Ex-Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer (l.) is pictured with Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in 2013.
LAS VEGAS ? Richard Schaefer stared straight ahead, his gaze landing on a giant banner behind a dark stage.
“High Stakes” the promo read in purple letters as the words “Mayweather vs. Berto” hung below. Schaefer frowned.
“This is not about ‘High Stakes,'” said Schaefer, once one of the sport’s top promoters, who co-promoted nine of Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s last 11 fights. “Maybe I would have called, it, ‘Let’s Celebrate,’ whether it’s his last fight or not ? let’s celebrate a great career.”
If it is Mayweather’s farewell fight, as he claims, Schaefer said that his top opponents over his career should have been flown in to honor his legacy.
“Let’s host a meet-and-greet,” he said. Schafter also claims he would have put an end to all the criticism Saturday?s fight between Mayweather and Andre Berto has absorbed.
“Why does everything that Floyd does have to be picked apart by the media so negatively?” he said. “Man, I wish I had been up there (at the final press conference) because I would have told (the media) off.”
Once upon a time, when Schaefer held court with the media, it was usually an event, the accusations and boasts gushing like a bubbling brook, a pack of reporters hanging on his every word.
But on Friday, hours before the weigh-in for Mayweather’s heavily criticized welterweight title bout with Berto, Schaefer sat in a near-empty press room at 9 a.m., accompanied by by just two reporters.
Schaefer, a former Swiss banker who rose to the top of the boxing ladder, resigned from his position as CEO of Golden Boy Promotions in June of last year amid a very public feud with Golden Boy principal owner Oscar De La Hoya.
Since then he has all but disappeared, his Swiss accent and baggy jeans and big boasts no longer omnipresent as he became mired in litigation. Now, free of the non-compete clause that expired last month, Schaefer was back Friday as part of a choreographed roll-out to update reporters on his plans.
“LeBron is warming up,” he said.
Schaefer expects to make an announcement on his future within the next “three to four weeks,” revealing whether he will return to boxing or continue to work in real estate or pursue other endeavors, he said.
The rumor mill is churning. One possibility has Schaefer working for powerful boxing manager Al Haymon and his Premier Boxing Champions series, which has time-buy deals on CBS, NBC and ABC, among other networks.
Schaefer didn’t dismiss that scenario.
“Some of the match-ups have been fantastic and some have not,” he said of the PBC. “I think as it relates to the promotion of those events ? I think there is definitely some room for improvement when you have those great match-ups. You know you have to give the fights the proper framework.”
But he said the various lawsuits that have been filed against Haymon, including one by Golden Boy, have made him think twice about going in that direction.
“I have to see if I’d want to do that,” Schaefer said. “There are lawsuits going on and I really don’t want to ? I just have to see if that’s the place I would want to be, but I think they’re doing terrific.”
De La Hoya initiated litigation against Schaefer last year, claiming he was working with Haymon with Golden Boy fighters behind his back in a breach of his fiduciary duties.
In January, De La Hoya and Schaefer reached a settlement on the $50 million De La Hoya was seeking in arbitration. As part of the settlement, Schaefer was barred from promoting and talking about the case. But that deadline passed last month, leaving Schaefer free to decide what his next move is.
Working for Mayweather Promotions has also been rumored, but Schaefer was vague about his plans while not ruling anything out.
“I’m not going to step on anyone’s toes,” he said. Schaefer even joked he would work with bitter rival Bob Arum of Top Rank and De La Hoya again if the opportunity arose.
“If Bob makes me an offer I can’t refuse,” Schaefer said. “Or if Oscar says, ‘Hey I realized how I messed up,’ you know? Life is too short.”
Among his other options, Schaefer said he was thinking of opening up a financial planning company for athletes and entertainers, either independently with investors or with a large bank. But it’s more than likely he will return to promoting, where his personality seems a good fit for the daily hyping of fighters and events.
He had more advice on Saturday’s fight, which he suggested again hadn’t been promoted the right away.
“I see in Floyd’s fighting Berto, which I think when you look at the entire card, this is really not about ‘High-Stakes,'” he said. “This is about entertainment. I think this can be one of the most entertaining Floyd Mayweather fights we have seen. The fight before (between Roman Martinez and Orlando Salido) is a fight of the year candidate. George Groves (vs. Badou Jack in a super middleweight title fight) is always in an exciting fight and then Jhonny Gonzalez ? I mean this is about entertainment. This is not about ‘High Stakes.'”
He had other ideas.
“And maybe for those people who would have ordered the fight up until a week ago, you would have told them as a thank you, we give you 50% off on the pay-per-view price. That’s the kind of stuff you do.”
He paused.
“Okay, enough promoting,” he said with a laugh.
