Thursday, March 28, 2024  |

News

Aficianado

Golden Boy to showcase top 140, 147, 154 pounders

Fighters Network
12
Nov

alt

Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer has his sights set on events that will showcase the premiere fighters in the 140-, 147-, and, 154-pound divisions, starting with a Showtime-televised, Jan. 19 clash featuring newly-crowned IBF welterweight titleholder Devon Alexander opposite England’s unbeaten Kell Brook that will be part of a 147-pound “triple-header, and, possibly, a quadruple-header.”

A 25-year-old southpaw, Alexander (24-1, 13 knockouts) is coming off last month’s unanimous decision over hard-punching Randall Bailey. A 26-year-old from England, Brook (29-0, 19 KOs) is coming off last month’s third-round stoppage of Hector Saldivia.

“I have it narrowed down to two potential venues, and we’ll be making that decision sometime next week,” said Schaefer, referring to the Alexander-Brook show.



“It will be a night of the welterweights, and it will be a triple-header, and possibly a quadruple-header. Two fights will be on Showtime Extreme to really showcase this very deep division.”

Golden Boy also promotes Robert Guerrero, who has a Nov. 24, HBO-televised clash with two-time 147-pound beltholder Andre Berto. The company has also promoted Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Marcos Maidana, among other welterweights.

“Obviously, you have Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and [WBO beltholder] Timothy Bradley as welterweights, so you have three guys who sit on top of the division, and you have other fighters knocking on the door, with Devon Alexander being the IBF world champion,” said Schaefer.

“There is also Marcos Maidana, for example, and there is a list of other fighters who can make some noise in the division. At 140, 147 and 154, Golden Boy is very much engaged, and that’s a main focus. So we want to showcase that [147-pound] division on Jan. 19, and it will be a spectacular night with exciting fights. That’s what we want to do on Jan. 19.”

alt

The junior middleweight division is another in which Golden Boy has plenty of talent, starting with WBC 154-pound titleholder Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KOs) has directed Schaefer and Golden Boy President Oscar De La Hoya to pursue his next bout for May 4 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas against either Mayweather, Miguel Cotto or RING middleweight champ Sergio Martinez.

Golden Boy is also handling Cotto’s Showtime-televised, Dec. 1 bout with Austin Trout at New York’s Madison Square Garden, in addition to having recently signed IBF 154-pound titleholder Cornelius Bundrage, and promoted Erislandy Lara.

“I will be announcing next week another event where we will be doing what I just said about the welterweights, except that we’ll be doing the same for the 154-pounders,” said Schaefer.

“It’s another division where Golden Boy is engaged, and we want to showcase all of the excitement in that division. It will be an extravaganza as well.”

Schaefer said that the planned bout between junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia (25-0, 16 KOs) and Zab Judah (42-7, 29 KOs) will be moved from Jan. 19 to Feb. 9, and be televised on Showtime from Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

alt

Garcia-Judah could foreshadow yet another showcase event in “March or April,” said Schaefer, this time among the 140-pounders.

“That’s when we will do the same thing with the junior welterweights,” said Schaefer. “It will be a junior welterweight extravaganza. So we’ll announce that when we have everything lined up.”

Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Photos by Tom Casino, Showtime

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]

SIGN UP TO GET RING NEWS ALERTS