Eddie Hearn has finally confirmed a new five-year deal to bring all his UK shows to DAZN, ending a partnership between Matchroom and Sky Sports that goes back 27 years. 

It is 2½ years since DAZN began bankrolling Hearn’s ambitions in the United States. Since then that partnership has extended to Mexico, Italy and Spain. 

But the end of Matchroom’s latest boxing deal with Sky Sports opened up the way to an agreement with DAZN. 

The final Matchroom show on Sky will be on June 12, when Lewis Ritson faces Ponce in Newcastle. The deal with DAZN kicks off with Fight Camp, beginning on July 31 and running for three successive Saturday nights. 

The new contract is for 16 shows in the UK and Ireland per year, which will be broadcast to DAZN subscribers around the globe. 

The UK shows will be produced in-house by Matchroom’s own media arm, Matchroom Media, which will also be producing documentaries and regular programming away from live shows. 

DAZN also announced that it is renewing its deal with Matchroom for shows in the United States, Italy and Spain, while further expansion is expected this year into Australia, Japan and Canada.

Matchroom's partnership with Sky Sports goes back to 1994 when Hearn's father, Barry, agreed to a deal to take Chris Eubank from ITV to the then fledgling satellite company.

Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 - covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.