All-Star Boxing vs. Canelo, Golden Boy Set For 5/23 Court Date

By Jake Donovan

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and his handlers continue to hunt for a challenger for a planned May 7 appearance in Las Vegas, but his legal team is well aware of its next opponent in court.

After enduring several delays that have stalled its case for years, promoter All-Star Boxing, Inc. was awarded a break in its ongoing lawsuit with Alvarez and Golden Boy Promotions. A hardline court date has been set for May 23 in Dade County, Florida, this time with little wiggle room to delay the battle any further.

“We are at a point where it will be tried in May. There is little chance of the date being moved,” Alejandro Brito, lead counsel for All-Star Boxing informed BoxingScene.com of the breakthrough. “It's been very frustrating seeing this case delayed over the years. We’d have a date, only to have to wait because he was in training for a fight, then planning for a next fight.

“We are eager to try the case and are confident of there not being any more delays.”

All-Star Boxing first filed its lawsuit against Alvarez and Golden Boy Promotions in January ’11, alleging breach of contract and unjust enrichment against the boxer, as well as tortious interference against the promoter.

Alvarez was first signed by All-Star Boxing in September ’08, at age 18 and already three years into his pro career. The two sides were introduced by Rafael Mendoza, Alvarez’ manager who was also a promoter in Mexico at the time. Ironically, Alvarez’ first fight under a reported four-year contract with All-Star Boxing came on a show promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, when he defeated Larry Mosley in Oct. ’08.

The moment also served as Alvarez’ stateside debut and his first appearance on U.S. television, with the bout airing live from California on Telefutura (now UniMas), having fought exclusively in his native Mexico prior to that point. Two months later, the red-headed boxer appeared on a show in Florida as part of a card televised on Telemundo, with whom Felix ‘Tutico’ Zabala Jr., head of All-Star Boxing, has enjoyed a lengthy relationship.

In all, Alvarez fought under the All-Star Boxing banner for nine fights, all coming in a span of just over 13 months. The final fight in which All-Star Boxing remained a part of Alvarez’ career came in the boxer’s 12-round points win over Lanardo Tyner in Dec. ’09.

It was that point when All-Star Boxing – which claims to have invested more than $180,000 into Alvarez’ career over the course of those nine bouts – believes Golden Boy entered the picture and according to previous court documents, “induced Alvarez to breach his agreement and enter a separate multi-year promotional contract for the promotion of Alvarez’ future fights.”

All of Alvarez’ bouts from that point onward - beginning with a 3rd round knockout of Brian Camechis in March ’10 – involved Golden Boy Promotions in some capacity or another. Alvarez fought five times on the year, including two appearances on HBO Pay-Per-View undercards and by year’s end his debut on HBO Latino.

All-Star Boxing formally filed a lawsuit in Jan. ’11, by which point Alvarez was being steered towards his first title fight, challenging Matthew Hatton for a vacant 154 lb. title. The lawsuit was filed in an attempt to block the fight and have Alvarez “return home” but the young superstar hasn’t missed a beat in his career.

He went on to beat Hatton and become one of the most popular fighters from Mexico in recent history. His demand for extended training camps as well as recovery team has found a sympathetic ear inside the courtroom, with a new hearing date surfacing seemingly every year only to always get delayed.

“It’s not atypical for a court date to get changed,” explained Brito. “What has been atypical is Canelo’s demand to not just fight 2-3 times per year, but the three months of training camp and then downtime to recover.  The judges have been accommodating.”

As frustrating as has been the drawn-out process, there is an upside to the legal battle being carried out this long. The more that Alvarez and fights and the better his events perform, the more the compensatory damages increase as a result.

Dating back to the original filing five years ago, Alvarez has captured titles at super welterweight and middleweight, as well as emerging as one of the biggest stars in the sport. A September ’13 showdown with then-unbeaten pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather at the time established new records for largest live gate and Pay-Per-View revenue generated.

The show served as one of the last great moments for Golden Boy Promotions in previous form.

The California-based company since underwent a major transformation, including the forced resignation of longtime CEO Richard Schaefer in 2014, a move that led to several other firings and departures. A bitter split with former business partner, boxing adviser Al Haymon resulted in Golden Boy losing access to more than 50 fighters previously believed to be under promotional contract.

The extent of Schaefer’s influence – if any at all – in bringing Alvarez to Golden Boy Promotions should have little bearing on this case, at least on the surface.

With the forced facelift, Golden Boy changed the way it conducted business. Included among its revisions was bringing the bulk of its remaining fighters from Showtime back to HBO, chief among them Alvarez, who inked a long-term deal with the American cable giant in Sept. ‘14.

His first fight back on HBO came last May, one week after watching Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao establish financial benchmarks in the sport that will likely never be broken at least in this lifetime. That hasn’t deterred Alvarez from strengthening his own star brand.

Seven days after Mayweather-Pacquaio, the 25-year old boxing superstar from Guadalajara enjoyed a triumphant HBO return with a 3rd round knockout of James Kirkland. The fight drew 30,000 fans at Minute Maid Park in Houston, as well as more than 2.1 million home viewers on HBO, good for the most viewed cable TV fight in nearly nine years.

His encore helped restore hope in the PPV market in the wake of Mayweather-Pacquiao. A 12-round win over Miguel Cotto netted Alvarez the World middleweight championship, with the event also proving to be a commercial success in generating $58 million in PPV revenue from 900,000 units sold.

In the aftermath of the Cotto win came talks of reclaiming the two most popular boxing dates as it relates to Mexican holidays – Cinco de Mayo and Mexico Independence Day. Alvarez has fight dates penciled in for May 7 and September 17, with one of the nights due to come versus unbeaten, unified middleweight titlist Gennady Golovkin.

There have been talks of such a super fight taking place on the latter date, with both boxers getting interim fights for separate springtime ring appearances. Given the dynamics of the case, it remains to be seen how Alvarez’ career will proceed following his May 7 headliner. His long-term deal with HBO was inked while under contract with Golden Boy Promotions. Should a judge rule in favor of All-Star Boxing, such contracts with both the network and Golden Bot would become null and void.

“There would be some discussion as it relates to continuing harm,” Brito explains, though noting that HBO is not (yet) on the hook.

For now, the battle remains with Alvarez and Golden Boy and – for the first time since the initial filing – with All-Star Boxing finally ready to have its day in court.

“The trial date is May 23. We've dealt with (the delays); now they need to be ready,” Brito states. 

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox