DAZN and its North America chief executive Joseph Markowski have mutually agreed to part ways, sources connected to the decision confirmed to BoxingScene on Friday following an initial report on the split from Sports Business Journal.
An official statement is being prepared for Monday, a DAZN spokesman said.
Markowski presided over DAZN’s bold entry into boxing, originally separating itself from competitors by streaming high-profile bouts anchored by Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and others linked to Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing for an annual subscription fee.
“Pay-per-view is dead,” marquees flashed at Madison Square Garden as Alvarez made his DAZN debut in a December 2018 trouncing over England’s Rocky Fielding.
Backed financially by Russia’s Len Blavatnik, DAZN worked feverishly to stand as the leader in boxing broadcasting, but because many fighters remained allegiant or contractually bound to Premier Boxing Champions, on Showtime, and Top Rank, on ESPN, DAZN’s ambitions were defused.
Ultimately, DAZN entered the pay-per-view business while finally streaming the Alvarez-Gennadiy Golovkin trilogy bout in 2022 – three years after it seemed ripest to occur.
Some cast DAZN’s boxing entry as one rife with wasteful spending, creating a culture of decreased activity and one that didn’t solve boxing’s decades-long plague of protective matchmaking.
But DAZN featured some classic bouts during Markowski’s years, including Andy Ruiz Jr’s stunning 2019 stoppage of heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in Joshua’s US debut at Madison Square Garden, Dmitrii Bivol’s upset of Alvarez and a slew of entertaining super-flyweight bouts.
Over recent months, Markowski has been replaced by Alfie Sharman as the streaming company’s public face during fight weeks, and that arrangement is expected to continue as DAZN will announce the hiring of IMG’s Michael Ridout in a less-public senior position supervising rights agreements.
Markowski, after 13 years with DAZN, has yet to announce what he’ll do next.