Al Haymon and the Future of Boxing

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By Agustin Perez

For years, Al Haymon was known only to boxing fans as Floyd Mayweather’s advisor. Today, Al Haymon is a household name. Although Haymon prefers to go unnoticed and does not speak with the media, he made headlines earlier this year when he announced the return of boxing to network television with the launch of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC). The boxing television series made its debut on NBC on March 7th. In the main event, WBA welterweight champion, Keith Thurman defeated former two-division titleholder Robert Guerrero by unanimous decision.
Haymon is said to have purchased time on NBC/NBC Sports Network for $20 million for 20 shows in 2015.

He currently has deals in place to put on fights on ESPN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Spike TV, & NBCSN. Haymon is footing the bill for the air time, but his plan is to make PBC “appointment television” and draw enough viewers to down the line receive millions of dollars from the networks for the PBC broadcast rights; similar to the deal the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has with Fox Sports.

It appears that Haymon is trying to emulate the UFC in more ways than one. On the NBC broadcast, during the introduction of the fighters in the main event, there was no mention of Keith Thurman’s WBA title which was on the line that night. The major sanctioning organizations such as the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA) charge a fee to the boxers for the right to fight for their world championship titles. The belts and titles are the property of the sanctioning organizations. The standard sanctioning fee is 3% of a fighter’s purse. I would not be surprised if Haymon establishes his own fighter rankings and creates Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) title belts with the intent to seek a sanctioning fee of his own.
Similar to the UFC, Haymon, who manages approximately 200 fighters, is putting on bouts in which only his fighters are involved. Although Haymon is not a licensed promoter, he only works with a select number of promoters such as Warriors Boxing, Goossen Promotions and DiBella Entertainment. But he doesn’t work with the big boys in the sport, including Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and Bob Arum’s Top Rank.

Many people believe that this power struggle between Haymon, De La Hoya, and Arum is good for boxing because it will create inherent competition, leading each promoter to put on fights the fans want to see. Others believe that Haymon’s plans will inevitably lead to a “cold war” in which the best fighters, because of their affiliation with a certain promoter, won’t fight each other. Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports, who has top 10 pound for pound fighter, Andre Ward and Puerto Rican superstar, Miguel Cotto under contract, reportedly will not work with Haymon.
Then there’s the premium cable television networks such as HBO and Showtime that for the past 30 years have broadcasted bouts involving the best fighters in the sport. They too have a say in boxing’s future. Rumor has it that Haymon is barred from doing business with HBO.

The question remains, is Al Haymon good for boxing? Only time will tell.