Canelo Alvarez will make the rounds on various ESPN TV and radio shows over the next two days along with Daniel Jacobs to promote their May 4 fight at T-Mobile Arena that will air on DAZN. The move comes just a week after a similar car wash last Thursday for heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua -- whose U.S. debut on June 1 against Jarrell Miller at MSG also airs on DAZN -- was cancelled unexpectedly the night before. Though there was speculation that Joshua's appearances were pulled due to the net not wanting to promote a fight on DAZN, which is headed by former ESPN President John Skipper, ESPN Senior VP/Production & Remote Events Mark Gross said it was more a matter of just trying to get Joshua on closer to the actual fight date. "Anthony Joshua, if he wants to, will be offered the opportunity to be on a show on our air," Gross said. "We just wanted it to be more topical, more in the news, which just comes with being closer to when he's fighting." Gross said the net tried to get Joshua on the first episode of "Max on Boxing," a new show hosted by Max Kellerman that debuted Feb. 8. However, Joshua's schedule precluded that from happening. Gross maintains hope that Joshua will be able to make some appearances on ESPN's air in the weeks leading up to the Miller fight.
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? Boxing has seen a profileration of fighters signing exclusive broadcast deals for big money in recent months, highlighted by Alvarez' $365M deal with DAZN signed in October. ESPN-Top Rank, Showtime and the Fox-PBC entity also are in the market for the sport's biggest stars. However, that could create some headaches with networks promoting boxers that have deals with rival outlets. Gross said those personal tie-ins will not impact ESPN's editorial decisions, as it plans to continue covering what resonates with fans. He pointed to the fact that ESPN had week-long dedicated coverage of the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Conor McGregor fight in August ’17 despite it airing on Showtime PPV. “If a particular story or athlete or storyline is resonating with sports fans, we’ll have them on or we’ll report on the story, we’ll have a guest on -- whatever is relevant in the world of sports,” said Gross. Meanwhile, DAZN VP/Communication & PR Chris Legentil said if sports media organizations are “committed to providing fans with a look at the landscape, they would be unwise to do so in a vacuum.” He said, “There’s a bit of a rising tide that could impact the industry if everyone was willing to just talk about boxing as a whole.” Gennady Golovkin reportedly is close to finalizing a multi-fight deal with DAZN, meaning a third installment of the Alvarez-Golovkin series is a distinct possibility. Legentil said should that fight take place, it would be interesting to see if ESPN broadcasts shows like “First Take” from the fight as it did for the first two fights. He did acknowledge the previous on-site broadcasts made more sense for ESPN since Kellerman was calling the fights for HBO and that HBO and ESPN "have a less competitive relationship” than that between DAZN and ESPN.
