Bernard Hopkins on Golden Boy rift, working with Top Rank

Bernard Hopkins on Golden Boy rift, working with Top Rank

LAS VEGAS–After Thursday’s undercard press conference for Floyd Mayweather against Marcos Maidana at the MGM Grand, unified light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins talked to the media about a wide array of topics, most of which centered around the rift between Richard Schaefer and Oscar De La Hoya at Golden Boy Promotions as well as the possibility of working with Top Rank in the future.

Hopkins, who is a shareholder in Golden Boy and also has a personal friendship with both De La Hoya and Schaefer, is in a tricky predicament. Hopkins was asked by BehindTheGloves.com if for him, the rift between De La Hoya and Schaefer is more than just professional but personal, given his close relationship with both parties. Hopkins said absolutely, he agrees with that.

For Hopkins, he’s in a tricky predicament because however things shake out, one imagines it will be hard to maintain a personal relationship with the side that goes against Golden Boy, where he has a vested interest. Hopkins doesn’t think it will be a problem maintaining a friendship with Schaefer if he leaves the company.

“I don’t see why not,” said Hopkins. “If there’s two companies then there is a conflict of interest. When things play out, as it will, I think that everybody would be happy and pleased to be doing something and be in a position where they feel they are happy and have control of their destiny. One thing I know personally about these disagreements, we can all agree to disagree.”

“You can fight it out in the media, you can fight it out in court, or you can fight amongst yourselves. At the end of the day, I think that everybody is gonna walk away with something that they wanted more, something that they got more. Nobody is gonna be happy 100% with everything, because it never works that way.”

Hopkins said that no matter what, he’s pro fighter and no matter how things shake out, he wants the fighters to be taken care of. When asked by BehindTheGloves.com whether or not that extends to the where it hurts his company, he wouldn’t answer. With a large number of Al Haymon fighters reportedly not under contract with Golden Boy (like Keith Thurman as we reported earlier this week), those fighters could jump ship to whatever entity that might start up between Schaefer and Haymon. Hopkins wouldn’t comment on that idea because he says he doesn’t like to talk about “if” or “almost”.

Hopkins also said he has no interest on his end in working with Bob Arum and Top Rank, though he noted he had no personal problem with them having fought two fights with Top Rank in the past.

“We don’t need Bob Arum, no,” said Hopkins. “I wouldn’t [work with him], no. For what? No, I wouldn’t. We don’t need to.”

“I think it is no secret who is the promoter of this time,” said Hopkins about Golden Boy. “Yeah there’s a few dinosaurs hanging on, but we all know, look around.”

Hopkins agrees with Schaefer’s stance that too much has happened between the two rival companies for the two to work together in the future.

“They worked together and then didn’t and then patched things up and then broke up and then patched things and didn’t work together and then patched things up,” said Hopkins. “There comes a time when you can’t patch things up anymore.”

When asked if it has to do with the name calling, Hopkins says it is much, much more than that.

“There’s so much of an on and off relationship with Top Rank, that experience Richard Schaefer had with Arum that I don’t think that can be re-patched up,” said Hopkins. “I don’t think they would ever in this lifetime, because of the on and off emotional…if it was just the name calling, I would say they should get together tomorrow. The lawsuits, the ‘we agree, then we don’t agree, then we don’t go against each other, and it is the same shenanigans…I think the emotional rollercoaster and on and off becomes a worn out soap opera and at the end of the day it hits the nerve to where there’s no more nerves there and you’re completely exhausted with dealing with the individual on that capacity of business anymore.

“I think Richard reached that a long time ago. I think that wall was reached. Obviously, Oscar thinks differently and that can be a major, major sticky breaking point to the point where one wants to think one way and the other wants to go the other way. That could be the clutch of a dispute, because if I want to work with you and my partner who doesn’t want to work with you who is running the business, let’s keep it real, who has been running the business, then you’ve got a problem.”

Hopkins doesn’t think they need Arum and asked the press what multiple fights are out there that aren’t being made now. I pointed out there’s a potential $100 million dollar fight out there that could be made (Mayweather-Pacquiao) and Hopkins jumped all over it.

“You’re talking about one date and after that date, then what’s up? What $100 million dollar fight can there be, I know you’re not talking about the one we shoulda had three or four years ago. In boxing they’ve got a build up. It’s called build a guy’s career, then build his star power, and then see what his numbers on the pay-per-view is, and then there’s the climax.”

Hopkins then uses an analogy of a sexual nature to describe the process.

“A $100 million dollar fight, you’re talking about Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. As far as I’m concerned, that was three years ago. The mainstream media is getting free passes to cover the fight. The people that want to buy the fight and wanted to see the fight don’t care no more. Not like three or four years ago, who cares? Especially after Pacquiao had those bumps in the road.”

Though the boxing industry is tired of talking about Mayweather and Pacquiao, there are still countless fans that don’t watch much boxing that ask about and want to see that fight. For some, it is all you ever hear about from casual fans, the type of large scale audience that could be reached by that fight. Yes, the best time to make the fight was 2009 or 2010 but there’s still massive interest. And there always will be as long as the two are still active.

-Mark E. Ortega / @MarkEOrtega

-Managing editor at www.BehindTheGloves.com