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Schaefer in Big Apple to wheel and deal
Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer has come East to make deals. When it comes to closing a deal, Schaefer is one of the best in the business. The former Swiss banker is a no-nonsense, put-your-cards-on-the-table kind of guy who seems to enjoy the art of the deal even more than sitting back and watching the fight he negotiated.
So Schaefer is in New York on Thursday and staying through Friday, looking to wheel and deal.
"I have about 70 percent of my time blocked for boxing and the other 30 percent to work on some real-estate deals and something in financial services and banking we may get involved in," Schaefer told me before his first meeting Thursday morning.
Besides meeting with HBO's Kery Davis (who programs boxing for the network) and Mark Taffet (who runs the pay-per-view department), Schaefer hopes to make strides on significant fights for two of Golden Boy's cornerstone fighters: Shane Mosley and Bernard Hopkins.
First up is a meeting with Lou DiBella that may finalize a fight between welterweight titleholders Mosley and Andre Berto. They've been stalled over the money for a few weeks, but there's nothing like a face-to-face meeting to get the ball rolling again.
"We've had conversations about Mosley and Berto, so the main topic with Lou is to see if we can get it done," Schaefer said.
Schaefer said the date HBO is holding in anticipation of a deal is Dec. 5. He said the fight would probably take place in Las Vegas, although Schaefer said there is also interest from a Caribbean island (which he wouldn't name) to host the fight.
Schaefer will also meet with Main Events CEO Kathy Duva in an effort to make a January fight between Hopkins and cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek. Hopkins, the former middleweight and light heavyweight champ, called Adamek out in February, but the deal fizzled when the offer Hopkins insisted Schaefer extend was so low as to be laughable. Now it seems as though Hopkins and Schaefer are serious about making it happen.
"Kathy has a position and we have a position and nothing really happened last time," Schaefer said. "And I don't think HBO was really ready to step up then. Now I think it's different. So we'll see. I made a commitment to meet with Kathy in person and see what we can do."
Knowing Schaefer as well as I do, I'd be pretty surprised if he didn't get at least one of the fights done. I think there's a good chance he'll leave New York on his way to making both of them, which would be great for his fighters and even better for fight fans.
So Schaefer is in New York on Thursday and staying through Friday, looking to wheel and deal.
"I have about 70 percent of my time blocked for boxing and the other 30 percent to work on some real-estate deals and something in financial services and banking we may get involved in," Schaefer told me before his first meeting Thursday morning.
Besides meeting with HBO's Kery Davis (who programs boxing for the network) and Mark Taffet (who runs the pay-per-view department), Schaefer hopes to make strides on significant fights for two of Golden Boy's cornerstone fighters: Shane Mosley and Bernard Hopkins.
First up is a meeting with Lou DiBella that may finalize a fight between welterweight titleholders Mosley and Andre Berto. They've been stalled over the money for a few weeks, but there's nothing like a face-to-face meeting to get the ball rolling again.
"We've had conversations about Mosley and Berto, so the main topic with Lou is to see if we can get it done," Schaefer said.
Schaefer said the date HBO is holding in anticipation of a deal is Dec. 5. He said the fight would probably take place in Las Vegas, although Schaefer said there is also interest from a Caribbean island (which he wouldn't name) to host the fight.
Schaefer will also meet with Main Events CEO Kathy Duva in an effort to make a January fight between Hopkins and cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek. Hopkins, the former middleweight and light heavyweight champ, called Adamek out in February, but the deal fizzled when the offer Hopkins insisted Schaefer extend was so low as to be laughable. Now it seems as though Hopkins and Schaefer are serious about making it happen.
"Kathy has a position and we have a position and nothing really happened last time," Schaefer said. "And I don't think HBO was really ready to step up then. Now I think it's different. So we'll see. I made a commitment to meet with Kathy in person and see what we can do."
Knowing Schaefer as well as I do, I'd be pretty surprised if he didn't get at least one of the fights done. I think there's a good chance he'll leave New York on his way to making both of them, which would be great for his fighters and even better for fight fans.
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