Where Next For Canelo Alvarez, Gennady Golovkin After HBO Stops Boxing Coverage?

Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin headline a number of boxing stars who will be in search of a new broadcast home after HBO announced they would be leaving the boxing business.

The premium cable network broadcasted over 1,000 fights in the last 45 years, including legends of the sport such as Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Julio Cesar Chavez, and more.

However, HBO announced Thursday morning they will be dropping their boxing coverage due to increased competition from broadcast rivals, a lack of high-profile fights and a declining interest in the sport from their subscriber base.

"This is not a subjective decision," HBO Sports executive vice president Peter Nelson said, as quoted on the New York Times. “Our audience research informs us that boxing is no longer a determinant factor for subscribing to HBO. There’s plenty of boxing out there. But what we have not seen is a lot of signature destination fights."

HBO was not helped by Bob Arum's Top Rank promotion leaving them in favor of ESPN in 2016, which saw the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Vasyl Lomachenko and Terence Crawford all have their fights instead shown on ESPN's various platforms, including the subscription-based ESPN Plus.

With Premier Boxing Champions being broadcast on FOX and Showtime while Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing signed a record-breaking deal with new streaming service DAZN earlier this year, it's a representation of the various options boxing fans have today as well as the new subscriber-based wave of boxing programming taking over.

"Boxing has been part of our heritage for decades. During that time, the sport has undergone a transformation," HBO added in a statement. "It is now widely available on a host of networks and streaming services. There is more boxing than ever being televised and distributed. In some cases, this programming is very good. But from an entertainment point of view, it's not unique."

This leaves Alvarez and Golovkin without a broadcast home, both of whom, fought earlier this month in one of those rare "signature destination fights" that generated a reported 1.1 million pay-per-view buys.

Alvarez's HBO contract was already reportedly ending leading up to the Golovkin fight and there will be no shortage of suitors for the Mexican, especially as he is the biggest pay-per-view draw in the sport.

While promoter Oscar de la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions has a deal with ESPN already, albeit with an option for 2019, Alvarez's next destination could also be Showtime as Bobby Burack of The Big Lead speculates: "Showtime is the only network broadcasting fights on PPV. Showtime has recently pulled away as the network with the best roster and is the destination that would provide Canelo/De La Hoya with the greatest fights, opportunities, and promotion. With that said, it is hard to envision ESPN, DAZN, and FOX not also going after him aggressively."

As for Golovkin, he has already been approached by some networks, according to Yahoo's Chris Mannix.

Other big names in search of a network are the likes of Roman Gonzalez, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, Jaime Munguia, and Dmitry Bivol.

The last HBO-televised event takes place Oct. 27 with Daniel Jacobs taking on Sergey Derevyanchenko for the vacant International Boxing Federation middleweight title.