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So, is your plan to take over boxing?
My plan is not to take over boxing, but really do what no other promoter was able to do, and that is have unified rules and one commissioner and make sure the fighter is taken care of and is not cheated out of anything. That's one of the reasons boxing hasn't really taken itself to the next level, because we cannot make those big fights and a lot of times promoters are the ones in the way. We are very transparent with whatever we do with our fighters, and in a way, yes, we do want to take over. Well, we don't want to take control of boxing, but we want to do the right thing for the sport. Have one [entity] running it like UFC. It's very confusing with all these championship belts-my idea would be to have one champion in each division. There should be one heavyweight champion, not 20 like we have now. Too much confusion. We have to weed out the bad and bring in the good.
The only fight everyone wants to see is Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Will it ever get done?
I believe so. My philosophy is Mayweather just fought two or three months ago. Floyd is saying, "I just made $65 to $70 million in two fights. Why am I going to rush to fight again; why should I be pushed? I will fight when I want." We feel that early next year, first quarter of next year, we are optimistic it will happen. It has to happen. Floyd knows it's the biggest fight out there, and they don't call him "Money Mayweather" for nothing.
So, is Floyd scared of Manny?
No. There is no fear in boxing.
I don't mean scared of getting punched in the face; I mean scared of losing his legacy.
He probably does have fear in losing. He does have fear in having that one loss, and probably thinks people will not accept him anymore. But all the experts know that Floyd will outbox [Pacquiao], probably easily. Styles make fights, and Floyd is a special fighter inside the ring. Outside the ring is a whole other story.
Floyd made a rather profane and racist video and then had some problems with the law in the last couple of weeks. Has this hurt him?
Has it damaged his legacy? I don't think so. Once he steps inside the ring and wins, people tend to forgive. People tend to forgive winners and champions. There is no room for what he said [about Pacquiao in the video], from anybody's mouth. But once he steps inside the ring, America is very forgiving.
We have heard some concern from cable and satellite operators about a lack of big PPV fights coming in 2011. Are you concerned?
I'm really not concerned, because next year you will be having Manny fight, you will be having Floyd fight, and those are the two fighters driving pay-per-view. When you have Floyd's number and Manny fighting a Joe Schmo generating 600,000 buys, next year will be a big year for boxing once again. You never know what's going to happen; right now people are saying boxing is declining or dying. But as soon as we have that next big fight, it will be a big sport again. Boxing is a roller coaster and that's what is frustrating to us, because we don't have control over it, but eventually I strongly feel it can change because it is a sport that everyone loves.
How are things with your TV partners?
Obviously, HBO and Showtime and ESPN have done a great job. [HBO's reality series] 24/7 is fantastic. But our ultimate goal is to [also] have boxing on free TV, on the ABCs, CBSs and NBCs of the world; we feel eventually it's going to happen. Now that we've attracted corporate America with our sponsors like McDonald's, AT&T and DeWalt, we have many sponsors that are now realizing through boxing that you can promote your brands at pennies on the dollar compared to the other sports out there.
Have you spoken with any broadcast networks yet?
I don't think it's time now. We have an agenda and lots to do, but it's not ready yet.
You co-produced an MMA event with Affliction and Donald Trump. Will you do more in the MMA world?
It was a huge success, but we have to focus all our energies in the sport of boxing because there is so much room for growth. We don't want to veer off and lose our focus, so no more MMA.
Is MMA succeeding at the expense of boxing?
I don't buy that. The audience is different. MMA has its die-hard fans who generate 300,000 to 500,000 payper- view buys on a monthly basis. So, they have that audience, that diehard fan base. If they do a major fight - I think the biggest one was Brock Lesnar, that generated close to a million buys - do we feel the boxing fan is overflowing into MMA? No. Because when we do a big event, we break records and do 2.4 million homes. MMA has only broken a million a couple of times. We're not worried; we don't feel the fans are running toward MMA. As long as we put on the best fights, we will keep our fans and hopefully attract new fans. I think both sports help each other.
Could you have ever fought in MMA?
If I had trained for a couple of years. I once wanted to take [second-tier] boxers who can still strike and train them for about two years for MMA, but I just never followed through on it. I would love to see an Anderson Silva go up against a Bernard Hopkins or Chad Dawson in the boxing ring. He would get knocked out with ease.
Why did you get involved in soccer?
Anschutz Entertainment Group is an investor in Golden Boy, and we were talking about soccer with [AEG chief] Tim Leiweke and my CEO, Richard Schaefer. Soccer - especially for Latinos - and boxing are the sports that capture the imagination, going back many years. The opportunity presented itself; Tim mentioned that if we wanted to get involved, there is a team for sale in Houston. Obviously we were pushing to be involved with the Los Angeles Galaxy, because this is my home, but we made the perfect choice. Now that we are approved for a stadium, I think the Houston market will be one of the most important for Major League Soccer. And it's not just driven by the Latino community, which is a plus for us. We just had 19,000 people the other day and we are in last place. And the stadium we are playing in is a dump. We are optimistic that once we have a brand-new stadium, we can sell out every game.
Were you always a soccer fan?
Absolutely. It was either soccer or boxing and fortunately-or unfortunately-I was forced into boxing. It was us kids playing soccer in the street barefoot. We would travel almost every weekend across the [Mexican] border to a little town called Tecate, where they make the famous beer. Most of my relatives worked there, and that's another sponsor we were able to attract [to Golden Boy]. We would play soccer every weekend. Then sometime the fathers would be hanging out drinking their beers, and they would bring out the boxing gloves and start matching the kids up against each other for their enjoyment. That's how it all started.
Any other places in sports entertainment you want to expand into?
We are going to stick with boxing and soccer. There is still tremendous potential there.
What if Los Angeles gets an NFL team? Would you want to be involved?
We have talked to a few people. We've obviously mentioned it to Tim Leiweke, and he has his partners. We've discussed that it would be wonderful to have an L.A. kid like me to be involved with a football franchise. But that's a few years away.
I've heard that others have pitched a boxing or fighting channel. Is that something Golden Boy should be pursuing?
Absolutely, especially with the library we have. We are always building our library, fights and interviews past and present. I wouldn't make it a boxingspecifi c channel, but a fight channel. Richard Schaefer's kids, who are 13 or 14, looked up online any sport having to do with fighting, and there were just tons and tons of sports that most of us have never heard of all across the world that fall into the category of fighting. So, the idea would be to not just showcase boxing, but everything else like karate and mixed martial arts. That is part of the long-term plan; one day we will have the fight channel.
How are you feeling these days?
I feel really good, actually. The wife asks me every day, "Are you OK?" I did have tests done after every single fight. My last fight, they found something that they couldn't really understand in my head. It didn't help me to make my decision to retire, but it was obviously a concern. I had second and third opinions. It was something in my head that they thought could maybe have an effect 30 years down the road, but they just weren't sure. Maybe they were being extra-careful. So, the wife asks me every day how I am, but I don't feel like I was a fighter for the last 30 years.
Do you miss fighting?
I miss it to an extent where I sometimes wake up in the morning and go jogging; then I'll sometimes shadow-box in the local park in Pasadena where I live, and I will say to myself, "You know, I still have it." But then all of a sudden my back starts hurting or I pull a hamstring, and there's the reality check.
My plan is not to take over boxing, but really do what no other promoter was able to do, and that is have unified rules and one commissioner and make sure the fighter is taken care of and is not cheated out of anything. That's one of the reasons boxing hasn't really taken itself to the next level, because we cannot make those big fights and a lot of times promoters are the ones in the way. We are very transparent with whatever we do with our fighters, and in a way, yes, we do want to take over. Well, we don't want to take control of boxing, but we want to do the right thing for the sport. Have one [entity] running it like UFC. It's very confusing with all these championship belts-my idea would be to have one champion in each division. There should be one heavyweight champion, not 20 like we have now. Too much confusion. We have to weed out the bad and bring in the good.
The only fight everyone wants to see is Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Will it ever get done?
I believe so. My philosophy is Mayweather just fought two or three months ago. Floyd is saying, "I just made $65 to $70 million in two fights. Why am I going to rush to fight again; why should I be pushed? I will fight when I want." We feel that early next year, first quarter of next year, we are optimistic it will happen. It has to happen. Floyd knows it's the biggest fight out there, and they don't call him "Money Mayweather" for nothing.
So, is Floyd scared of Manny?
No. There is no fear in boxing.
I don't mean scared of getting punched in the face; I mean scared of losing his legacy.
He probably does have fear in losing. He does have fear in having that one loss, and probably thinks people will not accept him anymore. But all the experts know that Floyd will outbox [Pacquiao], probably easily. Styles make fights, and Floyd is a special fighter inside the ring. Outside the ring is a whole other story.
Floyd made a rather profane and racist video and then had some problems with the law in the last couple of weeks. Has this hurt him?
Has it damaged his legacy? I don't think so. Once he steps inside the ring and wins, people tend to forgive. People tend to forgive winners and champions. There is no room for what he said [about Pacquiao in the video], from anybody's mouth. But once he steps inside the ring, America is very forgiving.
We have heard some concern from cable and satellite operators about a lack of big PPV fights coming in 2011. Are you concerned?
I'm really not concerned, because next year you will be having Manny fight, you will be having Floyd fight, and those are the two fighters driving pay-per-view. When you have Floyd's number and Manny fighting a Joe Schmo generating 600,000 buys, next year will be a big year for boxing once again. You never know what's going to happen; right now people are saying boxing is declining or dying. But as soon as we have that next big fight, it will be a big sport again. Boxing is a roller coaster and that's what is frustrating to us, because we don't have control over it, but eventually I strongly feel it can change because it is a sport that everyone loves.
How are things with your TV partners?
Obviously, HBO and Showtime and ESPN have done a great job. [HBO's reality series] 24/7 is fantastic. But our ultimate goal is to [also] have boxing on free TV, on the ABCs, CBSs and NBCs of the world; we feel eventually it's going to happen. Now that we've attracted corporate America with our sponsors like McDonald's, AT&T and DeWalt, we have many sponsors that are now realizing through boxing that you can promote your brands at pennies on the dollar compared to the other sports out there.
Have you spoken with any broadcast networks yet?
I don't think it's time now. We have an agenda and lots to do, but it's not ready yet.
You co-produced an MMA event with Affliction and Donald Trump. Will you do more in the MMA world?
It was a huge success, but we have to focus all our energies in the sport of boxing because there is so much room for growth. We don't want to veer off and lose our focus, so no more MMA.
Is MMA succeeding at the expense of boxing?
I don't buy that. The audience is different. MMA has its die-hard fans who generate 300,000 to 500,000 payper- view buys on a monthly basis. So, they have that audience, that diehard fan base. If they do a major fight - I think the biggest one was Brock Lesnar, that generated close to a million buys - do we feel the boxing fan is overflowing into MMA? No. Because when we do a big event, we break records and do 2.4 million homes. MMA has only broken a million a couple of times. We're not worried; we don't feel the fans are running toward MMA. As long as we put on the best fights, we will keep our fans and hopefully attract new fans. I think both sports help each other.
Could you have ever fought in MMA?
If I had trained for a couple of years. I once wanted to take [second-tier] boxers who can still strike and train them for about two years for MMA, but I just never followed through on it. I would love to see an Anderson Silva go up against a Bernard Hopkins or Chad Dawson in the boxing ring. He would get knocked out with ease.
Why did you get involved in soccer?
Anschutz Entertainment Group is an investor in Golden Boy, and we were talking about soccer with [AEG chief] Tim Leiweke and my CEO, Richard Schaefer. Soccer - especially for Latinos - and boxing are the sports that capture the imagination, going back many years. The opportunity presented itself; Tim mentioned that if we wanted to get involved, there is a team for sale in Houston. Obviously we were pushing to be involved with the Los Angeles Galaxy, because this is my home, but we made the perfect choice. Now that we are approved for a stadium, I think the Houston market will be one of the most important for Major League Soccer. And it's not just driven by the Latino community, which is a plus for us. We just had 19,000 people the other day and we are in last place. And the stadium we are playing in is a dump. We are optimistic that once we have a brand-new stadium, we can sell out every game.
Were you always a soccer fan?
Absolutely. It was either soccer or boxing and fortunately-or unfortunately-I was forced into boxing. It was us kids playing soccer in the street barefoot. We would travel almost every weekend across the [Mexican] border to a little town called Tecate, where they make the famous beer. Most of my relatives worked there, and that's another sponsor we were able to attract [to Golden Boy]. We would play soccer every weekend. Then sometime the fathers would be hanging out drinking their beers, and they would bring out the boxing gloves and start matching the kids up against each other for their enjoyment. That's how it all started.
Any other places in sports entertainment you want to expand into?
We are going to stick with boxing and soccer. There is still tremendous potential there.
What if Los Angeles gets an NFL team? Would you want to be involved?
We have talked to a few people. We've obviously mentioned it to Tim Leiweke, and he has his partners. We've discussed that it would be wonderful to have an L.A. kid like me to be involved with a football franchise. But that's a few years away.
I've heard that others have pitched a boxing or fighting channel. Is that something Golden Boy should be pursuing?
Absolutely, especially with the library we have. We are always building our library, fights and interviews past and present. I wouldn't make it a boxingspecifi c channel, but a fight channel. Richard Schaefer's kids, who are 13 or 14, looked up online any sport having to do with fighting, and there were just tons and tons of sports that most of us have never heard of all across the world that fall into the category of fighting. So, the idea would be to not just showcase boxing, but everything else like karate and mixed martial arts. That is part of the long-term plan; one day we will have the fight channel.
How are you feeling these days?
I feel really good, actually. The wife asks me every day, "Are you OK?" I did have tests done after every single fight. My last fight, they found something that they couldn't really understand in my head. It didn't help me to make my decision to retire, but it was obviously a concern. I had second and third opinions. It was something in my head that they thought could maybe have an effect 30 years down the road, but they just weren't sure. Maybe they were being extra-careful. So, the wife asks me every day how I am, but I don't feel like I was a fighter for the last 30 years.
Do you miss fighting?
I miss it to an extent where I sometimes wake up in the morning and go jogging; then I'll sometimes shadow-box in the local park in Pasadena where I live, and I will say to myself, "You know, I still have it." But then all of a sudden my back starts hurting or I pull a hamstring, and there's the reality check.
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