By Gav Duthie: From what I can see regarding boxing politics it often seems to go one step forward and two steps back. I was positive at the back end of last year when after Richard Schaefer’s departure from Golden Boy Promotions Oscar De La Hoya said he would do all he can to improve the relationship with Bob Arum and Top Rank.
This has allowed us to turn fantasy match ups like Ruslan Provodnikov v Lucas Matthysse into a reality. The WBC have also been spearheading summits with the other organizations (excluding WBO) to regulate in terms of unification bouts, mandatories, linear champions etc. Everything is starting to look pretty positive, enter Al Haymon.
Al Haymon
Many give him credit for breaking the HBO, Showtime monopoly with a new TV deal. His fighters generally seem to be loyal to him and feel he has their best interests at heart. He has a huge stable now and no particular ties to any promotion company so this should be a good thing right?
Negatives – Golden Boy Fighters
De La Hoya has lost several boxers as a result of the Schaefer departure. Adrien Broner and Danny Garcia were amongst the most high profile and recently Leo Santa Cruz has also jumped ship. Does this mean that Haymon fighters won’t face Golden Boy fighters? If this is the case then we are back to square one. We could miss a lot of big fights.
Quillin and Roc Nation
Peter Quillin relinquishing the WBO title only to fight for it 5 months later is one of the strangest things I have ever seen in boxing. On the face of it it looks like he wanted to avoid Matt Korobov only to face Andy Lee who knocked Korobov out? In reality it is suggested that Quillin gave up the title as a favor to Haymon because he was unhappy with the situation and involvement with Roc Nation promotions. Roc Nation have just signed a host of fighters including Andre Ward. They are looking to be a major player but once again if there are problems with Haymon then this could be a major issue.
Spike TV
It is a good thing for consumers when a monopoly is broken regarding television. There are too many PPV events with HBO and Showtime which are often free to watch in the UK through Sky Sports. With Haymon’s stable of fighters he can pack some very good cards with his Spike TV deal and as a cheaper alternative. Again though on the flip side if you have 3 different powerful networks each with exclusive fighters then cross over fights become extremely difficult.
Big fights
As aforementioned Leo Santa Cruz has moved from Golden Boy to Haymon exclusively. This seemed a surprise but Oscar revealed that it was due to a contract clause. The clause stated if Golden Boy opened negotiations with Guillermo Rigondeaux to fight Santa Cruz then Haymon could buy out the contract. What a fantastic knight in shining armor swooping in to deny fans one of the biggest fights in boxing. Santa Cruz says he is willing to tale the fight and he might even win it. Rigo was knocked down twice in his last fight nd he is 34. Someone will beat him eventually and after that they can make lots of money. Obviously that person won’t be Leo Santa Cruz.
Other Mischief
Recently I tipped Lucas Matthysse v Ruslan Provodnikov as the top fight for March. However as Al Haymon had already pre-booked the StubHub center on March 28th, but the date is in jeopardy. Haymon isn’t currently hosting an event there but has no intention of shifting. The new date tipped is April 18th alongside Terence Crawford’s light welterweight debut against Thomas Dulorne.
In time it may show that Haymon is great for boxing but from what I see at the moment there are more questions than answers.
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