DAZN strikes creative partnership with Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions

Sports streamer DAZN has struck a global creative partnership with Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions.

The inaugural project from the partnership is a doc series called One Night, which looks back at groundbreaking matches in recent boxing history. The first film of the series, One Night: Joshua vs. Ruiz, is a comprehensive look at the 1 June match, when Andy Ruiz pulled off the biggest boxing upset in decades by scoring a seventh-round TKO of then-undefeated heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua at Madison Square Garden, becoming the first Mexican-American heavyweight champion.

The film is exec produced by Sylvester Stallone, along with partner Kourosh Taj for Balboa Productions, Carrie Keagan for No Good Entertainment and DAZN. One Night is directed by ’30 For 30’ alum and recently installed director of original programming at DAZN Deirdre Fenton, producer of O.J. Made In America.

The film debuts on DAZN and the DAZN YouTube channel on 20 November.

Stallone said: “My Hollywood script came to life that historic June night when unknown boxer Andy Ruiz achieved a victory that shocked the world. It was the real life Rocky and the perfect story to kick off our partnership with DAZN.

“There is nothing like the world of boxing – the drama, the humanity, the agony, and the ecstasy. This sport reveals the souls of these courageous warriors like no other sport can so it’s a privilege to be very involved with DAZN and their revolutionary programming.”

Jamie Horowitz, EVP of content for DAZN North America, added: “For the first film in this series, we wanted to tell the definitive story of an unlikely underdog boxer achieving what few thought possible. We are honoured to be able to partner with Sylvester Stallone, the creator of the greatest underdog boxing story of all-time.”

Kourosh Taj, head of unscripted development for Balboa Productions, said: “Everything we do at Balboa begins with great storytelling that is deeply rooted in the human condition and there’s nothing quite like boxing that captures that. What is so exciting about our partnership with DAZN is that it enables us to collaborate with smart, like-minded creatives and share these amazing stories with their dedicated viewers; and our first project together, One Night, is the perfect story to help fulfill Balboa’s mission of giving a voice to all underdogs.”