By Rudy Mondragon

Ladies and gentlemen, are we surprised at the recent break up between Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Schaefer? We should not be. The signs were there. One of major importance was Oscar De La Hoya’s deceleration to end The Cold War between his promotion company and Bob Arum’s Top Rank.

Messy politics between those two companies. Most importantly is the refusal of Richard Schaefer to work with Top Rank. From there, the ripple effects were huge as seen in the recent statement by Floyd Mayweather. Floyd’s loyalty to Richard Schaefer was a major reason as to why he worked with Golden Boy Promotions. Now that Schaefer is gone, so is Floyd.

Bernard Hopkins weighed in on the whole matter. From the way he spoke, it sounds like he might be slowly parting ways from Oscar as well. Bernard spoke highly of Richard, stating that he didn’t always agree with him, but “Richard Schaefer cannot be replaced.”

Bernard also shed light to the reality that Oscar was hardly ever present to run his company. “Think about it. Who really ran Golden Boy?” With Oscar’s lack of visibility on the business side of the house and dealing with his drug struggles, it was Richard who made Golden Boy Promotions run like a high powered machine.

A key part to the possibility of Hopkins leaving Golden Boy Promotions is that he is not under contract. This means he can leave and fight as an independent fighter at any time. He has also stated that he has his own team and at the end of the day, he has “to do what is best for Bernard Hopkins.”

My quick thoughts on this: Changes are coming!

What will become of Golden Boy Promotions? Who can take over and succeed Richard Schaefer? After all, these are big shoes to fill! Although Richard Schaefer left Golden Boy, he is still technically under contract through 2017/18. He is also “proud to remain a shareholder” of the company. These are technical aspects of this situation. But the reality is that Richard is a mover and a shaker.

With loyalties from Floyd Mayweather, Mayweather Promotions CEO Lenoard Ellerbee, and boxing supreme manager Al Haymon, Richard Schaefer is more than okay. If you think about it, the next three wise men in boxing can be Mayweather, Al Haymon, and Richard. Can this be the rise of Mayweather Promotions and decline of Golden Boy and Top Rank? What should be alarming to Oscar is that many of Al Haymon’s fighters who appear on Golden Boy cards are not under contract with Golden Boy Promotions.

My thought is that this has been in the making for years. The chess match was in full affect while Oscar was occupied playing checkers. Oscar caught on late and then decided to form an alliance with Top Rank. Golden Boy and Top Rank are on call and are making moves to align in order to survive the push that Mayweather Promotions is making, most likely with Richard Schaefer playing a critical role in time.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS??