Engulf & Devour, which masquerades under the corporate name of Golden Boy Promotions and wholly owns subsidiary HBO Sports, has made another acquisition move.
It will be announced Friday night at La Capitale Restaruant in the posh Soho section of Manhattan that GBP has completed the purchase of the group formerly known as the Boxing Writers Association of America.
?I am pleased as punch but I have to pretty much keep my Golden lips sealed,? GBP head honcho Richie Rich Schaefer told a reporter from ?Austrian Banker? magazine.
Speculation runs rampant that the BWAA will henceforth be known as the Golden Boxing Writers Association.
?As part of our global expansion plan,? Schaefer said, ?we drop the America part. America is, to us, just a tiny part of the worldwide picture. It?s as small in our overall plans so as to be mini micro. America, to me, is no bigger than Rhode Island if you know what I mean.?
A Golden source who did not wish to be identified told me ?this is all part of a seamless web for us because you can look for the entire staff at our wholly owned Ring magazine to be winning all the writing awards.?
What about the boxing awards? What about Fighter of the Year, Trainer of the Year and the like? How will those prestigious honors be affected by the buyout?
?Well,? said the secret source, ?changes are coming. We?re emphasizing boxing as a part of entertainment, not an isolated sport, and with that in mind we have sacked Ring Editor Nigel Collins. Oddly enough, we?ve replaced him with another Brit, the singer Phil Collins. Nigel?s view was too limited to left hooks and uppercuts.?
The source said ?it is too late? for the Goldens to take away Manny Pacquiao?s 2008 Fighter honor and Coach Freddie Roach?s Trainer award for last year.
?They better cherish what they?re getting, though,? the insipid source said. ?I?ll make a wild prediction that the big award winners for the 2010 dinner will be Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Sr., Juan Manuel Marquez, Shane Mosley, Bernard Hopkins, Oscar De La Hoya, Herr Schaefer and maybe matchmaker Eric Gomez.
?Oh, yeah?we already gave Victor Ortiz the Prospect of the Year Award for 2009,? he said.
I pointed out that this seems premature given that it is only mid-June.
?We like to be ahead of the curve. We?ve got James Kirkland down for the same honor in 2011 because we think he might be out the slammer by then. Before too long, you might say Kirlkland will be gunning for all the major honors. With us owning the group now, we know he won’t get robbed.
