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Schaefer returns with Dec. 10 Haymon show

Fighters Network
24
Oct

Richard Schaefer’s first show in more than two years is an alliance with powerful advisor Al Haymon. But the former Golden Boy CEO made it clear his fortunes aren’t necessarily tied to Haymon and that he’s open to working with other handlers of talent as well.

Schaefer is co-promoting a Showtime double-header on Dec. 10 at the Galen Center on the campus of USC where Schaefer’s two sons are underclassmen on the same day of his wife’s birthday. All of the boxers are under the Haymon/PBC umbrella. However, Schaefer doesn’t view himself as simply Haymon’s west coast guy.

“Al has his stable of fighters and I’m going to be available whenever he needs it,” Schaefer told RingTV.com. “But Al works with other promoters as well, which is fine with me. And I will be working with other managers and other people. There’s no exclusivity. I am not a west coast promoter. I’m based on the west coast but I’m a national promoter. I’m not striving to be the best promoter in LA. I want to be the best promoter, period. And I’m going to be promoting events from New York and from other places as well. There are no geographic restrictions and Al can work with whoever he wants to work with and so can I.”

The Dec. 10 card is a good one. A medically cleared Abner Mares will challenge secondary featherweight titleholder Jesus Cuellar in the main event while Jermall Charlo defends his junior middleweight belt against mandatory Julian Williams in the co-feature in a fight that would top any other bill if Mares wasn’t such a draw in Los Angeles. (Schaefer said he vetted Mares’ previous eye injury by checking with the fighter’s physician and the state boxing commission before endorsing the bout.)



Schaefer’s return after his resignation and bad divorce from Golden Boy fueled speculation he would be doing most of his business with Haymon, who has used a handful of promoters around the country to run his shows. With Schaefer back, the buzz was that Schaefer may be replacing those promoters as Haymon’s chosen showrunner. Schaefer is co-promoting Dec. 10 with Tom Brown, who also has strong ties to Haymon, giving a hint, perhaps, of the way in which Haymon may use promoters in the future.

“I’m happy to work with Tom on this show and future shows,” Schaefer said. “I’m happy to work with Lou DiBella or anyone. If it makes sense to work with another promoter — especially someone like Tom Brown who is a nice, respectful man, then you do that. I have a great relationship with Leon (Margules) as well and with Lou (DiBella) and Mike Battah in Texas,” he said, referencing other promoters whom Haymon has worked with. “I really don’t have anything against anybody. I’m sort of coming back with an open mind and let the past be the past and move forward to see where it will lead. What I don’t accept is people who try to pull a fast one. That’s just not the way co-promotion will work.”

Schaefer spoke in the summer of booking a number of television dates before he inks fighters and says that process continues. In late June, he announced the formation of his own promotional vehicle, Ringstar Sports and he expects to start bringing boxers aboard. “I have identified a handful of fighters,” Schaefer said. “I have a long list of fighters who would actually like to sign with me and I haven’t really pulled the trigger on anybody yet. But I do have some fighters, which I am ready to sign.”

He says he’s spent most of this year setting up his company and configuring a game-plan, which he plans to reveal soon and includes a “series” of some kind, which he declined to describe in detail. “Next year I plan to be very busy, promoting a lot of events and working on some series as well and talking to some sponsors and TV partners and things like that,” he said. “So I’d like to next year to promote a large number of events.”

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