COLD WAR MAY NOT BE AS OVER AS WE THINK
Richard Schaefer
San Francisco, CA– The reluctance of rival promoters, Golden Boy (Oscar De La Hoya) and Bob Arum’s Top Rank has been a source of agitation for boxing fans for over four years now. It has been an impediment to several significant fights being made such as featherweights Nonito Donaire vs. Abner Mares, Timothy Bradley vs. Amir Khan, and most notably Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao. It’s no secret that Oscar’s attempt to mend fences with Bob Arum is said to be the initial point of contention between himself and his CEO Richard Schaefer who resigned last week, surely means the Berlin Wall of boxing will come down now right? Maybe not!
DON’T BE CONFUSED BY THE HYPE!
The issue at heart here was never Arum vs. De La Hoya & Schaefer. Bob Arum’s real adversary is the powerful and mysterious boxing advisor Al Haymon. Many of the men we have been watching fight under the Golden Boy banner are not even signed to the promotional company but are advised by Haymon who has been using Golden Boy to display his stable on TV. The most famous example of this is Floyd Mayweather, who although not contractually tied to Golden Boy has been had his last nine fights (all against Golden Boy fighters) the lead promoter. Other fighters who fall into this category are Adrien Broner, Ishe Smith, Deontay Wilder and others.
HAYMON & SCHAEFER “BETWEEN THE SHEETS”
There are other fighters who are both signed to Golden Boy and advised by Al Haymon. Although I believe that we will see a joint promotion between Golden Boy and Top Rank for the first time in a few years, my money says it will not include any Golden Boy fighters who are managed by Haymon. Included in this category are Amir Khan, Robert Guerrero, Paulie Malignaggi, Peter Quillin, and Marcos Maidana to name a few. The actual amount of Golden Boy fighters who are not backed by Haymon, such as Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Abner Mares are few. This leads us to point number two.
WHAT DOES FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY MEAN?
“An individual in whom another has placed the utmost trust and confidence to manage and protect property or money. The relationship wherein one person has an obligation to act for another’s benefit.”
WAS SCHAEFER “LOOKING OUT” FOR GBP?
Many within the industry believe Schaefer was acting as Haymon’s puppet and not really within the best long-term interests of Golden Boy Promotions. After all, if this were NOT the case, why did Schaefer promote so many Haymon fighters without signing them to contracts? Expect a lawsuit from Golden Boy towards Schaefer with the term above mentioned in its title. It seems Schaefer did not fulfill his fiduciary responsibility in this regard.
AND THEN THERE IS FLOYD MAYWEATHER
Where does this leave him? Well, this one involves a couple of sub-points.
A. Ever since word got out that Schaefer’s departure from his employer of 10 years was all but imminent, rumors began to circulate that he would join The Money Team Promotions and help build it into a promotional empire as he did Golden Boy. But Golden Boy attorney Bert Fields has other ideas. “Golden Boy has a written contract with Richard Schaefer that ends March, 2018,” Fields said in a recent statement. “The company intends to enforce that contract.” All this being said, will Schaefer to sit on the sidelines until this contract expires.
B. Hours after Schaeffer announced his resignation, Mayweather announced through his always happy Leonard Ellerbe that he would no longer be working with Golden Boy now that Schaefer is no longer there. What this means is that Mayweather’s potential foes are now more scarce than ever. He is still not going to do business with Top Rank or his former friend 50 Cent’s SMS Promotions.
WHAT CAN FLOYD DO SANS GOLDEN BOY?
If he is no longer working with Golden Boy then Khan and Maidana are out as fights for a fight this September or Fall. Perhaps, this is just a ploy to coerce Golden Boy to renegotiate with Schaefer. Whatever happens, it will be interesting to see who gets the call for the Mayweather sweepstakes, especially since his last fight reportedly did fewer than 900,000 buys.
Jason B. Nava