The public sniping was as unbecoming as it was predictable, but it signaled the depth of enmity between the Golden Boy CEO and President?
With an air of inevitability, Richard Schaefer has formalized the split between him, Golden Boy Promotions, and the Golden Boy himself, Oscar De La Hoya.
The writing has been on the wall for months. The public sniping was as unbecoming as it was predictable, but it signaled the depth of enmity between the Golden Boy CEO (Schaefer) and President (De La Hoya).
De La Hoya?s loose management style and inventory of quirks ran roughshod over Schaefer?s stiff upper lip approach to business. So Schaefer, whose business bon afides trump his boxing bona fides, is going to strike out on his own, free from Oscar?s baggage.
?After more than ten years with Golden Boy,? said Schaefer in an official statement, ?it is time to move on to the next chapter of my career. This decision has required a great deal of personal reflection, but ultimately I concluded that I have no choice but to leave. I have succeeded in banking and I have succeeded in boxing, and I look forward to the next opportunity. I am proud to remain a shareholder, so I have a strong interest in the continued success of the company. I am proud of what we have accomplished at Golden Boy, but I now look forward to new challenges.?
With manager deluxe Al Haymon and Floyd ?Money? Mayweather in his corner, Schaefer isn?t going it alone. He?ll pluck the ripest of ripe fruits within reach and leave De La Hoya with the rest.
Aside from the eternal sticking point that is Bob Arum, with whom De La Hoya wants to work and Schaefer wants to bury, boxing will be better off without so much power concentrated in one company. Anti-trust laws don?t apply to boxing, but if they did something like this would have happened long ago.
