Golden Boy Promotions Hit with Lawsuit by Middleweight Champ Gennady Golovkin
According to ESPN, Golden Boy Promotions is gearing up to deal with another public blackeye…and a costly one at that. This is because IBF middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) is suing Golden Boy for $3 million dollars. His lawsuit stems from his September 15, 2018 rematch with Canelo Alvarez. As stipulated by the grievance, Golovkin’s legal team has stated that he still has yet to receive all his funds from the gate receipts, sponsorships and other various sources which add up to the $3 million price tag.
At the current moment, it is unclear how this legal matter will resolve itself. While this particular issue is new, Golden Boy dealing with very public calamity is not. The biggest and most notorious dilemma took place in 2014. Then, co-founder Richard Schaefer left the promotional company and took the majority of its fighters with him. It was an embarrassing and devastating blow that the company has never fully recovered from. The split was heavily compounded by the fact that virtually all the fighters that exited the Golden Boy roster matriculated into the rival Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) stable.
IN-HOUSE FRICTION
Back in 2019, it briefly appeared that Ryan Garcia was also gearing up to leave the well-known promotional outfit. At the time, the young fighter felt that he was not being paid the suitable amount of attention and care needed and openly thought about taking his talents elsewhere. In the end, Garcia and GB were able to mend their relationship. However, it would not be until after the whole in-house feud made international news.
Then in 2020, Golden Boy Promotions founder Oscar de la Hoya was sued for alleged sexual assault, sexual battery, gender violence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The woman who initiated the proceedings would later drop the charges, but the public damage had already been done.
Later in 2020, Golden Boy would lose another embarrassing legal skirmish. This loss came via undisputed super middleweight champion and boxing poster boy Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Feeling that they had not upheld their part of a legal contract, Alvarez sued DAZN, Golden Boy Promotions and Oscar De La Hoya for breach of contract. Ultimately, after a settlement was reached, Canelo discontinued doing business with Golden Boy but remained unofficially attached to DAZN. Given the fact that the redhead is currently the face of the sport and unquestionably was the biggest name in their stable, this was an extremely bad look for the company.
Technically, Golden Boy has weathered all of these legal storms but they have taken their toll on the business and public image of the company. It will be interesting to see how this latest development resolves itself.
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By: Bakari Simpson
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