LAS VEGAS — Timing has played a defining role in Britton Hardin’s rise through the boxing business. Once an aspiring professional fighter, Hardin now leads DAZN’s North American boxing operations, putting him in a position to influence the sport on a far larger scale than he ever could inside the ring.
This week, Hardin is overseeing DAZN’s coverage of Saturday’s WBA welterweight title fight between champion Rolando “Rolly” Romero and two-division titleholder Teofimo Lopez. His tenure has also coincided with DAZN strengthening its position in boxing by bringing together major promotional companies under the same distribution umbrella.
Alongside its established relationships with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing and Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions, DAZN has expanded its partnerships with Top Rank and Premier Boxing Champions while renewing its relationship with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.
For Hardin, the result is a boxing landscape that looks considerably less divided than it did only a few years ago.
“As a fan, this is one of the most exciting times to be involved in the sport,” Hardin said before Lopez, 22-0 (13 KOs), and Romero, 17-2 (13 KOs), weighed in for their DAZN pay-per-view bout at T-Mobile Arena.
“A few years ago, everything felt fragmented. Fighters were on one side of the street or the other, and those divisions often prevented the biggest fights from happening. Now, those walls are coming down. More fighters are available to face one another, and that creates opportunities for the fans.”
While competing platforms continue to build their own boxing portfolios, Hardin believes DAZN’s collection of promotional partners gives the network a unique ability to create major cross-promotional fights.
DAZN has already staged a significant 154-pound title fight between Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Xander Zayas, and Hardin expects the growing cooperation among promoters to produce even more matchups that previously would have been difficult to make.
“I say this with complete respect for everyone involved in the sport: I believe DAZN has become the home of boxing,” Hardin said. “We have relationships with every major promoter and access to many of the biggest fighters. There are fighters who have spent years looking across the promotional divide and wondering what it would mean for their legacy if they could challenge another champion. Now those possibilities are much more realistic.
“Promoters who may have wanted to work together but lacked the right structure now have a reason to collaborate. That creates value for fans because the biggest fights are more achievable.”
DAZN recently raised the price of its annual subscription to $449.99, but Hardin argues that the expanded schedule is designed to justify the investment. The network has a busy slate ahead, including PBC events featuring Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz and Jesus Ramos, a title defense by Sebastian Fundora, a junior lightweight unification bout between Emanuel Navarrete and O’Shaquie Foster, and a potential David Benavidez cruiserweight title defense later in the year.
Hardin said the increased cooperation between promoters is helping boxing tell stories that had previously been interrupted by business rivalries.
“There are storylines we simply couldn’t develop when the different sides weren’t fighting each other,” he said. “Now we can make those fights more readily available. It’s a very good time to be a boxing fan.”
His enthusiasm extends beyond his role as an executive. Hardin remains deeply invested in the sport itself and believes greater collaboration could help boxing regain a larger place in mainstream culture.
“I love this sport, and when boxing gets things right, there’s nothing better,” Hardin said. “Having the major promoters under one umbrella and seeing them buy into the idea that they need to work together is incredibly encouraging. If we can make the right fights at the right time for the audience, boxing has an opportunity to grow in a major way again.”
Hardin understands that such an ambition will not be easy to achieve. Still, he believes promoters are increasingly recognizing that cooperation can benefit everyone involved.
“That has been the message from me and the leadership at DAZN, and the encouraging thing is that the promoters genuinely seem interested in working together,” he said. “There are fights across multiple weight classes that everyone wants to see. As a fan, an executive and a boxing nerd, it’s incredibly satisfying to know those conversations can now lead somewhere.”
Hardin’s path to the executive level began nearly 15 years ago, when he was pursuing his own ambitions in boxing while working in the media industry and training at gyms around Los Angeles.
Eventually, reality set in.
“I got my ass handed to me in sparring and realized I was probably better suited to doing other things,” Hardin said.
That realization redirected him toward the business side of the industry. He previously worked in the mailroom at William Morris Endeavor, the talent agency founded by Ari Emanuel, and discovered that he had a talent for identifying and developing athletes while helping fighters better understand the business opportunities available to them.
A management role eventually led Hardin into boxing promotion. His company, OTX, partnered with DAZN as its broadcast platform, creating a relationship that would later develop into his current role.
“They knew who I was and what I was building,” Hardin said. “We were attracting a younger audience, and they appreciated that. From there, the relationship came together naturally.”
Hardin now sees a similar process unfolding between boxing’s major promotional companies.
One example came in June, when Top Rank moved away from its traditional boxing home at Madison Square Garden and brought Xander Zayas into a major matchup against Matchroom-promoted Jaron Ennis at Barclays Center.
Hardin said the willingness to make that type of fight illustrates how the business environment is changing.
“Todd DuBoef said, ‘This is the fight that Top Rank does not make,’” Hardin recalled. “That is exactly the benefit of having two major promoters who may not otherwise have had the same incentive to work together. Because they are now operating under the same umbrella, they can look at one another as partners.
“In this new landscape, everyone wants to make the blockbuster fights. We’re starting to see the results of that.”
DAZN took another significant step by signing Lopez, one of boxing’s most accomplished active fighters, to a multi-fight agreement. The company has also been involved in discussions regarding future opportunities with WBO welterweight champion Devin Haney, who could potentially be positioned to face the winner of Saturday’s fight.
“It made a great deal of sense to align with Teofimo Lopez,” Hardin said. “He’s a two-division champion with the chance to make history in a third division against an opponent he knows very well.”
Hardin views the Romero-Lopez matchup as the kind of high-stakes fight that can define careers.
“It’s a crossroads fight,” he said. “We understood the magnitude of it. Both fighters can’t leave as winners, and that’s the true blood-and-guts nature of this sport. These are two fighters who want to become unified champions and build a legacy alongside the great names in boxing history.”
Hardin also recognizes that DAZN operates in an increasingly competitive marketplace. New boxing ventures, major streaming companies and deep-pocketed investors are all competing for elite fighters and major events.
Potential free agents such as Ryan Garcia and Benavidez could attract significant interest, while other platforms are also pursuing major championship fights and blockbuster events.
Hardin, however, does not view that competition as a threat to boxing’s growth.
“I truly believe a rising tide raises all ships,” he said. “If something big happens elsewhere in boxing, it brings attention to the sport as a whole. Fans may look across the ocean and see other ships, but increased interest benefits everyone.”
Ultimately, Hardin said DAZN’s strategy comes down to providing enough meaningful fights to convince both existing and new fans that the service offers real value.
“Our goal is to super-serve the boxing fan while also bringing new fans into the sport,” Hardin said. “We’ve invested in these relationships, brought these people together and created more opportunities for major fights.
“That’s why we believe fans will see the value in their investment.”
