After being off the air with their own broadcast deal since the Summer of 2025, Bob Arum's Top Rank Boxing has done a deal with well known boxing streamer DAZN that will be officially announced Wednesday.
After nine months of not having their own broadcast deal, Bob Arum's Top Rank Boxing has a new, familiar partner that is the home of several of their rival promotions. This, as Bob Arum's promotion will officially announce a new partnership with DAZN streaming at a Wednesday afternoon news conference in NYC.
DAZN notified media on Monday night of a "special announcement" to happen on Wendesday at Madison Square Garden.
Top Rank had been associated for the past eight years with ESPN for their fight series and pay per views. However, a source had told me last February that ESPN opted to not renew their agreement which ran out in July. Top Rank has been scrambling for an outlet, ever since.
Boxing insider Dan Rafael reported more on his Substack late Tuesday night, including some specifics on how many fights the deal includes, etc.
"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’t a Top Rank event but the company was Fury’s co-promoter and the card was on DAZN.
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.
The story said that the Top Rank-DAZN deal “will 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.”
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.
There is no set date for the first event, the sources said, but they are looking at May or June."
Rafael further reported that Top Rank's deal with DAZN is "non-exlusive" meaning they can negotiate with other outlets for a different package of fights or "one off" events, etc.
Arum, who's now 94 years old, is arguably the most prominent boxing promoter in the U.S. over the course of the last 50+ years. This includes him having worked with all time greats like Muhammad Ali, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao and Canelo Alvarez.
Top Rank's stable boasts world championship fighters like: new unified junior middleweight tiltleholder Xander Zayas, newly crowned lightweight champions Abdullah Mason and Raymond Muratalla, plus, smaller weight world champs like Emanuel Navarrete, Rafael Espinoza and Bruce "Shu Shu" Carrington.
Arum also has had co-promotional deals with former two time heavyweight champ Tyson Fury and current undisputed junior featherweight champ Naoya "The Monster" Inoue.
It should also be noted that DAZN's streaming service has already become the premier "boxing hub" for promoters Matchroom Boxing and Queensberry Promotions that primarily operate in the U.K. and Europe, although that do have occasional events in the U.S. DAZN's multi-year relationship with Oscar De La Hoya's California based Golden Boy Promotions expired at the end of 2025.
It remains to be seen, if DAZN will strike a new multi-fight per year deal with Golden Boy or if this new deal with Top Rank will be replacing them on their platform?