By Sean Crose
Richard Schaefer and Oscar De La Hoya have apparently settled their differences.
Yet there’s a catch. Golden Boy is also cutting loose fighters Adrien Broner and Danny Garcia. They are now strictly in the stable of mega manager/adviser Al Haymon. Those are two quite lucrative draws who are now no longer with De La Hoya.
What’s more, some other major names which are remaining with Showtime may only be doing so for the time being. “Golden Boy will retain the promotional rights to Haymon-advised fighters such as Amir Khan, Lucas Matthysse and Leo Santa Cruz,” writes Kevin Iole. Yet those men are aligned with Haymon, as well.
Sources from Yahoo Sports and ESPN.com are taking to the Internet to make public what “sources” are saying about the Haymon-De La Hoya rift.
“Source on GB cutting ties w/ Haymon: ‘We were totally hamstrung. That’s how you end up w/ Rod Salka (vs Garcia) and the guys Leo has fought.’” So ESPN’s Dan Rafael tweeted this morning.
As for how the split between Haymon and De La Hoya was arranged, Rafael tweeted on that matter, as well:
“Source: ‘We came to conclusion we couldn’t make the fights we wanted to make. GB received “substantial financial compensation'” from Haymon.”
Schaefer’s long term future remains uncertain.
“The settlement of the lawsuits bars Schaefer from promoting for a period of time,” Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole writes.
Schaefer, a long rumored ally of Haymon’s, found himself at odds with De La Hoya when the man known as The Golden Boy decided to become more proactive with the company that bears his name last year.
The loss of Garcia and Broner is certainly a blow to De La Hoya. Still, he now has better relationships with HBO and rival promotional company Top Rank than he did a year ago. He also has superstar Canelo Alvarez in his stable.
“With this deal,” Iole quotes a source, “[Golden Boy] can now make the fights the fans want to see.”