A COUPLE of times a year Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer visits London to speak with the English boxing writers and broadcasters. It is sometimes lunch, sometimes dinner, but he answers every question thrown his way.
And he extends that openness to anything one might need on the telephone throughout the year. It is, of course, part of his job. But there are certainly more reluctant types than the former Swiss banker.
On Tuesday he met with a dozen or so journalists to talk primarily about Amir Khan?s upcoming fight with Zab Judah, but we gradually meandered off topic and discussed Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, David Haye?s recent loss to Wladimir Klitschko and their big show in Las Vegas on September 17.
Perhaps the most interesting line, though there were several, is that there seems to be a clear plotline for Khan?s career, encompassing his next four fights.
Judah comes first.
?Zab Judah knows if he loses this fight this is it,? Schaefer said. ?This is the end of the road for him.? He rates Judah?s ability for six rounds, but after that thinks Khan would have cleared the worst of it.
?From a style point of view he will give anyone a lot of problems at 140lbs,? he continued. ?He only has one loss at 140lbs and that is against Kostya Tszyu. He is a serious threat. I am a bit worried. Amir looks good,? he said of a recent scouting mission, ?but Judah is dangerous.?
If Zab is disposed, next on Khan?s hitlist is veteran Mexican Erik Morales – in America – most likely in December. ?Morales is interested in fighting Khan,? the promoter explained.
?El Terrible? meets Anthony Crolla on September 17 on the Mayweather-Victor Ortiz show, which could feature Saul Alvarez. That is a great line-up for Hispanics, with Ortiz, Morales and Alvarez all possibly sharing the same bill.
Then, next spring, the plan is for Khan to return to the UK and debut at welterweight. When asked for a possible opponent, his manager, Asif Vali, said Kell Brook would be in the running. ?He is definitely someone we can work with,? said Vali, who famously fell out with Brook?s promoter Eddie Hearn before the McCloskey fight. (The interesting bit here is Brook is, of course, on Sky. More of that later). He said he would work with Hearn again, despite reports from other Team Khan members stating the contrary.
Then, the idea is to match Khan with Floyd Mayweather Jnr, whom Schaefer has spent the best part of a week with recently. Floyd tells him he wants to fight two or three times a year. He even said he would be interested in fighting again in December, but was told that would not be possible so soon after a September PPV date.
But the pound-for-pounder is, apparently, open to the idea of fighting Khan, and Schaefer would not rule out Floyd defeating Ortiz, Manny Pacquiao and then taking on Amir.
?I really believe Amir Khan is the best fighter in the UK,? Schaefer went on. ?He?s capturing the American market very quickly and Las Vegas was very excited to have him back.?
Khan has a multi-fight agreement with US cable TV giants HBO but he has been more unsettled in the UK following a bust-up with Sky. His fight in April, with Paul McCloskey, was on Primetime as a result and the Judah match is on the same channel.
?It seems Primetime has really made a commitment with the pay-per-view model and a commitment to boxing,? said Schaefer. ?It looks like they have treated Amir very well and with respect. There is a very nice relationship with the Khan?s and Primetime.?
Amir remains on the network on a fight by fight basis and Schaefer is due for talks with Sky and his old pal Barney Francis before he flies back to Los Angeles.
Even so, he is content to be working with relative newcomers, found on Sky Channel 480, who screen Lucian Bute?s fight with Jean-Paul Mendy for free this weekend.
Primetime will do three build-up shows for Khan. They will, for the first time, have a studio in Las Vegas for the big night and Andy Kerr will be heading up their coverage, along with Duke McKenzie and other names to be revealed in due course. They have already been in the US, filming Khan for the preview shows, and will work with HBO, who will share their Judah footage.
?I can definitely see us working with Primetime on some other Golden Boy fights could end up on Primetime,? he said. The Mayweather-Ortiz show could be one of them, he added.
That could leave Sky on the outside looking in but one gets the feeling it will not be for long.
?I won?t go so far as to say I wouldn?t work with them [Sky],? Schaefer said, responding to recent quotes attributed to him that if Sky won?t play ball with Khan, Golden Boy won?t play ball with Sky.
Golden Boy are David Haye?s US promoters and he was disappointed with the Hayemaker?s performance on Saturday. He was almost lost for words. But he does have a plan. He would advise Haye to go to America to rebuild, fight a couple of times against the likes of Chris Arreola and maybe Tomasz Adamek (if he loses to Vitali Klitschko) and then get in with one of the brothers.
?It wasn?t the David Haye I know,? said Schaefer. ?He didn?t really try to win the fight. He probably should have pulled out [because of the toe injury]. I don?t know if his little toe was really the difference but he has unfinished business in the heavyweight division.?
The promoter went on to say the Klitschkos ?mean nothing in America? and that Haye was still ?the most colourful, exciting heavyweight out there.?
Interestingly, the CEO says that he, Oscar De La Hoya and their matchmakers, Eric Gomez and Roberto Garcia, always preferred Vitali as an opponent for Haye rather than Wladimir.
?Vitali is more robotic,? he explained. ?Wladimir is more athletic. David?s biggest strength is his athleticism and Vitali is so mechanical. David still has a lot to offer.?
Of course, Schaefer is doing the lion?s share of the work at Golden Boy with his partner, Oscar De La Hoya in rehab.
?He is okay,? he said, adding he is trying to get Oscar to detox from boxing.
De La Hoya has been tweeting about the sport non-stop since his arrival in rehab. Someone should take his phone away and Schaefer has recommended him to stop. ?Sometimes he doesn?t listen to me,? said Richard.
All in all, it was an interesting 90 minutes with the main man from across The Pond but you get the feeling that the Primetime-Sky-Khan story will have a few more twists and turns yet. Perhaps even before he flies home.
