Sports streaming service DAZN will stream middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez's Dec. 19 fight against super middleweight champion Callum Smith, the company said Wednesday.

The deal comes after Alvarez earlier this month ended his multi-million dollar breach-of-contract lawsuit against his now former promotion company Golden Boy Promotions and DAZN that also effectively ended the streaming service’s 11-fight deal with the fighter signed in 2018. Sources close to DAZN said the Alvarez-Smith agreement is a one-fight deal. 

The fight will be Alvarez’s first since November 2019 when he defeated light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev on DAZN. 

The Alvarez-Smith deal is the latest in a string of big fights on tap for DAZN in December, which also includes the Dec. 5 Anthony Joshua-Kubrat Pulev fight. It also coincides with DAZN’s December international expansion to more than 200 countries.

Sports streaming service DAZN said its decision to take a knee and delay the start of its Nov. 2 Canelo Alvarez-Sergey Kovalev boxing match until after the end of the competing UFC 244 event actually garnered additional signups for its event. 

DAZN officials said the sports streaming service teamed with the UFC to delay the start of DAZN's light heavyweight championship boxing event at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena until after 1 a.m. on the East Coast. As a result of the delay, DAZN executive vice president North America Joseph Markowski said a "significant" number of fight fans signed up for the $20 per month DAZN service after watching the Nate Diaz-Jorge Masvidal UFC 244 main event bout, although he would not reveal specific numbers. 

“We worked directly with [UFC president Dana White] to stagger the fights in an effort to serve the largest possible number of those fans,” said Markowski. “We agreed that the UFC fight would go first. Ultimately we saw a significant surge in subscription signups and audience growth between the end of the UFC fight and the beginning of Canelo's fight." 

While UFC fans watched Masvidal defeat Diaz after a controversial stoppage on cuts three rounds into their much-anticipated fight, DAZN subscribers were forced to endure a more than 90-minute delay between the co-feature — a first round knockout by emerging lightweight boxer Ryan Garcia — and the main event.

UFC president Dana White, speaking during the UFC 244 post-fight press conference, said that DAZN and the MGM called him Saturday night and requested to show the UFC 244 main event to boxing fans at the live venue who were waiting for the Alvarez-Kovalev fight to begin.

“We got it worked out … to the point where fans could see both fights,” White said.

Alvarez — fighting in the third bout of an exclusive 11-fight deal with DAZN — eventually knocked out Kovalev in the 11th round to take the light heavyweight championship belt.

Several industry observers believe that DAZN's move relegated the sport of boxing to second class status compared to mixed-martial arts.

Markowski dismissed any criticism of its move, adding that DAZN would do it again if a similar situation occurred in the future.

“There are finite Saturday nights over the course of the year, and occasionally there will be clashes,” Markowski said. “We’ll always work on behalf of our existing and potential subscribers to maximize the audience for every DAZN broadcast.”

HBO on June 17 will distribute via pay-per-view the rematch between light heavyweights Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev, the network said Tuesday.

The fight, which will take place in Las Vegas, will once again pit light heavyweight champion Ward against former champ Kovalev. Ward won a close but unanimous decision in their Nov. 19 matchup, which generated a reported 160,000 PPV buys.

"After a razor thin decision last November in their first meeting, the boxing community has been eagerly waiting for a Ward-Kovalev rematch," said Tony Walker, Vice President, HBO Pay-Per-View in a statement. "These are two world class prizefighters who embrace being on the sport's biggest stage. Like Andre and Sergey, we can't wait for June 17th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas."

Four marquee boxing and UFC pay-per- view events over the next two months could salvage what has been an otherwise weak year for the category.

After generating more than $500 million in revenue last year — some $400 million from just the May 2, 2015 Floyd Mayweather- Manny Pacquiao welterweight title fight — the live PPV-event category has garnered less than half of that take through the first 10 months of 2016, industry sources said.

Distributors hope a flurry of big PPV events in November and December will help pad the category’s revenue take. The latest addition to the PPV category is the Dec. 30 return of UFC star Ronda Rousey to the octagon, more than a year after her shocking loss to Holly Holm in last November’s UFC 193.

UFC CARRYING THE LOAD

The show joins UFC’s Nov. 12 PPV event from New York’s Madison Square Garden, which will feature popular UFC fighter Conor McGregor. In Demand senior vice president of programming and business development Mark Boccardi said that the appearance of Rousey and McGregor in two of the final three UFC PPV events -- the MMA outfit will also distribute its UFC 206 event on Dec. 10 -- will cap off what has been one of the most lucrative years for the UFC in terms of PPV revenue, although he would not disclose specifics.

“Clearly, this is a year where the UFC is helping the entire category,” Boccardi said. “Everyone sees that boxing is down — we had no Mayweather and one Pacquaio fight so far [this past April against Timothy Bradley Jr.] — so the UFC’s really strong performance is good for the overall health of the business. The events feature two tentpole athletes for PPV in Rousey and McGregor — the two are by far the biggest UFC PPV stars — and the crossover appeal that Ronda has you can’t overstate.”

Related > UFC: Too Legit to Quit

Two high-profile PPV boxing events will also take place within two weeks of each other in November. This Saturday ([Nov. 5) Pacquiao will step into the PPV ring for a fight against WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas, while Nov. 19 will pit Sergey Kovalev against Andre Ward in a battle of undefeated light heavyweight boxers.

Boxing promotion company Top Rank, which is distributing the Pacquiao-Vargas fight, isn’t concerned about cannibalization, given the back-to-back-to-back marquee PPV events, company president Todd duBoef said.

DAILY DOC SERIES KICKS OFF

Top Rank recently turned to the Web to promote the fight. The network last week launched ALL IN: Pacquiao-Vargas, a daily documentary series on Top Rank’s Facebook page and Twitter feed that it said will give boxing fans an inside look at each fighter’s daily preparations.

Related > Building Boxing's Next PPV Champ [subscription required]

HBO will push the lion’s share of its promotional efforts for the Kovalev-Ward fight to the week before the event in an effort to avoid the marketing noise from the Pacquiao-Vargas and UFC 205 events. While there is a concern about potential cannibalization of viewers, HBO vice president of programming Tony Walker said the network is confident its event would appeal to boxing fans looking for a competitive matchup between undefeated fighters.

“There are some [cannibalization] concerns, but we think our fight is of a quality that will make people watch it,” Walker said.

HBO Saturday afternoon will air live heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko’s fight against contender Kubrat Pulev, the network said.

The fight, which will be held in Germany will air live on HBO Nov. 15 at 4:45 p.m., said the network. HBO is coming off a fight card this past Saturday night in which Sergey Kovalev defeated 49-year old former light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins to unify the IBF, WBA and WBO light heavyweight championships.

HBO is also prepping for its Nov. 22 Manny Pacquiao-Chris Algieri pay-per-view fight card from Macau, China.

HBO’s 24/7 sports documentary show will take a look at the upcoming Nov. 22 Manny Pacquiao-Chris Algieri pay-per-view fight, the network said Friday.

The one-episode 24/7 Pacquiao/Algieri show will air Nov.8 on the pay service and will explore the storyline for the fight and follow the fighters as they train for the big event, said the network.

The special will air after the network’s Nov. 8 World Championship Boxing telecast featuring the Bernard Hopkins-Sergey Kovalev light heavyweight unification bout, said network officials.

HBO will air a one-episode edition of it’s `24/7’ sports documentary series surrounding the Nov. 8 Bernard Hopkins-Sergey Kovalev fight, said network officials.

The 30-minute special will debut Oct. 18 and will preview the upcoming fight between the veteran IBF and WBA light heavyweight champion Hopkins and WBC light heavyweight champ Kovalev, which will air live on HBO Nov. 8.

The '24/7' special will premiere on HBO immediately following the network's live World Championship Boxing event from Carson, CA.