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Put up or shut up time for California in recruiting the Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin fight

By Zach Arnold | May 7, 2017

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The California State Athletic Commission has spent a year groveling to promoters in order to attract a major fight to the state. Useless pamphlets. Pleas for money marks to pay for sold shows. False promises of tax breaks while California voters continue to support higher taxation rates. Even consideration of the Athletic Commission creating their own title belt.

Sacramento’s targeted fight has been Canelo Alvarez vs. GGG. They went as far as to kiss promoter Tom Loeffler’s ass with an award. Now a date has been set for the proposed Canelo/GGG fight: September 16th. The venue has yet to be determined.

It’s go time for Andy Foster and the California State Athletic Commission. There are major politicians who want the Canelo/GGG fight in Los Angeles, come hell or high water. Now that a date has been set for September 16th, the political & business pressure to obtain the Canelo/GGG fight is going to significantly increase in the next 45-to-60 days. It will likely be a topic of discussion at the next Athletic Commission meeting in Anaheim on May 16th.

The alternatives to California for Canelo/GGG are: Nevada, Texas, or New York. Florida is an option but an unlikely one. Texas makes a ton of sense at JerryWorld (Cowboys Stadium). Nevada makes a lot of sense given that it would be easy to get a site fee. New York, however, would be a swift kick to Sacramento’s balls. High taxation, high cost of doing business in NYC, and a terribly tarnished athletic commission. California losing Canelo/GGG to Nevada or Texas would hurt the Athletic Commission and cause political frustration at Consumer Affairs. Losing the fight to New York would produce backlash in the Legislature at a time when the Athletic Commission is requesting $200,000 in spending authority for athletic inspectors and Athletic Commission Chairman John Carvelli is spending over $65,000 in a short lobbying period for his Liberty Dental company regarding Governor Brown’s budget and the Medi-Cal dental (Denti-Cal) program. A lot of money is at stake here for both parties.

Andy Foster prides himself on being a salesman with a gift of gab. John Carvelli views himself as a deal-maker and closer. They’ve been talking big about recruiting the Canelo Alvarez fight with GGG. They must deliver this fight for California or else politicians in the Sacramento Legislature will start meddling (again) with the Athletic Commission’s business & political activities. Consumer Affairs and Sacramento wants the Canelo/GGG fight for two reasons: 1) the revenue and 2) the tickets so that politicians and their associates can go and be seen on camera. There is no bigger fight on the horizon than Canelo/GGG.

Al Haymon wins again

Lost in the charade that was Canelo Alvarez easily defeating Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on Saturday night in Las Vegas was the fact that Al Haymon, once again, cashed in big on a lopsided fight.

Haymon had a piece of the action with Chavez. Chavez was a Top Rank fighter who ended up with Haymon. Chavez and Haymon made a lot of money on Saturday night.

Just a few months ago, Haymon defeated Golden Boy in court when he successfully fought off their anti-trust lawsuit in Los Angeles. Golden Boy immediately did business with him after he won. The PBC may be on the rocks but Haymon’s ventures in boxing will remain profitable for a long time to come. Reported rumors from a few weeks ago regarding ESPN considering litigation with Haymon appear unfounded — at the moment. There are no lawsuits filed in Federal court.

Topics: Boxing, CSAC, Media, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

2 Responses to “Put up or shut up time for California in recruiting the Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin fight”

  1. […] There will be internal tension at Consumer Affairs in Sacramento over this development. Andy Foster has done the best job he can to try to navigate the shark-infested waters with top politicians in the state Legislature always trying to get their hands into the AC’s business affairs. UFC has greatly helped him out with lobbying via Tim Lynch at Platinum Advisors. Even with that as the backdrop, there will be palpable disappointment and anger among Democratic leaders — specifically Southern California Democrats — who strongly believe that Canelo should be fighting his biggest fight in Los Angeles. […]

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