LAS VEGAS — Boxing long has maintained a superiority complex over mixed martial arts. Let the record show the first major fissure in that rigid stance emerged Saturday night.
In a decision intended to maximize new subscriptions for its year-old streaming service, executives at DAZN decided earlier in the week to delay the start of the Canelo Alvarez-Sergey Kovalev light heavyweight title bout until after the anticipated UFC 244 main event between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz.
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That choice triggered an attention-sucking 1 hour, 38-minute wait between the co-main and main events for those inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena and the many others watching on DAZN. Masvidal proceeded to stop Diaz on a doctor’s stoppage (facial cut) after three rounds, forcing Alvarez-Kovalev to not begin until after 1 a.m. ET.
The extended delay was lengthened when Alvarez’s stablemate, 21-year-old lightweight Ryan Garcia, scored a first-round knockout of Romero Duno just 1 minute, 38 seconds into the co-main event.
With the UFC 244 co-main between Darren Till and Kelvin Gastelum barely underway, there appeared sufficient time to start the walk-ins for Kovalev and Alvarez. But since the DAZN decision to wait had already been well-publicized, both of the gloved-up boxers were ordered to remain in their respective locker rooms.
Canelo was first shown during that time wind-milling his arms in a warm-up exercise, although no activity was imminent.
UFC 244’s main event was shown on the big screens at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
DAZN went into a stalling pattern of conversation with boxing media, a slew of backstage shots and needless chatter with former NBA player Ron Artest as viewers who didn’t buy the UFC pay-per-view between were left to wait out a sport that perhaps they have no interest in.
If any detail revealed the flawed plan, it was that the first round of Alvarez-Kovalev didn’t begin until 1:18 a.m. on the East Coast. Newspaper reporters needing to file by 10:30 p.m. local time had only seen the third round by that point.
The harshest outcome of the delay was that it punished DAZN’s existing subscriber base in favor of the money grab pursuit for new ones. Many easily might have believed the boxing match was already over if they hadn’t received DAZN’s delay memo.
“It was a business decision,” one DAZN employee uttered when Saturday’s fight was over. “If it worked, it was worth it.” A DAZN official later reported subscription sign-ups and its overall audience surged immediately following the end of the Masvidal-Diaz fight. More than 100,000 existing subscribers signed in because of the decision, they say.
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But the delay created a Twitter firestorm, with multiple reports coming that people who gathered to watch the fight in house parties departed for home during the break.
In a bizarre scene, MGM Grand Garden operators began broadcasting the UFC pay-per-view on the arena’s four big screens, leaving some to crane their necks to watch in puzzlement while others used the opportunity for a drink, food or restroom break.
Opposing promoters like Showtime’s Stephen Espinoza took to social media for criticism of the move.
Stalling a Canelo fight so we can all sit in the arena and watch MMA on screens is insane.
An insult to the sport of boxing in general & to Canelo & Kovalev in particular.
Fans came to MGM to watch boxing. If they wanted to watch MMA, they would have stayed home & done so.
— Stephen Espinoza (@StephenEspinoza) November 3, 2019
Further evidence of how poorly DAZN understands boxing.
— Stephen Espinoza (@StephenEspinoza) November 3, 2019
As time dragged on, another view from backstage revealed Canelo standing with a confused look, waiting with his arms resting at his side after two of the five-minute Masvidal-Diaz rounds ticked. Kovalev, meanwhile, took to lounging backward on a leather couch. In a later pan of the camera to Canelo’s room, he was seen lying down on a couch as if preparing for a nap.
“This shouldn’t happen,” Alvarez promoter Oscar De La Hoya told employees in an MGM Grand office.
Heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. had to fill time while assisting on a Spanish-language broadcast, and he posed the night’s ultimate question.
“Why did they do that?” Ruiz asked. “I thought (Floyd) Mayweather was coming back, or something.”
Four-division boxing champion Mikey Garcia was among those inside MGM Grand sitting and waiting.
“Boxing shouldn’t have to wait,” Garcia texted The Athletic. “Let’s get back to boxing.”
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Thanks to its deeper connection to a cross-generational, worldwide audience, boxing long has fared better than the UFC in its showcase events, generating greater purses for its athletes and deals like DAZN’s $350 million, 10-fight investment in Alvarez.
While the UFC bout featured the appearance of fan favorite Diaz — a fighter with 12 career losses — and the rapidly improving Masvidal in a fight promoted by The Rock, it shouldn’t have trumped a match featuring the so-called “face of boxing.” Alvarez was chasing a fourth division belt while trying to surpass legendary three-division champion, countryman Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., and match with another Mexican great in Erik Morales.
Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs) indeed accomplished this historic feat, holding up four fingers in a celebratory photo after struggling for most of the fight to work through the jab and size advantage of Kovalev. Alvarez eventually finished his Russian opponent in the 11th round.
Alvarez pounded Kovalev in the head with a left, and as Kovalev tried to move his head, he was met by a perfectly sized-up crushing right hand that caused him to slump on the ropes. Referee Russell Mora moved in to quickly wave the fight over.
When asked whether the long wait affected his performance, Alvarez shrugged it off.
“It happens,” he said. “This is another step in my history. Be patient.”
Canelo ensured it was worth the wait. But it’s a wait the fans should never have been asked to endure in the first place.
(Top photo: Steve Marcus / Getty Images)
