Schaefer’s split affecting Pacquiao, Marquez?

Schaefer’s split affecting Pacquiao, Marquez?

The boxing world is abuzz, and not in any way related to an upcoming fight or even a specific fighter. Richard Schaefer, the man who worked tirelessly to promote Golden Boy Promotions to the powerhouse that it is today, has left the company. Many are confused about what’s happening today, and how Al Haymon’s and Floyd Mayweather’s decisions will affect future business.

But hopefully, it’s not all bad. After all, if things work out properly, then this means that Golden Boy fighters can now take on Top Rank fighters; the kind of thing fans have been yearning for. If we assume that all the fighters we think to be Golden Boy signed are indeed Golden Boy signed (something Schaefer said was not necessarily true) and that they can peacefully agree on a TV network to fight on, where does this leave Top Rank’s two biggest fighters?

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Cotto-Martinez: Exciting for the wrong reasons?

Cotto-Martinez: Exciting for the wrong reasons?

While negotiations are moving particularly slowly, it seems that the June 7th showdown between current Ring/WBC champion Sergio Martinez (51-2-2) and The Ring No.3 Jr. Middleweight Miguel Cotto (38-4-0) is inevitable. Their managers have decided on a fight name, venue, date and even catchweight, and are likely now ironing out more details. While many fans would rather see undefeated knockout-king Gennady Golovkin face Martinez instead, this bout remains interesting to the public. The reasons for this, however, may not be the kinds that lend themselves to an actually enjoyable fight.

Some analysts, for one, remain puzzled as to how Cotto has exactly earned this fight. Having lost 2 of his last 3 weights at Jr. Middleweight (both hard fought unanimous decisions), Cotto came back with a riveting knockout early in round 3 of the largely unheralded Delvin Rodriguez. Though Cotto has held world titles in every weight class from 140 – 154 pounds and has long been considered a world class fighter, he has not convinced everyone that he can still deliver that kind of performance against a world champion level fighter. What is even more questionable about him receiving this fight, however, is that Cotto has never even fought at Middleweight, and hasn’t been a World Champion for close to two years.

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