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Gennady Golovkin signs six-fight, three-year deal with streaming service DAZN

Gennady Golovkin connects with a punch to the face of Canelo Alvarez during their middleweight title fight in Las Vegas in September 2017.
(John Locher / Associated Press)
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Former middleweight boxing champion Gennady Golovkin signed a six-fight, three-year deal with the new streaming service DAZN on Friday in a move that keeps him aligned for a trilogy fight with Canelo Alvarez.

Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 knockouts) will return to the ring in June after relinquishing his belt to Mexico’s two-belt champion in September in a tightly contested majority decision.

That bout marked the end of both fighters’ deals with HBO, which has now exited the boxing business. In October, Alvarez aligned with DAZN in a 10-fight, $350-million agreement.

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DAZN Group executive chairman John Skipper and the Golovkin camp declined to reveal the financial terms of the agreement, but noted that Golovkin, who turns 37 on April 8, will have his fights presented to DAZN subscribers at no extra charge beyond the $9.99 monthly fee.

DAZN is also linked to the two other middleweight champions, International Boxing Federation belt-holder Daniel Jacobs, who fights Alvarez on May 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and World Boxing Organization champion Demetrius Andrade.

The expectation is that if Golovkin and Alvarez win their spring fights, they will meet again for a third consecutive September. Their first meeting in September 2017 was a draw.

“DAZN has quickly become the new home of boxing by making the biggest events easily available to the fans,” the Big Bear-trained boxer from Kazakhstan said in a prepared statement. “When deciding on where I wanted to continue my career, DAZN’s global vision perfectly matched my goals — not just for my career, but the opportunity to showcase talented Eastern European fighters to the world.”

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Golovkin’s GGG Promotions will present two fight cards per year on DAZN beginning in 2020.

Skipper called Golovkin, who reigned as middleweight champion for 20 fights from 2010 to 18 with victories over Jacobs, David Lemieux, Kell Brook and Matthew Macklin, a “generational talent with international appeal.”

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A news conference with Golovkin and Skipper will take place in Los Angeles next week.

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimespugmire

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