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Richard Schaefer in talks with Mikey Garcia to sign him to new company

Fighters Network
01
Aug
Photo by: Andy Samuelson/Premier Boxing Champions

Photo by: Andy Samuelson/Premier Boxing Champions

Former Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer is in talks with ex-champ Mikey Garcia in a splashy attempt to sign him to his new promotional venture, Ringstar Sports, Schaefer discussed with RingTV.com on Monday.

Schaefer is targeting Oct. 15 at Staples Center to put on his first show since his breakup with Golden Boy in 2014, and it’s clear he’s hopeful that Garcia, who just made a return of his own on Saturday, becomes one of the stars of his new stable of boxers.

“I’m sure any promoter has probably reached out to Mikey and rightfully so,” Schaefer told RingTV.com. “Who wouldn’t want to promote a fighter and a young man as great inside and outside of the ring as him?”

Schaefer referenced the success he had in helping Floyd Mayweather Jr. become a PPV star as the blueprint for what he hopes to accomplish with Garcia. Schaefer believes the 28-year-old Garcia has the talent and personality to become a crossover star. “I look at what I have done, including helping Floyd become the biggest pay-per-view star of all time,” he said. “I really believe that Mikey has an opportunity to become a huge pay-per-view star. So am I interested in throwing my hat into the ring to work for Mikey in some sort of capacity? Absolutely. I have some very strong ideas for how to go about it.”



Schaefer said he spoke with Garcia (35-0, 29 knockouts) in New York in recent days and discussed the parallels in their careers. Both Schaefer and Garcia have been sidelined because of rifts with previous promoters, Garcia with Top Rank and Schaefer with Golden Boy.

“We were both sitting out for roughly the same period of time,” Schaefer said. “We were actually joking about that in New York. He’s making his comeback and I’m going to have to make my comeback. And right there we have something very strong in common.”

Schaefer plans to follow up with Garcia soon and said he may have something to announce in the coming weeks. Garcia, a former two-division champion, put Elio Rojas on the canvas four times and stopped him in the fifth round at Barclays Center in Brooklyn in his first fight since January of 2014.

Schaefer, who attended Garcia’s fight, also plans to meet with Dan Beckerman, CEO of AEG, which operates the Staples Center, to try and finalize a date for his first show. He also has a meeting set up with Al Haymon, he said. “And then we’ll see,” he remarked, “if I can come up with the right card.”

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