By Luis Sandoval
When Richard Schaefer left Golden Boy Promotions it was discovered that a lot of fighters who appeared to be under the Golden Boy banner were probably not contractually signed to the promoter. It isn’t certain how many fighters have existing contracts with Golden Boy but what is certain is that majority of them are signed with powerful advisor Al Haymon.
BoxingScene caught up with Golden Boy President Oscar De La Hoya and asked if he knew how many fighters were actually signed to his company and how many were not.
“We have a lot of fighters that are with us that are signed to Golden Boy. I mean that’s never been a doubt within the company. For instance Robert Guerrero’s a Golden Boy fighter for this Saturday. [Jesus] Soto Karass. Obviously Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Leo Santa Cruz and the list goes on and on. Abner Mares. So fights we’re going to make, dates were going to get, events we’re going to put on. It’s all about doing the right fights for the fans. That really is what my vision was when I started Golden Boy and we’re going to continue on that tradition moving forward,” De La Hoya would tell BoxingScene.
While the fighters named are still with Golden Boy, there are still many others who don’t appear to have binding contracts with Golden Boy Promotions and that is where things get interesting.
Despite the uncertainty, De La Hoya remains positive and claims everything is business as usual. Fights and dates are moving forward and new fights will be made.
“Everything is moving forward 1000%. We’re making fights. We’re moving forward full steam ahead. It’s exciting because we have this big show this Saturday which we’re all excited about. We obviously have all our Fox dates which we’re putting together and moving forward with that. We have a busy schedule ahead of us with July 12 Canelo versus Lara. It’s just a matter of tying up all the loose ends, we’ll be making announcements shortly but I’m very excited about the future of Golden Boy,” stated De La Hoya.
When BoxingScene spoke to Saturday night’s headliner Robert Guerrero and Devon Alexander who is fighting on the televised undercard, both were reluctant to speak on their contractual situations. Alexander did say he has one fight left on his contract which will be the one he’s fighting this Saturday night against Jesus Soto Karass while Guerrero chose not to comment.
You can follow Luis Sandoval on Twitter & Instagram @Truewest007.