Article by Rick Mohamed

Promoter Eddie Hearn says Fox Sports is ready to battle DAZN in a huge bidding war for the exclusive rights to air the Canelo Alvarez vs. Caleb Plant super middleweight unification fight.

Eddie Hearn, Matchroom’s head and boxing’s chief promoter (alongside Top Rank’s legendary Bob Arum and Golden Boy’s Oscar De La Hoya ), in the aftermath of Canelo Alvarez’ 8-round TKO over Billy Joe Saunders, said that the proposed Canelo vs. Caleb Plant fight will attract huge bids from television networks Fox and DAZN for the rights to air the match. 

Plant, the IBF super middleweight champion is most likely Canelo’s next opponent in his stated bid to become the unified super middleweight champion. He bested Callum Smith to garner the WBA & WBC titles, then beat Saunders to add the WBO belt (along with my favorite, the WBC’s special Mestizo belt). 

The average boxing fan expects Plant to be Canelo”s next opponent. It’s too obvious. Now, all that remains is the negotiation phase, which has proven to go either way. 

Plant’s most recent fights have aired on Fox, while Canelo’s recent fights have aired on DAZN, with Hearn’s Matchroom promoting the matches. The stage is then set for either Fox or DAZN to snag the rights, but don’t rule out the newest upstart, Triller. 

It burst onto the scene in 2020, promoting the Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. and Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren exhibition fights. Triller recently expanded its boxing portfolio to real fights when it airs the Teofimo Lopez vs. George Kamposos bout in June. 

Whoever gets the rights, it stands to be a very lucrative night for all involved once it happens: Canelo will be aiming to cement his legacy by unifying all the super middleweight titles, while Plant is looking to pull off what would be one of the biggest upsets in boxing history if he defeats Canelo. The estimated date of the fight puts it around late summer or the beginning of fall. LETSGOCHAMP 

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LETSGOCHAMPS!