I’m really getting sick of boxing innuendos. I mean it, I’m tired of all the secrecy and behind-the-scenes scheming. For me, 2015 can’t get here soon enough, not just because this year has been a bit drab, but for the sake of answers to the questions surrounding Al Haymon’s newest ventures.
As Mike Coppinger reported on Boxingscene a few weeks ago, Haymon is all geared up to bring his fighters to NBC Sports. In Coppinger’s story he interviewed Main Events’ Kathy Duva, who paved the way for boxing on NBC Sports with some extremely entertaining cards on the network over the past couple years.
Duva made some incredible claims regarding Haymon’s intentions on leaving premium cable networks like HBO and Showtime in the dust with his NBC deal. He is apparently taking all of his fighters off of premium channels and moving his stable to the NBC. I’m still not convinced that he will make such a brash move, at least not all of his fighters and certainly not all at once.
For now, Haymon is still playing nice with Showtime, but if you believe the rumors then his relationship with the network is starting to dwindle.
As 2014 closes, Golden Boy (Haymon?) has planned a terrific ShowTime card to close out the year. The headliner will pit two of the best welterweights in the world against one another as the UK’s Amir Khan squares off with St Louis fighter Devon Alexander. The bout is scheduled for 12 rounds and is apparently for some obligatory WBC trinket.
The proposed co-feature for the Khan-Alexander undercard, scheduled to take place December 13th in Las Vegas and possibly at the Mandalay Bay, could be Demetrius Andrade defending his WBO junior middleweight title against Jermell Charlo, although nothing is finalized.
The ShowTime card will be a tripleheader with the last fight featuring either Keith Thurman or Abner Mares, depending on whether Thurman can be finalized in time.
The situation becomes a bit trickier when you add HBO and Top Rank into the equation. Top Rank has a card scheduled on December 13th as well and that card will feature Timothy Bradley Jr. in his return to the ring since suffering his first loss to Manny Pacquiao back in April of this year. Bradley will face off against Diego Chaves in a scheduled 12 rounder, also in Vegas, at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
The situation of competing cards on the same night, especially between HBO/Top Rank and ShowTime/Golden Boy, is nothing new. But what makes this instance so curious is the fact that Golden Boy has resurrected their relationship with both HBO and Top Rank.
In fact, the co-feature of Top Rank’s December 13th card will mark the second co-promoted fight between Top Rank and Golden Boy since their new relationship has blossomed.
Oscar De La Hoya has spoken on the conflicting December 13th cards and has gone out of his way to assure everyone, Top Rank and HBO especially, that there is no ill will intended. De La Hoya has stated that there was no intentions of directly competing, using the excuse that there are just not enough dates for the amount of fighters that both Golden Boy and Top Rank promote.
I believe De La Hoya and I am sure there was no ill will intended. I believe this for multiple reasons. First, De La Hoya has an HBO date the week before the December 13th card. The card will feature David Lemieux versus Gabriel Rosado at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Another reason to believe De La Hoya is the fact that he has brought Canelo back to HBO, despite the heavy interests from ShowTime to keep Canelo in place, and seems excited about the prospects of featuring the Mexican superstar on the network.
The last reason De La Hoya is to be believed is the strong possibility that Golden Boy had little to do with making the bout in the first place. I’m not saying they didn’t want to make it, and I’m not claiming it could’ve been finalized without Golden Boy, but I am saying that Al Haymon has more to do with the card than anyone.
The main event of ShowTime’s December card may seem like a Golden Boy promotion, but the main event involves two Haymon fighters (Khan and Alexander). This is potentially the last time that you see two Haymon fighters squaring off on a Golden Boy card. For this reason, Golden Boy couldn’t afford to squabble over competing dates, even if it upsets his new friends.
Haymon will soon be without the need for Golden Boy events and he won’t have to rely on the promotion in order to get his fighters dates, at least not the ones actually signed to Golden Boy. It is safe to say that any big fight between Haymon fighters from this point on will not involve Golden Boy.
With De La Hoya being so apologetic and Golden Boy having a fighter in the Top Rank co-feature, you could make the argument that the December 13th date is actually Haymon VS Top Rank, as opposed to Golden Boy VS Top Rank.
Working under this notion, De La Hoya’s loyalty comes into question at this point. Obviously he is hoping for a successful promotion, and because both fights are in Vegas he is also competing for attendance as well as ratings. But with his new allegiance to HBO and his desire to stay cordial with Top Rank, De La Hoya may not be as all in as he has been in the past.
The most overwhelming aspect of all of this is the true brilliance/vengeance of Haymon. Haymon is so masterfully powerful that he is not just potentially leaving HBO and ShowTime behind, he is also working it so that he can affect his competitors’ relationships with one another before doing so.
Haymon is destroying everything in his path and in the wake of his future endeavors he is proving to be a disturbing force.
I doubt that he will have true affect over the Golden Boy and HBO/Top Rank relationship, but if this is his final maneuver then it is a legendary middle finger. I’m not condoning the behavior, and I could be reading too much into it, but he is making things as difficult as he can for all parties involved before detaching himself from the situation.
This is truly an Al Haymon fart in the elevator that is boxing, and Haymon is getting off on the next floor while Top Rank, Golden Boy, HBO, and ShowTime suffer from the lasting bitter fragrance.
