The state of Boxing

[Bonzo]

Boxing News

Golden Boy gives up promotional rights to most Haymon fighters including Broner, Garcia, Wilder, Maidana and Jacobs Golden Boy Promotions has reportedly surrendered its promotional rights to Adrien Broner, Danny Garcia and “most” fighters associated with reclusive boxing manager/advisor Al Haymon. According to Yahoo Sports, the company will continue to promote Amir Khan, Lucas Matthysse and Leo Santa Cruz.
Golden Boy has also reportedly reached an undisclosed settlement with former CEO Richard Schaefer, who left the company last summer after a bitter disagreement with GBP President Oscar de la Hoya.
Sports Illustrated adds that Golden Boy will also lose heavyweight contender Deontay Wilder and Schaefer cannot promote for 1-2 years. LA Times says Marcos Maidana and Danny Jacobs are also former Golden Boy fighters.
Golden Boy’s status with the likes of Peter Quillin, Lamont Peterson, Erislandy Lara, Gary Russell Jr., Omar Figueroa, Keith Thurman, Robert Guerrero, Shawn Porter and Abner Mares are still to be addressed.

[Bonzo]

Golden Boy signs David Lemieux http://www.boxingnews24.com/wp-content/themes/b24/images/PostDateIcon.png January 10th, 2015 |



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By Dan Ambrose: Golden Boy Promotions may have lost a number of fighters last Friday in settling their case with former Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer and Al Haymon, but they’ve reportedly added #2 WBC, #3 WBO, #5 IBF, #13 WBA middleweight contender David Lemieux (33-2, 31 KOs) to their growing stable, according to Dan Rafael.

This is a much better move than the recent 12 signees that Golden Boy made this past week. Lemieux actually has the kind of talent to where he could possibly become a title holder.


Unfortunately, Lemieux doesn’t have the kind of talent where he’ll be the main guy at middleweight, but he can definitely be a title holder once the likes of Gennady Golovkin retires.
“In addition to settling arbitration w/ Schaefer & cutting ties w/ Haymon, @GoldenBoyBoxing has signed @lemieuxboxing. Story coming. #boxing,” said Dan Rafael of ESPN on his twitter.
The 26-year-old Lemieux defeated Gabriel Rosado by a 10th round stoppage last December in the biggest win of Lemieux’s career. Granted, the win was over a guy who’d already been exposed by the slow as molasses Alfredo Angulo in the past, as well as Golovkin, Peter Quillin, Derek Ennis and Jermell Charlo. However, the win by Lemieux showed that he’s good enough to beat a fringe level fighter at 160, and that’s a huge jump from the poor opposition Lemieux had been fighting before.
Golden Boy needs to steer Lemieux into the biggest fights they can as soon as possible, because he’s one of those fighters who will eventually get exposed by a boxer/puncher, and it’s better that Golden Boy look to make as much money as possible with the Canadian fighter while they can. Lemieux would likely struggle against guys like Jermain Taylor, Daniel Jacobs and Andy Lee due to him being so easy to hit.
That’s why Golden Boy should try and line him up with fights against the likes of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Miguel Cotto and Gennady Golovkin. Canelo would seem like the ideal opponent for Lemieux if Canelo can get past Cotto.
If Canelo loses that fight then the last thing Golden Boy needs to be doing it putting him in with a slugger like Lemieux immediately after a fight like that. Canelo will need a lot of rest and likely a series of tune-up bouts to come back from a devastating defeat at the hands of Cotto. You don’t want throw the 24-year-old Canelo in with a guy who will likely take his head off like Lemieux would if he were to face him after the Cotto bout.

[aquariusone]

David Lemieux is a promising slugger, KO master!

[Bonzo]

I think the same way if only he would move his head a little more(there is room for major defensive skills,he needs to get hit less especially from a Cotto or GGG).
Or his career will end like the night of the Rubio fight.
But he does possess power;he can finish a fight with a punch landed right.

[Bonzo]

OBSERVE AND FIGHT: GOLDEN BOY AND HAYMON AND ROC NATION...OH MY!By David Kassel ([email protected]) | January 12, 2015
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It's Monday. Welcome back for another edition of Observe and Fight, The Boxing Observer's compilation of observations and random thoughts from the week that was in boxing. Get caught up on some of the most recent events you may have missed out on, including an update on Mayweather/Pacquiao, the settlement between Golden Boy Promotions, Richard Schaefer, and Al Haymon, Roc Nation's big moves, Adrien Broner's ridiculous comments, a heavyweight title fight featuring a promising American, and much more. Without further ado, check out the latest observations from the Boxing Observer, David Kassel.

2015 has already been more exciting than 2014, and we haven't had any big fights yet! We have so much to discuss, so let's lead off with the fight everyone has been talking about since 2009. Here's your update on Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao...the contracts still have not been signed. I know there are a lot of reports out there from various sources stating the fight is as close as it has been since '09 to being signed, but we've been teased before. Like most who have followed this saga closely (unlike those on ESPN's First Take), I'll believe the fight will take place once I see both fighters in the ring.

The most important people in this saga have been awfully quiet lately, and that's a positive sign. The people involved who have been doing the most talking are Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao. Fortunately, neither of those two has any say-so when it comes down to negotiations. Roach is a trainer who may have been instrumental in jump starting conversations again, but he has zero negotiating power. Pacquiao, believe it or not, has very little say on who he fights. His promoter, Bob Arum, is the one who makes those decisions. Pacquiao's job is to sign on the dotted line, when he agrees on the amount of money he will be paid, and step into the ring. Floyd Mayweather and Al Haymon have always been fairly quiet when it comes to negotiating contracts for fights. However, it's Arum who has been boisterous in his attempts to get Mayweather to fight Pacquiao. Sometimes, Arum may have told the truth. Sometimes, he may have lied. We don't really know. The one thing we do know is that for the past couple of weeks, Arum and CBS CEO Les Moonves have not made any public comments regarding negotiations. Keeping the public away from the terms of the contract while it is being worked out is always an intelligent business decision. If you take anything away from what I'm writing, it's this...the less we hear from the people who matter as far as negotiations go, the better the chance for the fight to happen. The minute we begin hearing from Arum, Mayweather, Haymon (just kidding), Moonves, or Todd DuBoef, the less likely the fight will take place.

Earth to Amir Khan...You don't hold any cards over Mayweather or Pacquiao! Khan went on record saying he is giving Mayweather 5 days or he is moving on to try and land a fight with Pacquiao. Is Khan on something? Everyone knows those two are trying to make a deal with each other. I'm willing to bet that if the fight falls through in 6 days and Mayweather comes calling, Khan will be more than happy to negotiate. Amir, you are a hell of a boxer, but please, just stay quiet for the time being.

I'm glad to see Golden Boy Promotions and Richard Schaefer agreed to settle their lawsuits and are moving on. The terms of the settlement are not being disclosed, but we do know that Schaefer has to stay away from promoting for an undisclosed length of time. In the settlement, Golden Boy lost an enormous stable of fighters signed with Haymon, but will keep Khan, Lucas Matthysse, Leo Santa Cruz, and Paulie Malignaggi, at least until their contracts expire with Golden Boy. Golden Boy also holds the promotional rights to Canelo Alvarez. De La Hoya announced the signings of 12 fighters over the weekend, but none were huge names, and a lot of them were young prospects. It's clear that De La Hoya is looking toward the future. He's done it before and had success thanks to a strong team behind him. Let's hope he can do it again because I truly believe him when he says he wants to make the best fights possible for the fans. Let's hope Golden Boy can get a deal done with middleweight contender David Lemieux, which is being widely reported. That would be a big win for Oscar and company.

Will Showtime Boxing still be relevant come 2016? Haymon's deal with NBC begins in March, and he has 24 fight dates in which he is reportedly planning on bringing boxing back to primetime television. The question now becomes, if he is successful, what will this do to Showtime Boxing? I believe HBO Boxing will be just fine because it seems that every promoter/manager, other than Haymon, is willing to appear on the network with fighters under their respective promotional banners, but Showtime may be in some trouble. Haymon has a stronghold over Showtime right now, and if he moves his fighters to NBC, Showtime's boxing budget could be drastically cut, making it extremely difficult to land big fights. Floyd Mayweather's 6-fight deal with CBS/Showtime ends this year (assuming he fights twice as he has the past two years). After that, seemingly every big-name fighter whom Showtime televises fights for is managed by Haymon. If Haymon is planning on showcasing them on network television, Showtime Boxing could be in for a rude awakening.

Roc Nation Sports is very serious in its quest to break into the boxing business. Last week, Roc Nation made three major moves in the sport. First, it merged with Gary Shaw Productions. With the merger, Roc Nation now holds the promotional rights to heavyweight Bryant Jennings, Thomas Dulorme, Francisco Santana, Daniel Geale, Darleys Perez, Tureano Johnson, and more. Secondly, they signed Andre Ward, who is widely regarded as boxing's 2nd-best fighter, behind Mayweather. Ward has been inactive since November of 2013 due to his legal battle with former promoter Goossen Promotions, and while the terms of the agreement were not disclosed, Roc Nation now promotes Ward, which should have him back in the ring sometime in the next few months. Finally, Roc Nation promoted its first ever fight card on Friday night. While the fights were not necessarily memorable, it's clear that Roc Nation Sports wants every fight card to be an event, not just boxing matches.


Speaking of the heavyweights, there's a big title fight in Las Vegas Saturday night! WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne puts his title on the line against undefeated, unchallenged, knockout specialist Deontay Wilder (32-0 32 KO's). I have had the pleasure of speaking to both men personally numerous times, and while their personalities are quite complete opposites, their goals are the same. Both men are extremely focused and this will be a fantastic fight. I predict this fight will not go the distance, and the longer it goes, the more it favors Stiverne. Wilder, through no fault of his own, has never been past the 4th round. Maybe he has excellent stamina and we just don't know about it. What we do know is he packs one of the most powerful punches in boxing. Some would argue that Stiverne has been in with better competition, but other than Chris Arreola, Stiverne's best opponent was Ray Austin. Wilder has been in the ring with Malik Scott, Nicolai Firtha, Siarhei Liakhovich, and Audley Harrison. I'd say the competition level is about even. I believe this is truly a 50/50 fight, and I'm just excited about the possibilities that the winner could go on to face Klitschko (or the winner of Klitschko vs. whomever he fights next) to unify the heavyweight division.

The first televised American fight of 2015 produced a Knockout of the Year candidate! In case you missed ESPN Friday Night Fights opening bout, the above mentioned Francisco Santana scored one of the best one-punch, 1st-round knockouts you will ever see over Kendal Mena.

Thoughts go out to the family of Magomed Abdusalamov. The former heavyweight contender, who returned home after a 10-month hospital stay following a brutal beating at the hands of Mike Perez, is back in a Connecticut hospital with what his wife calls "life-threatening" blood and bone infections. Let's hope he fights off these infections and finally moves on to a recovery which will lead him to a normal life with his family and friends.

[Bonzo]

It will be very interesting to see if Roc Nation will be hamstrung by Al Haymon. There is bad blood between Haymon and Jay-Z's wife, Beyonce, stemming from a lawsuit relating to the music industry where Haymon made most of his fortune. It is widely rumored that the reason former WBO middleweight titlist Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin pulled out of his fight with Matt Korobov, and a career high $1.4 million payday, is because Roc Nation would have staged the fight card, meaning one of Haymon's fighters would essentially be putting money in Roc Nation's pockets. I don't think Roc Nation will have any issues working with other promoters, but considering Haymon promotes around 150 fighters, we still aren't going to truly see some of the best fighting the best. In other words, don't expect Quillin to jump up to super middleweight to challenge Andre Ward in what could be a fantastic fight.

Adrien Broner, what were you thinking? Broner, who is managed by Haymon, was being interviewed by TMZ Sports where he disclosed that he turned down a 5-year, $40 million offer from Roc Nation Sports. Most people were scratching their heads because they don't believe Broner will ever make $40 million in the ring. I'm not one of those people. I believe a person has the right to make any financial choice he/she feels will best benefit himself or herself in the future. If Broner feels he was low-balled by Roc Nation, good for him for valuing himself at more than $40 million because it shows he has huge goals that he hopes to attain. However, to tell Jay-Z to "suck his d***" and to say Rihanna is only good for "p****" is beyond me. What was the point of all that? Now, with that being said, to Broner's credit, he issued a public apology (which you can see on TMZ), in which he states, "I can admit when I'm wrong." Yet, the apology doesn't seem justified (no matter how heartfelt) because it never needed to get to that point. He says he spoke to "The Big Homie" (I wonder if that is code for Mayweather, Haymon, or God), but Broner is the perfect example of needing to think before he says something. I've met Broner and he seems like a very likable individual (no matter what he displays when the camera is turned on). I feel he is trying to build his brand, and more power to him, but there is a right way and a wrong way to do that. You only get so many chances before people write you off. If Broner had never lost to Marcos Maidana, people would be more willing to put up with the antics because people love, and love to hate, winners. Since that loss, Broner has needed to reinvent himself to get back on the winning track. Boxing is his meal ticket, and as soon as he starts winning big fights again, all these public displays of stupidity will be seen as more valuable to his brand than they are now. For now, he just looks foolish.

Speaking of hamstringing...Roc Nation is already potentially ruining an opportunity for one of its fighters. The aforementioned Jennings all but had a fight lined up, April 25, against Wladimir Klitschko for the lineal heavyweight championship. All the terms were agreed upon, but because Gary Shaw merged with Roc Nation, Roc Nation now holds Jennings future in its hands. RNS should sign off on the initial terms of the contract and allow its fighter, Jennings, to take a stab at the opportunity of a lifetime. That would send the right message to all fighters out there that Roc Nation is going to do business the right way and put its fighters best interest first and foremost. Why do you think so many fighters want to sign with Haymon?