Golden Boy Promotions President & co-Founder Oscar De La Hoya and former CEO Richard Schaefer "reached a settlement" on the $50M De La Hoya was seeking in an arbitration case filed in June, according to a source cited by Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. Sources said that De La Hoya per the deal "also cut ties with the numerous top fighters he had been promoting from the stable of powerful adviser/manager Al Haymon." Schaefer "resigned in June after a decade in charge as the only chief executive in company history, after which De La Hoya filed the arbitration accusing him of breach of fiduciary duty to the company, which Schaefer has denied." One source said that Schaefer, whom Golden Boy claimed was still under an employment contract through March '18, will be "barred from promoting" for one to two years. Schaefer also owns about 8% of Golden Boy stock and "it would be likely that he would have to give that up as part of any settlement" (ESPN.com, 1/10).
WARD & PEACE: ESPN.com's Rafael reported Roc Nation Sports on Friday signed boxer Andre Ward, "shortly after Ward worked out an agreement to part ways with Goossen Promotions." Ward has "fought only twice in the past three years -- mainly because of a protracted contracted battle with Goossen." Details of how the split "came about after years of legal battling were not disclosed" (
ESPN.com, 1/9). In N.Y., Mitch Abramson wrote Ward for Roc Nation was the "splashy signing it had been hoping for and all but guaranteed" after "several awkward attempts to lure a top fighter fell short." Ward, a "talented but idle super middleweight champion," won an Olympic gold medal in '04 and is now "adding his star power to a company that is new to boxing" (
N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/10). BOXINGINSIDER.com's Tyson Bruce wrote Roc Nation "gripped the attention of the boxing world this week with the acquisition of Shaw Promotions and the signing of one of boxing’s most gifted practitioners" in Ward (
BOXINGINSIDER.com, 1/10).
