The Future Is Bright For Golden Boy

Mosley & Judah May Jump On New Nevada Ruling


By Igor Frank

 


I caught up with Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions at Café Pinot, downtown Los Angeles, at a press conference to promote an upcoming bout between Oscar De La Hoya and Steve Forbes to take place on May 3rd at Home Depot Center, Carson, California. Here are some of the things Richard had to say.

 

IF: Whose idea was it to put Oscar on regular HBO and in Home depot Center?

 

RS: It was all Oscars’ idea, he really wanted to give back to the fans who have supported him for so long and to do it right here, where you have seventeen thousand tickets priced at seventy five dollars or less, which is unheard off for Oscars fights. He really wanted all his fans to be able to afford it and to do it on HBO instead of Pay Per View was another way for Oscar to say thanks to his fans. It really was only and only Oscars idea.

 

IF: Are you planning to do any more fights outside of Las Vegas, like in Houston or Los Angeles?

 

RS: Absolutely, we are going to do a fight in Houston with Juan Diaz on October 13th and we would love to do more fights in Los Angeles or Atlantic City, so taking some of the big fights out of Las Vegas.

 

IF: Who is Juan Diaz going to fight?

 

RS: That is what we are still working on.

 

IF: Who will be Oscar’s final opponent?

 

RS: That is a very good question. He is planning to do three fights this year. If everything goes well with this fight and then he beats Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September it opens a whole lot of opportunities and possibilities. One of them may be a third fight with Mayweather; another might be a fight with Manny Pacquiao or a fight with Ricky Hatton. If you look at Oscar’s career, he always fought the best and he will continue to do that until it is time for him to hang up the gloves.

 

IF: What do you think about Bob Arum negotiating an eight ounce gloves in Vegas for Cotto vs. Margarito fight?

 

RS. I think it is great. I am glad that he was able to do that, as a matter of fact we checked with Zab Judah wanting to do the same and we checked with Shane Mosley and he agreed to that. I think that we are going to take advantage of that ruling as well. I think that’s good.

 

IF; Is Oscar going to fight with eight ounce gloves here in Los Angeles?

 

RS: No, because they are fighting at a catch weight of 149pounds and I believe it will be 10 ounce gloves.

 

IF: With Oscar, Bernard and Shane are getting close to retirement who is the next Oscar for Golden Boy?

 

RS: We have a lot of young guys coming up, like Danny Garcia or Daniel Jacobs, there are young kids we have signed, but you just really never know. It is not an easy thing to do when you have to fill in Oscars shoes; it is like finding another Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods or Wayne Gretzky. This is not an easy thing to predict. But as always with boxing, eventually one person will emerge as a star and a hero for a millions of fight fans around the world.

 

Thank you, Richard.

 
 

So the future is bright for Golden Boy, stay tuned for Oscar vs. Forbes on May 3rd at Home Depot Center, Carson California and then Zab Judah vs. Shane Mosley on May 31st, in Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay, which could turn out to be more exciting fight, because of a smaller glove ruling.