Subscribe to the podcast<\/a><\/p>\n Subscribe to the YouTube channel<\/a><\/p>\n Subscribe to DAZN’s Ultimate Plan<\/a><\/p>\n Leave a comment<\/a><\/p>\n Rumors of Top Rank\u2019s demise were greatly exaggerated.<\/p>\n Bob Arum\u2019s company, perhaps the most dominant boxing promoter in the sport\u2019s history, has secured a media rights deal with sports streaming service DAZN even as it continues negotiating a second deal that could see it return to longtime partner ESPN, sources told Fight Freaks Unite.<\/p>\n The DAZN deal is agreed to and expected to be signed on Tuesday with formal announcement planned for Wednesday, one of the sources said.<\/p>\n DAZN issued a press alert on Monday night inviting media to RSVP if interested in attending a \u201cDAZN special event\u201d on Wednesday morning in New York \u201cthat will feature a major announcement.\u201d No details on what it was about or even where specifically it would take place were offered, only that \u201cmore information will be announced soon.\u201d<\/p>\n However, according to the sources, it will be a news conference to announce the Top Rank deal at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n DAZN and Top Rank both declined to comment.<\/p>\n Give a gift subscription<\/a><\/p>\n Top Rank has been without a media partner since the exclusive deal it signed with ESPN and kicked off with Jeff Horn\u2019s controversial upset decision over Manny Pacquiao to win the WBO welterweight title in July 2017 in Brisbane, Australia, expired on July 31. It was common knowledge within the boxing business months earlier that ESPN did not plan to seek a renewal.<\/p>\n According to one of the sources, the Top Rank-DAZN conversations began in December 2024 when officials from both companies were on hand in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the heavyweight championship rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury. It wasn\u2019t a Top Rank event but the company was Fury\u2019s co-promoter and the card was on DAZN.<\/p>\n Ring magazine on Monday was the first to report the Top Rank-DAZN agreement but soon after the story was posted to its website it was removed and social media posts about it were deleted. A Ring magazine official did not respond to a message from Fight Freaks Unite inquiring about why the story was taken down.<\/p>\n The story said that the Top Rank-DAZN deal \u201cwill provide Top Rank with between eight and 10 dates per year and will pay license fees between $1 million and $1.25 million per event.\u201d<\/p>\n However, sources with knowledge of the deal said the number of shows in the report was incorrect and that the multi-year deal is worth more per event than Ring reported. One source made the point that many of the Top Rank titleholders have seven-figure minimum purses in their contracts, which would make it impossible for the company to put on events for that small of a license fee even with additional ticket and sponsorship revenue, considering all of the other expenses associated with a show, including the opponent and undercard.<\/p>\n There is no set date for the first event, the sources said, but they are looking at May or June.<\/p>\n Top Rank\u2019s deal with DAZN is non-exclusive but it will mean DAZN will add Top Rank events to a menu that already includes exclusivity with two of the world\u2019s other leading promoters, Matchroom Boxing, which finalized a five-year contract extension<\/a> in February, and Queensberry, which signed a multi-year deal to move to DAZN<\/a> in April 2025. DAZN also had a long-term deal with Golden Boy but it expired on Dec. 31, although they have done two one-off events and continue to discuss a new deal.<\/p>\n While Top Rank and DAZN have wrapped up their deal, with negotiations having intensified over the past six weeks, Top Rank remains in talks with ESPN about a possible return.<\/p>\n
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