Boxing fans can officially cut the cord.
After Saturday night’s bout that saw Xander Zayas defeat Jorge Garcia via unanimous decision in Madison Square Garden, Top Rank Boxing’s eight-year run on ESPN officially came to an end. The Worldwide Leader decided not to renew its deal with the boxing promotion in February. And as of July 27, Top Rank has yet to ink another broadcast deal; though CEO Bob Arum indicated in April that he plans on splitting rights between multiple partners.
But at least for now, boxing is no longer a sport that airs on linear television.
As Jason Clinkscales reported for Sportico on Sunday, no major boxing promotion has an active deal with a linear television network. HBO aired its final fight in 2018. Showtime shuttered its boxing vertical in 2023. Premier Boxing Champions, another fighting promotion, had its deals with Fox Sports and Showtime expire in 2022 and now have a deal with Prime Video rather than a traditional platform. Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions has moved exclusively to sports streaming service DAZN. And Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions has a deal with Netflix.
Further, Clinkscales reports that Top Rank has had “preliminary talks” with Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery, neither of which went very far.
There is, however, a small chance that ESPN doesn’t fully exit the boxing space. The network could end up partnering with TKO Boxing, the new UFC-backed promotion. ESPN’s current media rights deal with UFC expires in December, though the network is interested in re-upping in some capacity. TKO Boxing could bolster ESPN’s combat sports offerings on its forthcoming streaming service, though it’s unclear if the promotion would ever receive linear exposure.
In many ways, Saturday night marked the end of an era for a sport that has had many eras end in recent years. If there’s one thing boxing fans are used to in 2025, it’s constant change. And from a broadcast perspective, it seems wise to expect more change soon.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.