By Rick Reeno
In a minor follow-up to a story posted last night, several individuals involved in the industry spoke candidly with BoxingScene.com about the possibility of HBO maneuvering to get Golden Boy Promotions involved with the Joe Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones pay-per-view, tentative for September 20. Last night I touched on the rumors of such a move being circulated within the industry.
Some say the rumors first began in the UK, which had several media outlets, including The Sun , report that Golden Boy would co-promote Calzaghe-Jones. The impression among some is that Golden Boy may have been acting on its own accord. Some blame HBO's ongoing talks with Golden Boy for a long-term output deal, which basically guarantees Golden Boy that HBO will buy a certain number of fights for a certain number of dates. A deal that has many insiders and promotional rivals concerned.
Lou DiBella, who deals with HBO on a regular basis, doesn't believe the network is trying to steer the Calzaghe-Jones card to Golden Boy.
“I simply don't believe that anyone at HBO is trying to pressure Square Ring [Jones' promotional company]. I don’t believe they would do that. I do believe that Golden Boy is a powerful promoter and they are trying to get involved, but I don’t believe that HBO is actively assisting," DiBella said.
Another industry source agrees with DiBella as to the level of HBO's involvement in the situation, but he says the rumors are due to Richard Schaefer, CEO for Golden Boy, allegedly representing to other individuals within the industry that HBO would like to see Golden Boy's involvement with the show.
"HBO is not really at fault in this situation. Richard is trying insert Golden Boy into this fight and representing that he has the blessing of HBO. This is why an output deal for Golden Boy is so dangerous. Also, the lawyer for Calzaghe [Gareth Williams] is also the lawyer for Ricky Hatton, so Richard already has a business relationship with Calzaghe's attorney and is using that relationship to position Golden Boy into the fight."
John Wirt, CEO for Square Ring, denied any pressure coming from HBO to bring in Golden Boy, but he didn't deny Golden Boy trying to get involved.
"Richard Schaefer did call and asked if there was anything that he can do to help out, but so have other promoters. Roy Jones has made it categorically clear that Square Ring and Joe Calzaghe Enterprises will be the sole promoters of the event," Wirt said.
Jones' statement on the topic was a bit stronger. In a recent interview, he made sure to mention that he and Calzaghe did not want Golden Boy involved. One has to assume that Golden Boy made a decent play to get involved since Jones mentioned their name first, and then voiced off the names of Warren and King.
"We didn't want nobody like Golden Boy, or Frank Warren or Don King involved and we're fortunate enough to get this done our way," Jones said.
One has to ask themselves, if HBO did make a suggestion to Jones (or other parties) to have Golden Boy come on as a promotional partner, does it make the network wrong? There are people in the industry who feel that Calzaghe and Jones will need some help with a fight of this magnitude. Would we be having this discussion if HBO suggested the use of someone like DiBella? Probably not, but DiBella is not involved in any negotiations for an output deal on the network. The fact that HBO turned down Arturo Gatti vs. Dmitriy Salita, but contemplated spending millions on a De La Hoya vs. Salita tuneup, gives some of their business decisions with Golden Boy an aura of favoritism.
There is nothing wrong, or illegal, with Golden Boy trying to involve themselves with the Calzaghe-Jones card. But it's strange that Golden Boy would want to get involved with a show that might possibly land a week apart from their Joel Casamayor-Juan Manuel Marquez pay-per-view, officially announced for September 13.
Hypothetically speaking, if the promotional giant was given the green light to get involved with Calzaghe-Jones, who are not contractually tied to Golden Boy, wouldn't they be doing a disservice to their own fighters, Casamayor and Marquez, who are contractually bound to their company. By helping promote Calzaghe-Jones, wouldn't they hurt the Casamayor-Marquez pay-per-view in the process? There is no question that Calzaghe-Jones is the bigger pay-per-view event, and if it manages to land on the September 20 date, it will certainly hurt the Casamayor-Marquez numbers, with or without Golden Boy.
