Joshua v Fury: DAZN and Netflix must work together for the good of Boxing and the audience

Making the greatest fights in the world used to be difficult in part because of the power and rivalry of the broadcasters, but most boxing fans thought that time had come to an end, with the involvement of Turki Alalshikh, Saudi Arabia and the development and backing of DAZN.

DAZN has built its platform to become 'The Global Home of Boxing' forming broadcast partnerships with Golden Boy, Matchroom, Queensberry, Top Rank, Boxxer, Riyadh Season, The Ring, Eye of the Tiger, MF Pro, Salita Promotions, Dream Boxing, Top Tier and Gladius, among many others around the world. This has been lauded because it is supposed to make it easier for the big fights to be made between fighters and promoters.

But there are still other players in the industry, and perhaps the most significant is Netflix. The world's biggest streaming platform entered the sport with deals to show exhibition matches between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, and Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul, but have also signed deals to broadcast Canelo Alvarez v Terence Crawford, and Tyson Fury's return against Arslanbek Makhmudov.

Netflix's sports strategy is to purchase the rights for selected major events or matches, examples include their deal with the NFL to show 2 Games on Christmas Day, and their deal with FIFA to show every match from the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup in the USA. Netflix has established a major strategic partnership with Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA) and mastermind of Riyadh Season, heavily focusing on premium live sports. Through this collaboration, Netflix is set to be the broadcaster of the long-anticipated bout between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, and this is already causing issues over the location of the fight, and issues for boxing fans who have subscribed to DAZN being told that they are subscribing to 'The Global Home of Boxing'.

Queensberry's Frank Warren confirmed that neither he or Eddie Hearn (Matchroom) can be involved in any way with the fight if it takes place in the UK because the fight will be broadcast by Netflix, and the two promotional companies have exclusive UK deals with DAZN. That raises the very real prospect that the biggest fight ever between two British boxers will take place outside the UK, and potentially in the USA, meaning British boxing fans could have to pay thousands of pounds to travel to the fight, or get up in the middle of the night to watch it.

I guess it also raises the less likely prospect of the fight not taking place at all.

Speaking on a DAZN show Chris Mannix said "This is the biggest fight in British boxing history"

"There could be an enormous site fee coming from some casino in Las Vegas, or in Allegiant Stadium there is more money coming up front than there is if you hold it in the UK"

"But this is the biggest slap in the face to British boxing fans that you could possibly make"

He went on to point the finger at AJ and Fury for their "greed". "If you believe Eddie Hearn, the contract states the fight must be held in the UK, and I think Anthony Joshua should hold the line and stick to that"

"This is an insult to millions of British fans who have supported these guys over the years"

He continued to say that he felt the UK fans were being told they weren't good enough for the really big fights.

"If it happens it is so unbelievably greedy on the part of Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury"

"Outside of the cash grab, this makes no sense and it is an insult to the fans"

"If Anthony Joshua said NO, we are doing this fight in the UK or we aren't doing it, then the fight would happen in the UK"

His co-presenter Sergio Mora said "It is not the right place for it to take place, they (Fury and AJ) made their living with British support, British fans, and all of a sudden you are going to give it to Americans. It is going to be a big fight here, but it is not going to be as popular or as huge as it would have been at a Wembley Stadium, or another soccer stadium."

For the best part of 30 years the location and the fights were determined by either of the two most powerful broadcasters in Boxing - HBO and Showtime. The two subscription channels signed separate deals with individual boxers and boxing promotional companies, which often meant difficult negotiations, and on several occasions either delayed a fight by years or meant it did not take place at all. Showtime Championship Boxing had a broadcast deal with Mike Tyson from 1991, and showed his fights against Donavan Ruddock (I & II), Peter McNeeley, Frank Bruno (II), Bruce Seldon, the two iconic fights against Evander Holyfield in 1997, and his controversial encounters with Francis Botha and Andrew Golota in 1999 and 2000 respectively.

HBO (Home Box Office) was the unrivalled home of Boxing in the USA from 1974 to the late 1980's, and they showed many of the most iconic fights ever including the Rumble in the Jungle and the Thrilla in Manila. HBO World Championship Boxing showed Lennox Lewis' entire career to US audiences, with 7 Pay-Per-View events including both fights against Evander Holyfield for the Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship, both fights against Hasim Rahman, and both fights against Oliver McCall, as well as the Battle of Britain with Frank Bruno.

Lennox Lewis v Mike Tyson, June 8 2002 (HBO & Showtime in USA, Sky in UK)

The negotiations for the fight between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson began in late 2000, and the eventual fight did not take place until 8 June 2002. A BBC report from February 2001 showed the difficulties of getting the two broadcasting giants to agree on a deal:

A potential Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson fight is still nowhere near agreement - according to the money men.

The main stumbling point remains the two boxers' different television deals with Showtime and Home Box Office (HBO). Tyson is signed to cable network Showtime, while Lewis is backed by American pay-per-view channel HBO.

The two companies must negotiate any dealings before an agreement can be reached. "Nothing's changed", said Jay Larkin, executive of Showtime. "Nothing has moved. It's pretty much of a stalemate.

"We don't get a sense of any urgency from HBO to make the fight, and as we've always stated, we have no urgency to make it at our end."

And he believes the ball is in Lewis' court.

"The only way the fight is going to get made is when Lennox decides he wants to make the fight.

"It's entirely in Lennox's power, it's entirely Lennox's decision to make that fight."

Former Lewis promoter Panos Eliades, who claims he is owed £1.7m in unpaid fees by the WBC and IBF title holder, had also cast doubt on the fight happening any time soon. "HBO and Showtime will have to sit down round a table for at least three months over this one," Eliades said.

"They have not even spoken yet and until the fight is made no serious discussions will begin."

Eventually HBO and Showtime agreed an unprecedented deal to broadcast the fight on 22 January 2002, and the framework of the deal included:

• Neutral Broadcast: Neither network displayed their logos on ring mats or television graphics during the event.

• Shared Announcers: The broadcast booth featured a merged team, with HBO’s Jim Lampley handling blow-by-blow and Showtime’s Bobby Czyz serving as an analyst.

• Ring Introductions: Lewis was introduced by HBO’s Michael Buffer, while Tyson was introduced by Showtime’s Jimmy Lennon Jr.

• Replay Rights: The network of the winning fighter (HBO, as Lewis won) received exclusive rights to the fight's replay.

The fight was bought by more than 2 million and made more than $109million, and the fight delivered in the ring too with Lewis defeating Tyson with an 8th round Knockout. Whilst it was a success, HBO and Showtime remained huge rivals and such a co-production did not take place again until 2 May 2015 when Floyd Mayweather took on Manny Pacquiao, in what was dubbed the 'Fight of the Century'.

Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao, 2 May 2015  (HBO & Showtime in USA, Sky in UK)

Arguably Anthony Joshua's finest moment was shown live by both HBO and Showtime in April 2017, as he defeated Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium, so there is clear evidence for the fact that rival broadcasters can work together on major boxing shows.

Anthony Joshua v Wladimir Klitschko, 29 April 2017 (HBO & Showtime in USA, Sky in UK)

In the UK both BBC and ITV simultaneously broadcast the finals of the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championships, and there has been several notable examples of broadcasters partnering in the UK on major events, including the 2019 Cricket World Cup Final (Sky Sports, Channel 4), 2025 FIFA Club World Cup (DAZN, Channel 5), BBC and TNT Sports broadcast the FA Cup Final simultaneously, ITV simulcasts Sky Sports' coverage of the Carabao Cup Final, and ITV simulcasts TNT Sports' coverage of the Gallagher Rugby Prem Final.

The fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury must take place in the UK, for most of the reasons outlined by Chris Mannix, and the UK audience deserves to watch coverage presented by British personalities, featuring British pundits and British commentators. For DAZN not to be able to broadcast a fight between two fighters promoted by promotional companies which they have exclusive deals with is detrimental to DAZN, and Saudi Arabia, through SURJ have a $1billion investment in DAZN, so it is surely in the interests of Saudi Arabia for the sports streaming platform to be able to show the fight to its subscribers.

So one of two things needs to happen for the fight to take place in the UK. Either DAZN have to allow Queensberry and Matchroom to break their contract for this fight, and let Netflix broadcast the event in the UK exclusively, OR Netflix needs to allow DAZN to cover the event.

Speaking as a fan I cannot stand the Netflix coverage, and I feel Netflix should stick to dramas, movies, documentaries and podcasts, and leave Live sport well alone. DAZN's boxing coverage is outstanding, and DAZN could easily do a deal with ITV, Channel 4 or Channel 5 to simulcast the event and make it available to a wider UK audience. This fight needs to be presented by Ade Oladipo and Anna Woolhouse, with punditry from Carl Frampton, Tony Bellew and Lennox Lewis, and commentary from Adam Smith, Darren Barker and Barry Jones. These people cover boxing every single week of the year, and cover the biggest fights around the world.

The British audience should not have to put up with the American-centric coverage Netflix offers, when this is the biggest British fight of all-time.

DAZN and Netflix should follow the example of HBO and Showtime and work together and let this fight take place at Wembley Stadium, or the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. This would give the British fans the chance to attend and create the great atmosphere that this fight deserves, and would mean the watching audience across the country would not have to get up early or stay up late for the bout.

A 10pm Main Event is no later than Midnight across Europe, is 6am in Japan, 8-10am in Australia, no later than Midnight across Africa, and between 1pm and 5pm across the USA. It is the perfect time for the whole world.

GRNDSTND, by Matt Hooper

Matt Hooper is an Associate Member of the Sports Journalists Association.