By Jake Donovan
An odd trend has developed in fighters advised by Al Haymon suddenly appearing in major HBO events. The high-powered adviser was functionally blacklisted in 2013 by the network’s old guard, preferring to not commit full-time license fees to what was becoming a part-time relationship.
The first effort in breaking that cycle came in early February, when World middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez announced he will be facing Amir Khan on May 5, airing live on HBO Pay-Per-View from Las Vegas. Khan is advised by Haymon but was free and clear to negotiate a fight with Alvarez, whose promoter Golden Boy Promotions has a pending $300 antitrust lawsuit filed against Haymon, its former business partner.
One week later, Gennady Golovkin and his team have formally announced an April 23 showdown versus another Haymon-advised boxer in unbeaten contender Dominic Wade. Their bout will air live on HBO’s flagship station, live from The Forum in Inglewood, California.
Wade (18-0, 12KOs) surfaced to the top of the heap after being announced as the mandatory challenger in the International Boxing Federation (IBF) middleweight rankings. He was granted the position after Tureano Johnson was forced to withdraw from talks for such an assignment due to a recurring shoulder injury which will require surgery.
Golovkin originally hoped to secure a title unification bout, but was unable to entice Alvarez (WBC champ, for whom Golovkin is the mandatory contender in addition to holding the WBA “super”, IBF and IBO titles) or WBO titlist Billy Joe Saunders into such a showdown. Shortly after Johnson dropped out, Wade willingly jumped in and proved to be easy to work with in finalizing terms.
“There was no hesitation at all in working out a deal with Dominic Wade and his team” Tom Loeffler, managing director of K2 Promotions told BoxingScene.com. “We reached out to his promoter, Tom Brown (TGB Promotions), whom I’ve known for more than 20 years. We were able to agree on all terms in about a week.”
Interestingly, the event marks the first time that Golovkin (34-0, 31KOs) will face an opponent advised by Haymon, though the delay not at all by design. The unbeaten, unified titlist from Kazakhstan – who has scored 21 consecutive knockouts, 16 of which have come with at least one major title at stake – has simply gone down the line of middleweights willing to meet him in the ring.
He has become a staple of HBO boxing dating back to his Sept. ’12 knockout win over Grzegorz Proksa, the first of nine appearances on the network. The most recent occurrence came last October, scoring an 8th round knockout of David Lemieux in his first unification bout as well as his debut as an HBO Pay-Per-View headliner.
In Wade, he now gets his first Haymon-advised opponent. If negotiations are any indication of future business, it likely won’t be the last time – which in turn will mean HBO continuing to softening its stance on the subject.
“I have nothing to do with whom the networks choose to work with, as (K2 Promotions) is open to do business with all promoters and managers,” Loeffler insists. “I’ve never had any issues whatsoever with Al, and there certainly weren’t any road blocks in making this fight. I dealt with Tom Brown directly, who worked with Al in making the fight happen.
“There wasn’t any hesitation on their side. They understand the opportunity. It means fighting for the middleweight title, against the best middleweight in the world. They were on board every step of the way. We made a few concessions to make the fight happen, they agreed to our terms and shortly thereafter contracts were signed, allowing us to announce the fight.”
It also allows for an expansion of the talent pool – not that there were any restrictions to begin with.
“We have a hard enough time securing any opponent for Gennady,” Loeffler noted. “Can you imagine what it would be like if we were selective with whom we did business?”
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
