It’s safe to say that Canelo Alvarez wasn’t happy with having to wait for UFC 244’s conclusion before he could fight Sergey Kovalev.
In an interview with ESPN Deportes (quote via BoxingScene), Alvarez addressed DAZN making him and Kovalev stay in their locker rooms while UFC 244 played out, and he vowed to make sure it won’t happen again.
“I will not allow them to do that, at least for my fights. I will talk to [DAZN],” Canelo said.
DAZN made the curious decision to delay Canelo’s main event vs. Kovalev so that it wouldn’t go head-to-head with Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal. Thanks to a quick undercard, including a first-round KO in the co-main event, there was a well over an hour’s wait for fans inside the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Many were livid and impatient with having to wait for a UFC show to end, and MGM Grand even aired Diaz-Masvidal during the intermission.
Alvarez won by 11th-round KO over Kovalev to win the WBO light-heavyweight title. It was already an adventure just to even get this fight booked, as plans to have him compete in September were shelved and both DAZN and Golden Boy were unable to get a third matchup with Gennadiy Golovkin to materialize. Canelo has also been vocal about his displeasure with his promoter Oscar De La Hoya.
Canelo is in the middle of a $350 million contract with DAZN, with Kovalev representing the second bout of his ten-fight deal. It’s expected that he’ll return to the ring on Cinco de Mayo weekend in 2020, but he still has no interest in facing GGG a third time, having won a majority decision last year.
Source: Bloodyelbow.com
