It was seemingly business as usual on Tuesday when Golden Boy Promotions issued a news release announcing the July 2 installment of its monthly “LA Fight Club” series at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles.
But the news release outlining the card was more newsworthy for what it didn’t say. While it did mention that the show would be televised live on Fox Deportes (10 p.m. ET), there was no mention of a Fox Sports 1 telecast, which has always simulcast the cards. FS1 also is the home of Golden Boy Live cards.
However, a check with industry sources confirmed what many have suspected for months, that Golden Boy’s deal with FS1 has not been renewed and will end at the end of this month. Golden Boy told ESPN.com that it has three more shows on its deal: the Fox Sports 2 telecast (a late addition to the schedule) of the David Lemieux-Hassan N’Dam vacant middleweight title bout from the Bell Centre in Montreal on Saturday (10 p.m. ET) followed by cards on June 26 and June 30.
“We have had interest from a number of English-language television stations -- beyond our existing extensive work with HBO -- to put on Golden Boy fights,” Golden Boy spokesman Stefan Friedman told ESPN.com.
“Television programmers, fans and the boxing family all know that we are committed to putting on fights that match the best with the best. The market for such action is robust and we will be back in short order with news of additional TV options for fans.”
Equally as significant as Golden Boy losing its deal with FS1 -- and this also comes as no surprise -- is that industry sources told ESPN.com that FS1’s boxing offerings will become Premier Boxing Champions cards, as founder Al Haymon has locked up another network as a PBC outlet. FS1 will join NBC, NBC Sports Net, CBS, ESPN, Spike TV and Bounce TV. Haymon’s stable of around 200 fighters are also the primary source for bouts on Showtime.
It is unclear if the FS1 deal is also a time-buy deal like he has with the other networks. The start date for the PBC cards on FS1 is expected to be this summer. The ESPN and Bounce TV cards are slated to begin in July. It is also unclear if Haymon’s deal includes dates for cards on the main Fox network, which would be similar to the one with NBC, which shows fights on the main network and NBC Sports Net.
Golden Boy’s July 2 card will be headlined by junior welterweight John Karl Sosa (13-0, 6 KOs), of Puerto Rico, against Mexico’s Gilberto Gonzalez (25-3, 20 KOs) in a 10-round bout, as well as featherweight Diego De La Hoya (10-0, 6 KOs), of Mexico -- the cousin of Golden Boy boss Oscar De La Hoya -- verses countryman Jose Estrella (14-6-1, 10 KOs) in the scheduled eight-round co-feature.
Article courtesy of Dan Rafael