By Keith Idec

Carlos Balderas heard what Bob Arum and Oscar De La Hoya had to say.

In the end, the 2016 U.S. Olympian determined that Richard Schaefer was the appropriate promoter for the Santa Maria, California native and his older brother, Jose Balderas. Schaefer, who once ran De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, announced Monday during a conference call that his new company, Ringstar Sports, has signed Carlos Balderas and Jose Balderas to promotional contracts.

Schaefer said Carlos Balderas, a 20-year-old junior lightweight, and Jose Balderas, a 21-year-old bantamweight, will make their respective pro debuts on the same card sometime late in February in the Los Angeles area. The former Golden Boy CEO had hoped to have them make their pro debuts at Staples Center, but the building won’t be available for a boxing card until July, according to Schaefer.

Carlos Balderas, who reached the lightweight quarterfinals at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro three months ago, explained why he chose Schaefer.

“More than anything, I really liked his honesty,” Carlos Balderas said during the conference call. “He was a very trustworthy guy. He’s a family man, so that just speaks a lot about him. Raul Jaimes [Schaefer’s nephew], who looked after us at the Olympic Games, he helped us out a lot out there. So you could tell people were doing it from the heart, not just because they wanted to do it, or they wanted to sign us. You could tell these people wanted to be with us from the beginning.

“I felt like Richard has the power in L.A., where my market is at. I feel like he has all the good connects out here. I feel like Richard has big, big plans for me and my brother. Without a doubt, we’ll become world champions. It’s just a matter of time, really.”

Balderas believed early on in the recruitment process that he would sign with Schaefer’s new company.

“I know my dad spoke a lot with other promoters – Top Rank, Oscar,” Balderas said. “I know there was another guy, um, Mr. Honda. There was some other guy from Switzerland, I think. I’m not sure. They were talking to my dad a lot. They were very interested. I’m talking about another guy from Switzerland, not Mr. Schaefer.

“I don’t know. These other guys, I felt like they wanted to sign us just to sign us. I felt like they were gonna put us on low cards and I don’t think they were gonna give us what we deserve. I just, I don’t know. I just didn’t really get too interested in what they had to offer. I didn’t even wanna have a meeting with them, because I already had my mind set up. But we just had to figure out what they had to say. They’re very nice people, but I just don’t think it was the best decision for us to do business with them.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.