Why can't Haymon...

[al-Xander]

unify most of welterweight and light middle? When guys like King and Arum ran the welters and heavies throughout the 80s, 90s and early 00s, with the help of HBO, managed to unify those divisions on multiple occasions.

So why can't Haymon, possibly the most well financed boxing manager in history do the same? Considering the majority of the top guys in both divisions are signed to him. It took almost 2 years to make Thurman v Porter, Garcia has fought scrubs, Andrade, the Charlos et al are avoiding each other like the plague.

What's going on?

Boxing is dying. Everyone wants to get overpaid for fighting cab drivers.

[Francis M.]

Individual alphabet champions generate more money as a total, that a lineal or unified champ will.

It's all about mass saturation.

That is your opinion but don't agree with it. All sports including boxing makes more money when there is a dominant champion or a big rivalry.

Haymon has this fractured system that leads to nowhere. For example, Thurman and Porter stepped up to fight each other but there is no follow up to it. They will both go back to fighting randoms.

Danny Garcia was on the way up and now is no where to be found except the social media.

[killakali]

Two of the four belts in the WW division are held by PBC fighters.It's been that way for less than a year. One of their title holders has a mandatory to fulfill. Not only that but his he had a fight scheduled before the other PBC WW won his title. HBO has had their fighters hold three of the 4 MW titles for almost two years and never got a unification. And they allowed two of their fighters to avoid their mandatory and allowed one of them to drop his mandatory.

WTF? HBO had Kovalev and Ward unify plus Golovkin and Lemieux unify middleweight titles

[killakali]

It's because he doesn't know the sport of boxing very well. He's still learning it on the job. Bob Arum and Don King has a multitude of experience between the two.

For instance, Don King used to put on the best PPV cards back in the day. The were often stacked with at least four championship fights on the same card which didn't include the main event. Moreover, he often used to put on tournaments for HBO in order to unify each division in boxing.

What Al need is a good matchmaker. Someone who knows the sport and could give the boxing fans the fights that they want to see. Likewise, he shouldn't be afraid to work with and seek out the expertise of other movers and shakers in the sport of boxing; Including other American boxing promoters as well.

it isn't so much the matchmaker. He needs to pressure on his fighters to fight each other and pay less when they don't. He is starting to do that too if you look at the porter-thurman and frampton-santa cruz purses. Now that the money is drying up they are fighting for less. He should force Garcia to fight someone better than Berto though

[Motorcity Cobra]

WTF? HBO had Kovalev and Ward unify plus Golovkin and Lemieux unify middleweight titles

Lemieux didn't have an HBO contract when that fight was made and still doesn't. They refused to show his fight against N'dam and it ended up on Fox Sports 2. What belt does Ward have to unify?

[Francis M.]

Hayman needs to actually pay fighters based on the income the event will generate vs this amount from the mutual fund piggy bank.

[killakali]

Lemieux didn't have an HBO contract when that fight was made and still doesn't. They refused to show his fight against N'dam and it ended up on Fox Sports 2. What belt does Ward have to unify?

Kovalev unified with Hopkins if you recall. GGG and Lemieux unifed. Before N'Dam Lemieux's fight was vs Rosado on HBO and then GGG was HBO and his next fight vs Tapia was HBO and guess where his next fight is? HBO

[Weebler I]

Haymon's not looking at it from a sporting perspective.

These fighters are assets to him, when they lose fights, they lose value so he keeps them fight nobodies while the hedge fund monies pay for it all.

[Motorcity Cobra]

Kovalev unified with Hopkins if you recall. GGG and Lemieux unifed. Before N'Dam Lemieux's fight was vs Rosado on HBO and then GGG was HBO and his next fight vs Tapia was HBO and guess where his next fight is? HBO

Hopkins wasn't an HBO fighter either. He came over for that one fight and so that Main Events would drop the lawsuit against Golden Boy. And they did. He turned down more money against Stevenson to take the Kovalev fight. Lemieux doesn't have an HBO contract and never has. We're talking fighters exclusive to HBO with belts that they aren't being forced to fight.

[creekrat77]

unify most of welterweight and light middle? When guys like King and Arum ran the welters and heavies throughout the 80s, 90s and early 00s, with the help of HBO, managed to unify those divisions on multiple occasions.

So why can't Haymon, possibly the most well financed boxing manager in history do the same? Considering the majority of the top guys in both divisions are signed to him. It took almost 2 years to make Thurman v Porter, Garcia has fought scrubs, Andrade, the Charlos et al are avoiding each other like the plague.

What's going on?

Where have you been? Al Haymon handles all PBC fighters finances and promotional obligations. Everyone of his signed fighters is a conduit for him making more money. But that isn't where the major problem lies because let's face it, all major promoters are professionals that want their piece. The problem is he thinks very small and makes it a priority to look out for his favorite fighters financial interest. How could he possibly make the most demanded competitive fights when said fighters are likely his current favorites and doesn't want to sacrifice either of them. He doesn't understand that his job should be putting on the most marketable fight. Right now he is putting on marketable fights that will sell but completely holding out on fights that would make some serious noise. He holds his cards very very close and doesn't seem to have good judgment.

Say what you will about Arum or Oscar but they consistently put it all on the line for the sake of a substantive career building fight. Haymon will do everything to avoid a grey area with an outcome that is very unpredictable. He is a control freak. You can tell that he perceives a career path for a fighter and then implements a trajectory that is very preplanned, setting the bar for the fighter.
Look at Broner, his reign at 130-135 was a joke. He simply picked up those belts with weak competition. Then with Spence, he still has him fighting no hopers. If Spence believes he is on Floyds level then he needs to be fighting guys that are as close to Floyds level as possible. But Haymon doesn't want that. The 147 division is saturated with talent signed with him. He wants Spence to take it slow, continue fighting fringe contenders, effectively building his brand (a weak, little substance brand at that) and wait his "turn" at 147. This is a competition sport goddamn*t and if Haymon wants what's best for boxing and his fighters, then he will stop setting the bar and let his fighters aggressively and proudly compete. Then at the end of the day they could at least say I'm doing everything I can to prove I am the best.