To the surprise of probably no one, Richard Schaefer – CEO of Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions – on Monday afternoon handed in his resignation after some 12
years with the company that was founded in 2002.
“After more than 10 years with Golden Boy, it is time to move on to the next chapter of my career,” Schaefer said in a statement. “This decision has required a great
deal of personal reflection, but ultimately I concluded that I have no choice but to leave. I have succeeded in banking and I have succeeded in boxing, and I look forward to the next opportunity. I am proud to remain a shareholder (in Golden Boy), so I have a strong interest in the continued success of the company. I am proud of what we have accomplished at Golden Boy, but I now look forward to new challenges.”
Schaefer has been De La Hoya’s right-hand man, and then some. The financial brains of the outfit, the former Swiss banker helped build De La Hoya’s company into a monster in the industry, taking a back seat to virtually no one.
Along the way quite a bit of animosity materialized between De La Hoya’s former promoter – Bob Arum of Top Rank Inc. – and De La Hoya and Schaefer. The ongoing beef resulted in what boxing insiders referred to as “The Cold War” as the companies refused to do business with each other.
When De La Hoya recently got out of a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center for the second time, he went on record as saying he wanted to patch things up with Arum
and again begin doing fights with Arum’s high-powered company.
By this time Schaefer had gone on record as saying he would never do business with Arum ever again. Schaefer would not say much on top of the statement during a telephone interview with this newspaper shortly after he resigned. He did provide some hints.
“I can’t really say anything on the advice of my attorneys,” he said, when asked about his main reason for leaving. “I’m just going to leave it at this; the statement pretty much says all it needs to say.”
Schaefer was asked if, because his attorneys advised him not to talk, that means there is impending litigation.
“No, not necessarily,” he said. “I just gave my resignation today; I don’t have all the answers.”
Schaefer, however, did say something that intimated De La Hoya’s change of heart toward Arum was part of why he left.
“I’m sure guys involved in boxing saw what was going on and probably figured out that sooner or later something like that was going to happen,” Schaefer said.
De La Hoya, as of late Monday afternoon, had yet to issue a response to Schaefer’s departure. De La Hoya, of East Los Angeles, will be inducted into the International
Boxing Hall of Fame on Sunday in Canastota, N.Y.
