By Sean Crose
Spanish language network Estrella will now be hosting televised Golden Boy Promotions fight cards. A three year deal between the two entities has been announced wherein Estrella will broadcast two Golden Boy events a month during this period.
After not having its contract with Fox Sports1 and Fox Deportes renewed, people were wondering aloud what would become of Golden Boy cards which did not feature top level matches. Fights such as the upcoming David Lemiuex-Gennady Golovkin middleweight unification bout this fall (Lemieux is a Golden Boy fighter), for instance, were never in doubt. Cards featuring up and coming Golden Boy fighters, however, were in question.
“Estrella TV,” De La Hoya claims, “is one of the top-rated networks across the U.S. among Hispanic audiences so it was an easy decision to partner with them in bringing live, exciting boxing matches to their viewers across America.”
Indeed, Estrella, which is based in California, is a network which caters to a Spanish speaking audience.
“Latinos,” De La Hoya continued, “comprise the largest fan base for our sport so we see this partnership with Estrella TV as a great opportunity to showcase our stable of fighters.”
Golden Boy’s first foray into Estrella waters will be on September fourth, when GB’s “LA Fight Club” series – which is broadcast from LA’s Belasco Theater – will take to the airwaves. According to ESPNs Dan Rafael, “featherweight prospect Diego De La Hoya (11-0, 7 KOs), first cousin of Golden Boy chairman and CEO Oscar De La Hoya, is likely to headline.”
The obvious issue for Golden Boy here is that few have heard of Estrella TV. The fact that this may be as true with the Hispanic community as it is with the general American public is problematic. Still, with the Premiere Boxing Champions series being aired on so many outlets it undoubtedly wasn’t easy for Golden Boy to find a new home.
Another issue is boxing’s English speaking audience – the very audience PBC is clearly interested in capturing. Whether or not Golden Boy will be able to re-enter the waters it once occupied with the help of Fox Sports 1 remains to be seen. Again, it can’t be easy to find quality broadcast outlets in today’s highly competitive boxing broadcast market.
It’s worth noting, however, that when news of the Fox Sports 1 contract not being renewed broke, Golden Boy’s Stefen Friedman told ESPN.com that the company “had interest from a number of English-language television stations.”