The RING III event, headlined by Edgar Berlanga vs. Hamzah Sheeraz, will stream live on DAZN PPV from the Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, NY. This may sound like something that was common knowledge, but up until Monday morning, it wasn’t.
When getting all the viewing info on Monday for the card headlined by Berlanga (23-1, 18 KOs) vs. Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs), it didn’t occur to me to look up the PPV price as all the marketing for the event leading up to fight week said that it was going to be “live on DAZN.” After a few minutes, I decided to check, just in case, and to my surprise, there was language on DAZN stating that it was indeed on PPV and that it would cost $59.99 for those in the States.
Thinking I was the only one who might have missed this being announced days or weeks earlier, I posted the following on X just to confirm. “Man, I must have been sleeping behind the wheel on this one. #BerlangaSheeraz is a PPV? I could have sworn it was being marketed as part of the subscription. So $59.99 for the card.”
Man, I must have been sleeping behind the wheel on this one. #BerlangaSheeraz is a PPV? I could of sworn it was being marketed as part of the subscription. So $59.99 for the card.😳 @FightsATW
— Abraham Gonzalez (@abeG718) July 7, 2025
The reaction was that many were in the dark about this fight card being on PPV, and when they saw the post, fans had a lot to say about it. A few were positive, but most were negative. It feels like the event was placed on DAZN PPV after ticket sales did not reach a certain threshold.
Looking at Ticketmaster on Sunday, more than half the stadium had unsold seats, with a quarter of it being curtained off. I could see why they would feel the need to go PPV, but even then, doing it on PPV for only DAZN subscribers doesn’t help the sport or the fighters expand their fan base, especially if they aren’t a household name like Canelo Alvarez or Gervonta Davis.
Whatever Happened To “Lowering Boxing PPVs?”
When discussing Fortune 500 companies or any corporation that generates a substantial amount of money each year, one thing they never like doing is losing money, even if they could afford to. The Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority for Saudi Arabia, Turki Alalshikh, initially acted as if this was a non-issue, but as we progress further with the Turki Era, things are beginning to change gradually from what we have all become accustomed to.
— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) July 9, 2025
Alalshikh placed both feet into boxing late in 2023, and he was on a mission to make the fights that everyone wanted to see but couldn’t because of boxing politics. He was able to accomplish it right away because he had an abundance of what everyone was seeking: money. We started to receive these unbelievable cards that were stacked on paper, and as he became more involved in the boxing business, he realized that there were things he needed to change to truly get fans to buy into his movement. One of those things was the price of the PPV events.
He began with the September 2024 Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois fight, making it $19.99. The fans embraced this as the average PPV cost was anywhere between $69.99 & $89.99. Alalshikh even went on to speak to TalkSport about how he wanted that to be the norm.
The Ring Magazine X account posted on September 2, 2024: “His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has declared that he wants to lower boxing PPV prices to £20 in the UK/$20 worldwide and said the Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol PPV will be £15 UK/$15 worldwide on Oct 12th: “People [watch] illegally because the price is high. This is in the future will not build boxing. If I give good fights with a good price, I will increase the fanbase. @talkSPORT”
His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has declared that he wants to lower boxing PPV prices to £20 in the UK/$20 worldwide and said the Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol PPV will be £15 UK/$15 worldwide on Oct 12th: “People [watch] illegally because the price is high. This is in the…
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) September 2, 2024
Fans really enjoyed this, but the price slowly began to creep back up. The RING (which was purchased by Alalshikh in the fall of 2024) announced they would now be hosting fight cards, and the first one was in April for Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Conor Benn. That one went for $24.99. Okay, not bad. However, in May, for their Times Square event, headlined by Ryan Garcia vs. Rolando Romero, the price increased to $59.99, with a Riyadh Season card featuring Canelo Alvarez vs. William Scull priced at $89.99 the following day. Man, did that take a sharp turn.
Now, the RING has its third event, featuring Berlanga vs. Sheeraz, and it will cost you $59.99. By the way, in two weeks, Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois 2 will also cost you another $59.99. DAZN is offering bundles, but the point is, those prices are far from what was initially intended by Alalshikh. With another RING event announced for November, I put it out to the RING’s Mike Coppinger to see if that one will also be on PPV.
“So I don’t think “Versace” Reeno has an account on here so I’ll pass this one to @MikeCoppinger, is every RING event going to be on PPV? I’m going to assume yes but transparency from the RING on this question would be great. Trying to set expectations here. #Boxing”
Coppinger did respond the next day with the following: “Undecided on the future but I’d certainly expect November to be PPV.”
Undecided on the future but I’d certainly expect November to be PPV
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) July 8, 2025
Hard Lessons In The Boxing Business
Alalshikh is beginning to understand that the boxing business is complex, and despite his enthusiasm for giving fans something to look forward to, the reality is that there is such a thing as doing too much. Alalshikh is announcing fights for guys who are fighting soon, assuming they win. In a fight, anything can happen. A fighter could lose, get cut, or suffer an injury causing any proposed plans to be scrapped or modified.
If there is anything I recommend, it is that you keep the announcements until after the upcoming fight has been completed. If you are going to do a PPV, give fans the option to pay for it elsewhere without having to subscribe to a service. Giving fans an ultimatum of subscribing to DAZN and then buying the PPV or not seeing it at all will increase what they are trying to avoid: piracy.
On a final note/recommendation, do not go back to Queens for a fight. The Berlanga vs. Sheeraz event was doomed from the start if you know anything about NY. Let’s see how the rest of the year goes with these PPVs as people begin to return from summer vacation and head into the fall/winter season.
Discover more from Fights Around The World
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
