Promoters Star in Soap Opera, Fighters Suffer
Yesterday the boxing world was let in on a little secret with big implications: two of the biggest promoters in boxing haven’t spoken since January, due to a business dispute that left one of them "angry."
Top Rank mastermind Bob Arum was personally offended when news came out that Golden Boy Promotions Chief Executive Richard Schaefer did little to remedy rumours that Arum’s top fighter, Manny Pacquiao, had used performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in the past. The rumour originated in the Floyd Mayweather Jr. camp, whom Schaefer had assisted in previous fight negotiations.
In a moment of unusual honesty, after the first pitch to get Mayweather and Pacquiao in the ring failed, Arum confessed that a final discussion with Schaefer stipulated a third fight for Pacquiao against Schaefer’s Juan Manuel Marquez.
"Schaefer told me he wanted a 50-50 split of the purse, and that Manny had to go through random drug testing," Arum admitted. "There was no way."
On the question of PEDs, the camps are divided. Many understand Arum’s vehemence at the request, but others are asking why he is so critically opposed to the idea.
In March, Mayweather and Shane Mosley set a new boxing precedent by agreeing to undergo an unlimited number of urine and blood drug tests for their now-concluded title fight. Schaefer, working with Mayweather at the time, was in complete agreement with the terms.
"This is one of the biggest events I've seen in the sport of boxing, and if this introduces Olympic-style testing to boxing, we not only have delivered a great fight but also levelled the field for athletes,” he remarked.
Tuesday Schaefer appeared to lament his falling out with Arum at a press conference. He pleaded, “bring down this wall Bob,” and clarified that the terms for a Pacquiao – Marquez bout were only provisional and not intended to offend. He likewise argued that he is in a business, the business of negotiating, where there is strictly no room for personality and hurt feelings.
“That’s called negotiation, that’s the business. Make me another offer.”
While both promoters claim they are willing to enter negotiations for future fights, the fact remains that nothing significant between the two teams has happened since January, and the schedule of main events in the future between the companies looks bleak. More, the two appear to enjoy taking their melodrama to previously unimaginable heights, with no signs of letting up.
"We've extended not just a few branches, but olive trees, I'm just not going to [do it] anymore," Schaefer pressed. "After a while, you say, 'let this guy be miserable,' and life goes on. I don't lose a minute of sleep over it."
Arum evidently sought to connect with a one-two when he replied: “It’s not the end of the world that I won’t talk to him.” He added that Schaefer owes Pacquiao a sincere apology.
Schaefer refused to agree that he said Pacquiao was using PEDs in the past. All the same, after the first round of allegations from the Mayweather camp, Pacquiao filed a defamation lawsuit against Mayweather and Schaefer’s co-partner, Oscar de la Hoya. The suit is ongoing.
The trouble with this contemporary melodrama is that it obviously hurts the fighters. Childish promoters not talking to each other halts potential business and ring action between worthy fighters.
Whether or not Schaefer accused or implied Pacquiao was taking PEDs, who cares? Provocation in any form, including rotten trash talk and insinuation, is part of the game. When Muhammad Ali and Joe Frasier were in Manila for their classic third bout, did Frasier file a lawsuit when Ali called him a “black guerilla,” and punched a stuffed animal representative of him on national TV? No. He stepped into the ring with him, and that was that.
So, any takers in seeing an Arum – Schaefer super-fight?
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