No Mixed Martial Arts For Golden Boy Promotions

by Luke Thomas on May 6, 2008 2:28 PM EDT in News Comment 3 comments

"We decided that we are going to focus all our energies on promoting boxing. Boxing is the game that we have to focus on because there's so much room for growth and the potential is enormous. We definitely want to capitalize on that and have all our focus and energy be on taking boxing to another level," says De La Hoya said.

Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer concurred, citing the reported losses of publicly held fight companies the International Fight League and EliteXC as reasons for the boxing promoter being reluctant to try their hand in MMA. But Schaefer did hold out the possibility that Golden Boy might consider such a move in the future if the waters looked more inviting.

"The time is not now. MMA is going through some very rough patches and transition issues...recently two companies that are public had FCC filings that raised doubt about their ability to continue. We want to see what's going to happen with the sport. Maybe we will enter the MMA business to diversify in the future," said Schaefer.

Smart move, in my opinion. They know the boxing business well and don't understand MMA all that well. Additionally, the MMA business is in flux with competitors entering (Affliction) and competitors leaving (IFL...probably). I've often said that Dana White is successful because he knows a lot about MMA and what makes the sport tick but he also has a little business acumen. The folks at ProElite, by contrast, have a lot of business acumen but don't have 1/10th the insight Dana White does. It's probably best to stay out until the seas are a little calmer and one can find their role.

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Re: No Mixed Martial Arts For Golden Boy Promotion

I thought working with Cuban would have been interesting. I think someday we will see just about all promoters working on both sides of the sports.

Can't remember if it was here or somewhere else I read about it being a good idea for them to get into mma due to the fact that their only two big time fighters (Oscar and Hopkins) are about done.

by BJJDenver on May 6, 2008 3:05 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Re: No Mixed Martial Arts For Golden Boy Promotion

That was this site, but it was just speculation. And it turns out that concentrating their efforts on a known quantity (boxing) is better in their minds than focusing on an unknown quantity (MMA).

by Luke Thomas on May 6, 2008 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re: No Mixed Martial Arts For Golden Boy Promotion

Considering how many failures there are from those trying to capitalize on MMA, it's understandable. The UFC lost money for a long time before it earned a dime. But then, they were the trail blazers and it's always toughest being the first to lay down the foundation for others to walk on. It will be interesting to see how these new network deals like at CBS will help/hurt MMA. A lot is riding on EliteXC's debut on CBS, not just for the company, but for MMA in general.

by pud333 on May 6, 2008 3:59 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs