "ganged up" to challenge Sky Sports’ broadcast deal with sports promoter Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport, according to Gareth A. Davies of the London TELEGRAPH. Promoters Frank Warren, Frank Maloney, Ricky Hatton and Barry McGuigan "signed a joint promotional contract with rival subscription channel BoxNation, which creates a powerful platform for match-making at domestic and world level." Additionally, BoxNation "has acquired the rights" to air world boxing's "biggest fight of the year" between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Saúl Álvarez, on Sept 14. It "is unusual for promoters to come together in such a way in what is a cut-throat sport," but the four believe that "it is time to act over what they view as Sky’s unhealthy domination and the arrangement that any promoter who wants a fight to be shown by the channel has to go through Hearn." Hatton said that since being jettisoned a year ago by Sky, he had "considered reducing his stable to a handful of fighters from the 18 on the roster at present." Sky Sports "declined to comment" (TELEGRAPH, 6/26).
