Five Burning Questions: Canelo Alvarez, Free Agent

Saul "Dinero" Alvarez is a free agent

The time has finally come for Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to be his own man. Boxing’s biggest attraction is going solo, and the state of the game is going to change. Let’s take a look at what this means for Canelo, Golden Boy Promotions, and the sport of boxing as a whole.

What Happened?

Last month, Canelo Alvarez refiled a breach of contract lawsuit against both DAZN and Golden Boy Promotions seeking an amount in excess of $280 million. This came after DAZN refused to pay Canelo his guarantee for not facing “premium opponents” like his long retired boss, Oscar De La Hoya, or UFC contender Jorge Masvidal. Gennadiy Golovkin was on that list, but more on him later.

Eddie Reynoso took to social media to announce that Canelo is now a free agent. This was the end result for Canelo all along, and now he can conduct his business on his terms with whomever he wants to work with. Canelo has long outgrown the need for a promoter, and now he’s free to conduct himself and his brand as he sees fit.

Like Floyd Mayweather before him, Canelo’s newfound freedom will only serve to make him a bigger star in the years to come. 

When Will Canelo Fight Again?

While nothing is official yet, Alvarez may yet face IBF Super Middleweight champion Caleb Plant on December 19 on a PBC pay-per-view. Canelo has been itching to fight this year, but between the COVID outbreak and DAZNs stupidity in handling him, he’s yet to make an appearance. Plant has been actively campaigning for the fight and Canelo is looking to win a legitimate title at 168. The trinket he got from Rocky Fielding doesn’t count.

I would imagine if he doesn’t fight Plant next month, he’ll still be making his first appearance on a PBC card in early 2021 in a tune up fight. Should Canelo opt to stay between the 168-175 lb range, PBC has a monopoly on those divisions, including a potentially huge fight against David Benavidez.

If he is looking to work his way back down to 160, that could mean a bout with Jermall Charlo or even Errol Spence in 2022 and beyond. 

What Does This Mean For Boxing?

When Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather broke away from Bob Arum, they became the biggest stars of their generation. Both set viewership records on pay-per-view, helped increase visibility of the sport and crossed over into the mainstream in a way that’d be impossible with a promoter present. 

While traditional members of the boxing media hated De La Hoya and especially Mayweather (I’ll add Andre Ward to the list after he left Dan Goossen), it ultimately benefited the sport. There are DAZN blowhards masquerading as journalists that will be sure to run to the network’s aid, and heaven forbid he does work with Haymon and trigger their own personal apocalypse, but the fans are going to be the big winners here.

Oh, and Canelo is going to make a nauseating amount of money, so good for him, I guess. 

Can Golden Boy Promotions Survive Without Canelo? Can DAZN?

"Oh, Shit."

When Golden Boy Promotions sued Al Haymon back in 2017, we learned that almost all of their revenue came from Alvarez. The only thing that has kept De La Hoya’s company from being a small time company struggling to fill hotel ballrooms to being an elite outfit was Alvarez. Considering the destroyed relationship with their main star, and a similarly toxic one between their #2 guy in Ryan Garcia, Golden Boy’s top brass can’t be feeling too hot right now. 

DAZN fares far worse. Their subscriber costs are increasing at an exponential rate, not to mention they’ve been throwing around huge contracts for fighters to the point where another lawsuit wouldn’t be out of the question. Golovkin, for example, signed a supposed nine-figure contract with them. 

Without Canelo, there’s a chance that Golden Boy and DAZN will turn their ire towards each other in the coming months.  

What About Gennadiy Golovkin?

In Golovkin’s case, he could care less about all of this. Golovkin and Canelo hate each other enough not to do business with one another. It was Golovkin who demanded a 50-50 split of a trilogy purse and a change of venue, forgetting perhaps that he lost the second fight. Though Canelo may have had exorbitant expectations as to who he had to fight with his DAZN contract, Golovkin is clearly exempt from the “premium” clause on his contract as he steadily awaits a mandatory defense against some guy named Kamil Szeremeta.


With Canelo out of the picture for now, and considering Golovkin’s age, expect him to march towards either a bout with the painfully green Jaime Munguia or the dreadfully boring Demetrius Andrade. DAZN will lean on Golovkin more than ever, and by matching him up against these two, they could start the “Canelo is ducking Golovkin” crap that fools so many people.


At this stage of his career, Golovkin will be happy to fight whoever he wants as long as DAZN can afford his bill.