The most popular fighter in the sport has now secured the biggest sports contract in history.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has signed a five year deal with the streaming sports network DAZN after having his last six fights on HBO PPV. The unified middleweight champ will have his next 11 fights streamed live on the network, and it will net him 365 million dollars over the span of the contract. It starts when he takes on Rocky Fielding for the WBA “regular” super middleweight championship on December 15th at Madison Square Garden.

Canelo is included in a partnership between DAZN and Golden Boy Promotions who will have up to 10 high-profile fight cards per year on the network. That portion of the deal will start in the first quarter of 2019. This deal makes the relationship between the Perform Group network and Golden Boy Promotions active, as Golden Boy plans to have shows televised on the network as well. The big news of Alvarez coming on the network is what has the people in the boxing world buzzing, and they are extremely happy with the decision.

“We are thrilled to be exclusive partners with Golden Boy Promotions and Oscar De La Hoya,” said John Skipper, Executive Chairman of DAZN. “By bringing Canelo’s fights to DAZN, we will turn his pay-per-view success into a growth engine for subscribers – a truly transformational moment for our business and the entire industry.”

Alvarez, who is coming off his decision win over Gennady Golovkin to win the WBC, WBA, Lineal and Ring Magazine Middleweight championships, is excited about this new venture.

“I’ve always liked a challenge, and this is yet another challenge in my career,” said Alvarez. “Being part of this historic deal will require me to prepare myself even more and offer fans even better performances. At the same time, I am humbled to be selected to lead this new vision for the sport of boxing, which will without a doubt be for the benefit of the fans.”

Oscar De La Hoya will spearhead the programming slate for Golden Boy Promotions, which includes a library of fights that have been under the promotional banner and other shows. He feels that this move will be groundbreaking to take the sport to new levels.

“This is easily one of the best days in the growing history of Golden Boy Promotions,” said De La Hoya. “We are committed to making this sport as accessible as possible and at an affordable price for all the fans. My dream has been to make boxing a sport for all. DAZN has the perfect platform to make this dream come true, and with the biggest star in the sport at the helm of this journey, I have no doubts that we will succeed in unimaginable ways.”

Cover Photo by Getty Images