Triller just threw its name in the ring to promote the next fight of one of boxing’s rising stars.
The upstart tech company won the rights to promote Teofimo Lopez’s lightweight title defense against George Kambosos with a bid of more than $6 million, a source told ESPN, confirming multiple reports. Triller, which was founded in 2015, beat out established boxing outfits such as Matchroom and Top Rank, Lopez’s current promoter, in a purse bid hosted by the IBF on Thursday.
The rights to promote Lopez’s mandatory defense hit the open market after Lopez and Top Rank failed to reach an agreement for a suitable purse. Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) became the unified lightweight champion after beating Vasiliy Lomachenko in October 2020 to win the IBF, WBA and WBO belts in the 135-pound division.
“I love ESPN and the platform and everything they have done for Team Lopez and The Takeover. However, I am very thankful that my team and I stuck to our guns,” Lopez said in a statement to ESPN’s Mark Kriegel. “We knew what we were being offered was disrespectful, and we expected the open market would value us differently. And it showed today. The Six million from Triller, right there, says that Top Rank doesn’t value the best fighter on their roster. I look forward to my title defense against George Kambosos. Stay tuned for the fight date.”
Two months later, Triller made headlines when it promoted the exhibition bout between former heavyweight champions Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr as a pay-per-view attraction. According to reports, the fight generated more than 1.6 million buys.
Because of the IBF’s purse split rules which gives the champion 65%, Lopez’s share will be just under $4 million. Kambosos (19-0, 10 KOs) is set to receive $2.1 million in his third fight in the United States. The Australian is coming off a split-decision victory over Lee Selby last October in London.
“Triller Fight Club is a new entertainment platform which pairs four quadrant entertainment with boxing that even the staunchest purest will love,” said Ryan Kavanaugh, CEO of Proxima Media, which owns Triller. “This fight will certainly go down as iconic and TFC will make sure it is presented with entertainment for every audience, from the diehard to the casual fan. These two undefeated stars transcend their sport not just in the U.S. but around the world, and we are working to reshape the vision of excitement and storytelling in a sport we love.”
Representatives for Top Rank could not immediately be reached for comment.
ESPN’s Marc Raimondi contributed to this report.