Golden Boy Promotions introduce the future
Last Saturday, just before Golden Boy Promotions offered the passable Shane Mosley-Sergio Mora bout to the world in Los Angeles, they introduced nine fighters holding new residence in their stable to the world. All nine were early in pro careers or yet
to debut, signed with the hopes that they will provide the yellow brick road to the future for the company.
Each fighter had a solid amateur record and clean professional record. All were hand-selected by CEOs Oscar De la Hoya and Richard Schaefer with the goal of developing marketable world class fighters that would aid the company.
Since its inception in 2001, Golden Boy Promotions has become one of the biggest, if not the biggest, promotional enterprise in boxing. Yet with their elite stable and financial health they have been roundly criticized for their methods. First, they are
criticized for simply signing developed free agents. Second, they are criticized for failing to develop fighters from scratch.
Enter the recent signing of the nine young prospects.
Golden Boy co-managers Cameron Dunkin and Michael Miller believe the signings could be the best ammunition in proving critics wrong. Each fighter symbolizes a new opportunity to represent Golden Boy and demonstrate their promotional dominance in the sport.
To develop their records, they will be competing at venues like the Club Nokia in Los Angeles, of which Golden Boy owns and uses for its “Fight Night Club” series.
In regards to the prospects, Richard Schaefer announced: “Remember these names because they are some of the most talented fighters from around the world. From Canada, from Africa, from the U.S., from Mexico, from Venezuela, from really all over the world,
these are the best of the best. And we are putting together a special series to showcase these young and emerging fighters.”
Schaefer vows to keep the prospects busy, by scheduling close to 80 events each year. In a welcoming speech, he said: “We are going to give you guys the opportunities. [...] You guys, all of you here, have the talent; you have the background [...] We will
do our job and you will do your job. It’s really a pleasure and an honour to welcome all of you to the Golden Boy family.”
With Schaefer’s ushering in, Bernard Hopkins took to the stage to give a rejoining speech. Aside from fighting under the Golden Boy stable, Hopkins is also a key east coast managing partner for the company. He congratulated the additions and then offered
some legendary advice.
“We are the future as time goes on. And ya’ll filling some big shoes. Start your own legacy but learn from the old; learn from history. Boxing is an art. Make it that.”
He continued by relating personal health and fitness to success in the sport. “Remember this,” Hopkins said. “Take care of yourself now and it’s like investing your money early. When you go, it will pay dividends later. You can always go to cash out.
You can always go to look for that in your body and your health and your boxing skills as time go on. [...] This is very crucial for you all to learn this now. You learn this now early and it becomes easy. And people ask you as you go on, ‘How do you stay
so in shape? You look like you’re ready to fight right now.’ Because I invested in myself early on. I’m telling you that’s Rule Number One. Invest in yourself; take care of your body.”
It’s unlikely that all prospects will shape up to be superstars, but given the research that went into the choices, it’s likely some will. Top-class businessmen like Hopkins help too.
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