Schaefer on Mayweather-Guerrero, Canelo's Return

By Robert Morales

As CEO of Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, it's Richard Schaefer's job to put together events that will leave fans drooling for more. Our first inquiry to Schaefer was the May 4 card that will feature Floyd Mayweather Jr. Some websites are already saying that his opponent will be Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero. Since Guerrero - who won his first title at featherweight in 2006 - has shown he can compete with the elite in the welterweight division, that would be an amazing matchup.

Guerrero in November engaged former welterweight champion Andre Berto in a vicious fight at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, virtually closing both of Berto's eyes while defending his interim welterweight belt via unanimous decision.

Guerrero is no walk in the park for anyone, even Mayweather.

Again, Schaefer chose his words very carefully. He said Mayweather asked Golden Boy to reserve two dates for him this year - May 4 and Sept. 14 - and that once the opponent for May 4 is signed, sealed and delivered, Mayweather would actually be the one to announce it.

"We are diligently working on finalizing his opponent," said Schaefer, who has promoted Mayweather's past several fights, but does not have Mayweather under contract to Golden Boy. "And I think it's an open secret that Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero is, how shall I say, the leading candidate. But you just never know. Nothing is done until Floyd says it is."

Some of those same websites that already have Mayweather fighting Guerrero, have super welterweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez - a Golden Boy fighter - toiling on that same card. There is no opponent listed, however.

Schaefer protested when asked if Alvarez - who is treated like a rock star in his native Mexico and also has a huge following in the U.S. - is indeed going to be part of that event.

"Not necessarily," Schaefer said. "There are a lot of moving targets there and I really cannot disclose to you what the moving targets are."

"Obviously, you have Floyd in a big fight and `Canelo' in a big fight on the same date, that would be a mega-, mega-, mega-event," he said. "But at this point it's becoming much more difficult to pull off because `Canelo' is a big star and obviously Floyd is the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter. When `Canelo' was an emerging star, that's one thing.

"But it's not so easy to put two mega stars on the same card. It just doesn't happen and it takes a lot of work and negotiations."

Robert Morales covers boxing for the LA Daily News, The Press Telegram and BoxingScene.com.