Via Charles Brun: Anthony Joshua will face unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in a rematch on August 20 on Sky Sports Box Office in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia instead of DAZN in the UK.
The Daily Mail reports that Sky Sports outbid DAZN at £28m, so they will be the ones who televised the Joshua-Usyk 2 rematch.
Joshua recently signed a 5 year contract 100 million pounds deal with DAZN, which is a ridiculous amount, as he has lost 2 of his last 4 games since 2019.
The worst part is that the streaming giant won’t be showing Joshua’s all-important rematch with Usyk. What if Joshua lost that fight? What’s the point in keeping Joshua then?
If Joshua loses to Usyk again, what at DAZN will keep Joshua around for the next 5 years?
It would be a waste of time if they pay Joshua huge sums as he will likely continue to lose unless his promoter Eddie Hearn fights him against non-elite level fighters like him. I did earlier in my career when everything was going smoothly. .
For Joshua to earn that much to fight on DAZN for the next 5 years after losing half of his last 4 skirmishes, you’d have to wonder if the streaming giants made a mistake.
If Joshua loses the fight against Usyk, DAZN will devalue the boxer to show on their streaming service, and they will miss out on arguably the most important fight of his career.
The loss to Joshua on August 20th will be the third of his last five skirmishes, and he will then head back to DAZN to begin their net fight. If you’re DAZN, you probably won’t be too happy with getting Joshua back under those conditions.
The question is, will DAZN offer a way out to knock Joshua down if his career continues to go downhill?
If so, it might be a good idea to dump him too immediately if he loses to Usyk on August 20 as there is no use keeping him on board.
You have to let Joshua walk the plank if he loses to Usyk because his value will drop to one side of the cliff after that defeat.
The only fans interested in subscribing to DAZN to watch Joshua after that loss will be those who don’t follow the sport closely.
DAZN likely won’t attract as many new subscribers every time Joshua fights if he gets wiped out by Usyk in the rematch.
“Sky Sports outscored their rivals to show Joshua’s drive to win back the world heavyweight titles he lost last year, with a bid of around £28m,” said Kieran Lynch. in Daily mail.
Joshua and Ukrainian rival Usyk are expected to share a purse of at least £100m.
“This fight is outside the DAZN deal, the long-term DAZN deal, as the rights are effectively owned by the site, so that will be negotiated separately,” Eddie Hearn said of Joshua.
