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RICHARD SCHAEFER Doesn’t Think HBO Should Let Arum Provide Most HBO Content
No, Richard Schaefer, the Swiss-born day-to-day head of Golden Boy Promotions, didn’t do a spit-take when he got word that HBO didn’t want to buy any fights put together by his company.
“Was it a shocker? Yes and no,” the 51-year-old dealmaker told TSS in a phone chat Tuesday night. “I was not so surprised because I had no communication with (HBO boxing chief) Ken Hershman going back to November. But the way HBO went about it…It was rather strange. If I was running HBO I would just turn down offers from Golden Boy.”
So, the posting of the edict in the public square, so to speak, did take Schaefer (seen above, in a Hogan photo, listening to Bernard Hopkins in 2012) aback. But he seems to have collected himself after the momentary shock. In fact, Monday night, the day the divorce papers were delivered, he turned off his cell phone, and went to check out Golden Boy boxer Victor Ortiz on “Dancing With the Stars.”
“Victor did very well,” said Schaefer, admitting that cell phones were confiscated at the DWTS facility, so there was no temptation to text on the sly, maybe when Andy Dick was waltzing. “Victor did very well. He was in the middle of the field.”
So, it sounds like you weren’t sitting around, licking your wounds all day? “No, life goes on,” he said. “I don’t have any ill feelings. Life just goes on.”
Schaefer can be a pretty good politician when he chooses. You know how our Senators refer to each other as “my friend on the other side of the aisle,” and “my esteemed colleague” and such? Schaefer, I offer, is in that mode when he talks about there being no ill will. I mean, he might be one of the most serene execs I’ve ever come across and truly is able to shrug off any hint of animus towards Team HBO… But he does manage to muster a bit of ire on the subject of rival Bob Arum, of Top Rank, who will now be the main provider, far and away, of content for HBO. When I asked Schaefer if fans will be winners or losers in this new arrangement, if the custody arrangement will have upside for the fans, he replied, “Fans have been winning. Will they keep on winning? If I were running HBO I wouldn’t be giving over the wheel of the ship to Bob Arum.”
Regular readers know I have my romantic side; the Libra in me seeks that basically everybody get along, that we all play nice together. I asked Schaefer if he didn’t empathize with the fans who don’t care about the promotional cold war, who’s Kennedy and who’s Kruschev, and obliquely pleaded for him and Arum to make nice, so a couple no brainer fights could get made, instead of being dismissed because the promoters hate each other more than any two fighters do.
“Boxing is not a league,” Schaefer said. “Things play out publicly…You think that s–t doesn’t happen in other leagues? You think there isn’t fighting in the NFL when the owners talk about splitting revenues and Jerry Jones of the Cowboys argues for himself, because he’s selling out his stadium, against those who are not selling out? You think that s–t is not going on there? You think that’s not going on in corporate America? Of course it’s going on, but unfortunately boxing is unregulated, so everyone sees more fighting going on. Fans want fights, and who cares what Schaefer or Arum wants, make good fights.”
Good stuff, good points. Indeed, there is more transparency in the sport because you don’t have a lord high commissioner turning the screws on dissenters, tamping down discord, and an army of flacks quelling chatter. This can make boxing seem infinitely more dysfunctional than the NFL, NBA, MLB or…no, not the NHL, those clowns have had two shutdowns in the last ten years. But boxing may be no more dysfunctional than the other sports, it just plays out more publicly. Yes, the dysfunction can be glaring when you get a situation where a Top Rank guy should be fighting a Golden Boy guy (cough Donaire-Mares cough) but doesn’t because the dealmakers can’t stomach each other. But there actually aren’t THAT many fights that aren’t happening because the Hatfields and the McCoys can’t just get along long enough to hash out a deal to give the fans, who pay out of pocket way too much to follow their sport, what they damn well deserve. Also, the transparency, the lack of the centralized authority, is part of what makes the sport fun to cover and so spicy. Arum spouts off, Oscar lobs a bomb on Twitter, and there is no commissioner to call for peace and quiet. The boxing business is a most American model; everyone is freelancing, there is no central office coordinating, it can feel unstructured and chaotic. Much like a democracy, eh? Meanwhile, us keyboard tappers watch and report and analyze. And let us not forget, if the NFL teams had to negotiate with each other to determine what games would be played when, do you not think that there would be massive rumbles on a daily basis? Yes, boxing is a beast unto itself, and has a business model that is sometimes head-shaking, and infuriating, but provides no shortage of drama.
Schaefer seemed to be in a mode of acceptance Tuesday night, but fighting pride still bubbled to the surface. He said that with the Golden Boy stable, which he said draws “no argument” is the best out there, it is easy to put on compelling fights. I then threw some of the criticism that floats about at him, and asked for comment. Isn’t there a hesitance in pitting Golden Boy fighters in against each other, and could the new deal exacerbate that? “We’re putting these guys in against each other,” he said. “Canelo vs. Trout, Floyd against Guerrero…you have Garcia against Judah (Writer note: Though I don’t believe Judah is a Golden Boy fighter). I look ahead, and it’s the best schedule in existence we’ve had. I’m adding the numbers up, we’ve sold over 50,000 for these events so far. This is what fans want to see.”
And of the criticism that Al Haymon holds too much sway over Golden Boy, and that is a main reason why HBO filed those divorce papers? “That’s totally false,” Schaefer said. He brought up the argument that Haymon’s guy Andre Berto got too many “gimmes” on HBO. “Three of them were fight of the year candidates,” the promoter said. “Berto is one of the most exciting fighters on any network. To have Berto on your network is a gift. Look at the track record of the programming Al has helped HBO get in the last ten years. HBO did pretty darn well associating with Golden Boy and Al. Some people now argue that Showtime has better boxing programming, perhaps rightfully so, than HBO. So, did HBO suffer during their alignment with Golden Boy and Al? Are they better off now?”
My take: That will remain to be seen. Let’s check back in three, six, 12 months. Maybe it is better that things are out in the open, that HBO forced all cards to be put on the table. This is a new age of transparency, after all. If I write an article, and screw up a fact, or my thesis sucks, you guys will call me on it in the comment section. The interactivity forces the content provider to up their game, in theory, anyway. Now everyone knows who is aligned with who, and that makes the scorecards easier to fill out. As always, I ask for pick ’em fights, the best fighting the best. I know I won’t always get that, because these guys have to balance, as cunning capitalists, risk vs. reward, and building up attractions incrementally. I frankly think the whole lot of them can do better at doing that, across the board. As always, however, I remain optimistic, because I know there is no shortage of athletes ready, willing and able to showcase what you saw Saturday in the Provodnikov-Bradley fight: will, skill and drama, round after round.
Follow Woods on Twitter if you like.
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Results and Recaps from Riyadh where Artur Beterbiev Unified the 175-Pound Title
For the first time in the history of the 175-pound class, all four meaningful belts were on the line when Artur Beterbiev locked horns with Dmitry Bivol today at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. When the smoke cleared, Beterbiev prevailed on a majority decision, adding Bivol’s WBA and lineal title to his own collection of belts to emerge as the undisputed light heavyweight champion.
This was a classic confrontation between a boxer and a puncher. Beterbiev had won all 20 of his pro fights inside the distance. Bivol was also undefeated but had scored only nine stoppages among his 23 wins and nine of his 10 previous fights had gone the full 12 rounds. As an amateur, Beterbiev had lost twice to Oleksandr Usyk, the second of those setbacks in the quarterfinal round of the 2012 London Olympics, and it was no surprise that the 33-year-old Bivol, the younger man by six years, went to post a small favorite.
This proved to be a tactical fight that was a disappointment when measured against the pre-fight hype. Neither man was ever in jeopardy of going down and at the conclusion both acknowledged they could have done better.
In the first two rounds, Bivol was credited with out-landing Beterbiev 26-10. But the template was set. Although Bivol landed more punches in the early-going, one could see that Beterbiev was stronger and that his straight-line pressure would likely pay dividends over his opponent who burned up more energy moving side-to-side.
Beterbiev showed no ill effects from the torn meniscus that forced him to withdraw from the originally scheduled date (June 1). At the conclusion, two of the judges favored him (116-112, 115-113) and the other had it a draw (114-114).
IBF Cruiserweight Title Fight
Australian southpaw Jai Opetaia, widely regarded as the best cruiserweight on the planet, took charge in the opening round and wore down Jack Massey whose trainer Joe Gallagher wisely pulled him out at the two-minute mark of the sixth round.
Opetaia, who repeated his win over Maris Briedis in his previous bout, sending the talented Latvian off into retirement, improved to 26-0 (20 KOs) in what was his third straight appearance in this ring. A 31-year-old Englishman, Massey lost for the third time in 25 pro starts.
Opetaia’s next fight is expected to come against the winner of the forthcoming match between Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez and Chris Billam-Smith. They risk their respective belts next month on a Golden Boy Promotions card here in Riyadh.
Other Bouts of Note
The bout between heavyweights Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke was the semi-wind-up. It was a rematch of their March 31 tussle in London. At the end of that bruising 12-round barnburner, Wardley was more marked-up but remained undefeated and retained his British title when the judges returned a draw. Clarke likewise skirted defeat after opening his pro career 8-0.
Today’s sequel was a brutal, one-sided fight that never saw a second bell. It was all over at the 2:22 mark of the opening round, dictating a long intermission before the featured attraction even though it would commence 15 minutes ahead of schedule, going off at 3 pm PT.
Both men came out swinging but the Ipswich man, Wardley, had heavier ammunition. A big right hand left Clarke with a visible dent near his left ear. When the end came, Clarke, was slumped against the ropes, his eyes glazed and his jaw looking as if it may have been broken. (He was removed to a hospital where he was reportedly being treated for a fractured cheekbone.)
Wardley, who carried 242 pounds on his six-foot-five frame, never had a proper amateur career, but having knocked out 17 of his 19 opponents, he stands on the cusp of some big-money fights. “I’d be shocked if he’s not fighting for a world title next year,” said his promoter Frank Warren.
In a battle between two 35-year-old middleweights, Chris Eubank Jr advanced to 34-3 (25 KOs) with a seventh-round stoppage of Poland’s Kamil Szeremeta (25-3-2). A 25/1 favorite, Eubank had his Polish adversary on the canvas four times before the bout was halted at the 1:50 mark of the seventh frame. The match played out in a manner mindful of Szeremeta’s bout with Gennady Golovkin in 2020, another bad night at the office for the overmatched Pole.
The knockdowns came in rounds one, six, and twice in round seven. The final knockdowns were the result of body punches. Szeremeta had his moments, but these were due largely to Eubank’s lapses in concentration; he was never really in any danger.
After Eubank had his hand raised, Conor Benn entered the ring and confronted him. The sons of British boxing luminaries were initially set to fight on Oct. 8, 2022. That match, expected to draw a full house to London’s 20,000-seat O2 Arena, was shipwrecked by the British Boxing Board of Control. Benn’s antics in Riyadh are an indication that it may yet come to fruition.
In a 10-round contest, Skye Nicolson outclassed Raven Chapman, winning by scores of 99-91 and 98-92 twice. The Aussie was making her fourth start of 2024 and the third defense of her WBC featherweight title.
Nicolson, who improved to 12-0 (1), hopes that her next title defense is in Australia where she has fought only once since turning pro, that back in 2022, but she would gladly put that on the backburner for a date with Amanda Serrano. It was the first pro loss for Chapman (9-1), a 30-year-old Englishwoman.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 300: Eastern Horizons — Bivol, Beterbiev and Japan
Avila Perspective, Chap. 300: Eastern Horizons — Bivol, Beterbiev and Japan
All eyes are pointed east, if you are a boxing fan.
First, light heavyweights Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol meet in Saudi Arabia to determine who is the baddest at 175 pounds. Then a few days later bantamweights and flyweights tangle in Japan.
Before the 21st century, who would have thought we could watch fights from the Middle East and Asia live.
Who would have thought Americans would care.
Streaming has changed the boxing landscape.
Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs), the IBF, WBC, WBO light heavyweight titlist meets WBA titlist Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) for the undisputed world championship on Saturday Oct. 12, at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The entire card will air on DAZN pay-per-view. In the United States, the main event, expected to start at 3:15 pm PT, will also be available on ESPN+.
A few decades ago, only Europeans and Asians would care about this fight card. And only the most avid American fight fan would even notice. Times have changed dramatically for the worldwide boxing scene.
In the 1970s and 80s, ABC’s Wide World of Sports would occasionally televise boxing from other countries. Muhammad Ali was featured on that show many times. Also, Danny “Lil Red” Lopez, Salvador Sanchez and Larry Holmes.
Howard Cosell was usually the host of that show and then denounced the sport as too brutal after 15 rounds of a one-sided match between Holmes and Randall Cobb at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas in 1982.
That same Cobb would later go into acting and appear in films with Chuck Norris and others.
Streaming apps have brought international boxing to the forefront.
Until this century heavyweights and light heavyweight champions were dominated by American prizefighters. Not anymore.
Beterbiev, a Russian-born fighter now living in Canada, is 39 years old and has yet to hear the final bell ring in any of his pro fights. He sends all his opponents away hearing little birdies. He is a bruiser.
“I want a good fight. I’m preparing for a good fight. We’ll see,” said Beterbiev.
Bivol, 33, is originally from Kyrgyzstan and now lives in the desert town of Indio, Calif. He has never tasted defeat but unlike his foe, he vanquishes his opponents with a more technical approach. He does have some pop.
“Artur (Beterbiev) is a great champion. He has what I want. He has the belts. And it’s not only about belts. When I look at his skills, I want to check my skills also against this amazing fighter,” said Bivol.
The Riyadh fight card also features several other world titlists including Jai Opetaia, Chris Eubank Jr and female star Skye Nicolson.
Japan
Two days later, bantamweight slugger Junto Nakatani leads a fight card that includes flyweight and super flyweight world titlists.
Nakatani (28-0, 21 KOs), a three-division world titlist, defends the WBC bantamweight title against Thailand’s Tasana Salapat (76-1, 53 KOs) on Monday Oct. 14, at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. ESPN+ will stream the Teiken Promotions card.
The left-handed assassin Nakatani has a misleading appearance that might lead one to think he’s more suited for a tailor than a scrambler of brain cells.
A few years back I ran into Nakatani at the Maywood Boxing club in the Los Angeles area. I thought he was a journalist, not the feared pugilist who knocked out Angel Acosta and Andrew Moloney on American shores.
Nakatani is worth watching at 1 a.m. on ESPN+.
Others on the card include WBO super flyweight titlist Kosei Tanaka (20-1, 11 KOs) defending against Phumelele Cafu (10-0-3); and WBO fly titlist Anthony Olascuaga (7-1, 5 KOs) defending against Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez (28-3-1, 14 KOs) the WBO light fly titlist who is moving up in weight.
It’s a loaded fight card.
RIP Max Garcia
The boxing world lost Max Garcia one of Northern California’s best trainers and a longtime friend of mine. He passed away this week.
Garcia and his son Sam Garcia often traveled down to Southern California with their fighters ready to show off their advanced boxing skills time after time.
It was either the late 90s or early 2000s that I met Max in Big Bear Lake at one of the many boxing gyms there at that time. We would run into each other at fight cards in California or Nevada. He was always one of the classiest guys in the boxing business.
If Max had a fighter on a boxing card you knew it was trouble for the other guy. All of his fighters were prepared and had that extra something. He was one of the trainers in NorCal who started churning out elite fighters out of Salinas, Gilroy and other nearby places.
Recently, I spotted Max and his son on a televised card with another one of his fighters. I mentioned to my wife to watch the Northern California fighter because he was with the Garcias. Sure enough, he battered the other fighter and won handily.
Max, you will be missed by all.
Fights to Watch
(all times Pacific Time)
Sat. DAZN pay-per-view, 9 a.m. Beterbiev-Bivol full card. Beterbiev (20-0) vs Dmitry Bivol (23-0) main event only also available on ESPN+ (3:15 pm approx.)
Mon. ESPN+ 1 a.m. Junto Nakatani (28-0) vs Tasana Salapat (76-1).
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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Junto Nakatani’s Road to a Mega-fight plus Notes on the Best Boxers from Thailand
Junto Nakatani’s Road to a Mega-fight plus Notes on the Best Boxers from Thailand
WBC bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani, whose name now appears on several of the Top 10 pound-for-pound lists, returns to the ring on Monday. His title defense against Thailand’s Petch CP Freshmart is the grand finale of a two-day boxing festival at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena.
One of several Thai boxers sponsored by Fresh Mart, a national grocery chain, Petch, 30, was born Tasana Salapat or Thasana Saraphath, depending on the source, and is sometimes identified as Petch Sor Chitpattana (confusing, huh?). A pro since 2011, he brings a record of 76-1 with 53 TKOs.
In boxing, records are often misleading and that is especially true when referencing boxers from Thailand. And so, although Petch has record that jumps off the page, we really don’t know how good he is. Is he world class, or is he run-of-the-mill?
A closer look at his record reveals that only 20 of his wins came against opponents with winning records. Fifteen of his victims were making their pro debut. It is revealing that his lone defeat came in his lone fight outside Thailand. In December of 2018, he fought Takuma Inoue in Tokyo and lost a unanimous decision. Inoue, who was appearing in his thirteenth pro fight, won the 12-rounder by scores of 117-111 across the board.
A boxer doesn’t win 76 fights in a career in which he answers the bell for 407 rounds without being able to fight more than a little, but there’s a reason why the house fighter Nakatani (28-0, 21 KOs) is favored by odds as high as 50/1 in the bookmaking universe. Petch may force Junto to go the distance, but even that is a longshot.
Boxers from Thailand
Four fighters from Thailand, all of whom were active in the 1990s, are listed on the 42-name Hall of Fame ballot that arrived in the mail this week. They are Sot Chitalada, Ratanopol Sor Varapin, Veeraphol Sahaprom, and Pongsaklek Wonjongham. On a year when the great Manny Pacquiao is on the ballot, leaving one less slot for the remainder, the likelihood that any of the four will turn up on the dais in Canastota at the 2025 induction ceremony is slim.
By our reckoning, two active Thai fighters have a strong chance of making it someday. The first is Srisaket Sor Rungvisai who knocked Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez from his perch at the top of the pound-for-pound rankings in one of the biggest upsets in recent memory and then destroyed him in the rematch. The noted boxing historian Matt McGrain named Sor Rungvisai (aka Wisaksil Wangek) the top super flyweight of the decade 2010-2019.
The other is Knockout CP Freshmart (aka Thammanoon Niyomstrom). True, he’s getting a bit long in the tooth for a fighter in boxing’s smallest weight class (he’s 34), but the long-reigning strawweight champion, who has never fought a match scheduled for fewer than 10 rounds, has won all 25 of his pro fights and shows no signs of slowing down. He will be back in action next month opposing Puerto Rico-born Oscar Collazo in Riyadh.
The next Thai fighter to go into the IBHOF (and it may not happen in my lifetime) will bring the number to three. Khaosai Galaxy entered the Hall with the class of 1999 and Pone Kingpetch was inducted posthumously in 2023 in the Old Timer’s category.
Nakatani (pictured)
Hailing from the southeastern Japanese city of Inabe, Junto Nakatani is the real deal. In 2023, the five-foot-eight southpaw forged the TSS Knockout of the Year at the expense of Andrew Moloney. Late in the 12th round, he landed a short left hook to the chin and the poor Aussie was unconscious before he hit the mat. In his last outing, on July 20, he went downstairs to dismiss his opponent, taking out Vincent Astrolabio with a short left to the pit of the stomach. Astrolabio went down, writhing in pain, and was unable to continue. It was all over at the 2:37 mark of the opening round.
It’s easy to see where Nakatani is headed after he takes care of business on Monday.
Currently, Japanese boxers own all four meaningful pieces of the 118-pound puzzle. Of the four, the most recognizable name other than Nakatani is that of Takuma Inoue who will be making the third defense of his WBA strap on Sunday, roughly 24 hours before Nakatani touches gloves with Petch in the very same ring. Inoue is a consensus 7/2 favorite over countryman Seiga Tsatsumi.
A unification fight between Nakatani and Takuma Inoue (20-1, 5 KOs) would be a natural. But this match, should it transpire, would be in the nature of an appetizer. A division above sits Takuma’s older brother Naoya Inoue who owns all four belts in the 122-pound weight class but, of greater relevance, is widely regarded the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
A match between Junto Nakatani and the baby-faced “Monster” would be a delicious pairing and the powers-that-be want it to happen.
In boxing, the best-laid plans often go awry, but there’s a good possibility that we will see Nakatani vs. Naoya Inoue in 2025. If so, that would be the grandest domestic showdown in Japanese boxing history.
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