Floyd Mayweather dumps Golden Boy Promotions

Floyd Mayweather dumps Golden Boy Promotions

Mere hours after former Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer announced he’d be leaving the company, representatives for Floyd Mayweather confirmed that he too would no longer be working with the southern California based promoter any longer.

ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael spoke to Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, who confirmed that their relationship with Golden Boy was based on their comfort with Schaefer, and with him out of the picture they will go in another direction.

“Absolutely not,” said Ellerbe when asked if Mayweather would again work with Golden Boy now that Schaefer is out of the picture.

“We have a great working relationship with Richard Schaefer and that will never change,” Ellerbe said. “Richard is a good friend and a great businessman and an excellent promoter. Richard will have an impact in anything that he decides to do, a tremendous impact. He built that company from the ground up and did a phenomenal job. We’ve had a very close relationship for a number of years and worked hand-in-hand on a number of great fights.

“Mayweather Promotions will continue to promote Floyd’s fights and Floyd will continue to put on the biggest fights in boxing. I have a tremendous team and staff and we continue to expand year by year and we’re ready to go.”

During fight week for Mayweather’s bout against Marcos Maidana, Mayweather addressed the rumors of in-fighting between Schaefer and Oscar De La Hoya by stating that Schaefer would have a home at Mayweather Promotions if things shook out the way they have.

“We like working with Richard Schaefer. Richard Schaefer is Golden Boy,” Mayweather said that week. “He does all the day-to-day leg work. He works hard. He’s up late on the phone with Leonard, three, four in the morning, taking flights, and people that’s putting work in like this you got to commend them.

“Richard always has a home over here. We would love to work with him hand-in-hand if he has any problems over there because we know it’s a company Richard Schaefer built. We working hand-in-hand already. We would love to work with Richard. He’s a great guy, a great father. Richard knows the door is always open. Richard Schaefer knows he’s family.”

Ellerbe didn’t want to comment immediately on the idea of Schaefer moving over to their company.

“Richard just put in the resignation (Monday) and I’m not going to speak on what Richard might do next,” Ellerbe said. “That is for Richard to say. But Richard will have a tremendous impact on whatever he decides to do and wherever he goes. We always welcome smart leaders, but I don’t know what his future is.”

Perhaps the most intriguing thing Ellerbe said was that he doesn’t recall De La Hoya being involved in any way with the lead-up to any of Mayweather’s promotions. These are the fights the company has largely built their name on over the past few years dating back to 2007, when Golden Boy exclusively began promoting Mayweather on a fight-by-fight basis.

“I’ve been in a hundred strategy sessions, I’ve been in a hundred meetings, I’ve been in a hundred planning sessions on our events and the people I’ve worked closely with are Richard and Bruce,” Ellerbe said. “I’ve never seen Oscar in one of those sessions, not once. We’ve never had one discussion about business. But I wish (Golden Boy) nothing but the best.”

There are many questions left by this move. What will happen to future bouts between Golden Boy fighters and those under the Mayweather Promotions banner? Do fights like Sakio Bika against J’Leon Love, a bout that has been rumored, fall by the wayside? Will Golden Boy halt putting Mayweather’s young fighters on their shows in the future?

There’s also a question of what will happen with Mayweather’s bout slated for mid-September. Golden Boy cultivated a relationship with the MGM Grand, though much of that can be attributed to Schaefer. While there’s little doubt Mayweather will fight at the MGM Grand, what about all the sponsors that have been cultivated through De La Hoya’s company? Who do they side with in this and does it affect their future business?

A lot of answers to come as this interesting development continues to get more intriguing by the day and the hour.

-Mark E. Ortega / @MarkEOrtega

-Managing editor at www.BehindTheGloves.com