Will Schaefer Be The Replacement Mayweather Promotions Needs?

Richard Schaefer Replaces Ellerbe as Mayweather Promotions CEO

In a recent move that has shocked many in the boxing world, Leonard Ellerbe has stepped down from his role as CEO with Mayweather Promotions. To fill this void, Richard Schaefer has answered the call of duty. At least, this is the official story being pushed to the public. There is a substantial amount of industry scuttlebutt that holds that internal tension ultimately led to Ellerbe being pushed out of his position with Mayweather Promotions.

This tension allegedly stems from Ellerbe being unwilling to shake his loyalty to WBA lightweight champion Abdul “Tank” Wahid (Gervonta Davis). Tank, a PBC fighter, has maintained an open feud with Floyd Mayweather for some time. And in recent months, the two have intensified their social media woofing at one another.

Mayweather even went so far as to post a graphic on his social media account claiming that Tank’s June 15 showdown with Frank Martin has been canceled following the announcement about Ellerbe. For his part, Ellerbe has remained rather tight-lipped on the subject, offering precious little additional information.

IS SCHAEFER FOOL’S GOLD?

As far as his role in the boxing world, Richard Schaefer is best known for being the co-founder of Golden Boy Promotions, along with Oscar De La Hoya. While working together, De La Hoya and Schaefer built a powerful company that acquired a wide and diverse collection of boxing talent. Ultimately however, many came to view Schaefer as a snake in the grass when he was instrumental in secretly orchestrating the exodus of a huge portion of the Golden Boy roster over to rival outfit Premier Boxing Champions.

Not long after, Schaefer disappeared from the boxing world only to return several years later when he announced his own promotional company, Probellum. It was believed that the accomplished businessman would once again become a force in the industry. This was not the case, however. After initially signing several notable fighters, nothing of any real substance was produced by the fledgling company and Schaefer would end up unloading his roster and removing his promoter’s hat

So between his seemingly villainous betrayal of Golden Boy Promotions and inability to keep his own company afloat, the question begs to be answered: what can Schaefer realistically be expected to do for Mayweather Promotions? In very unsurprising moves, both Tank and De La Hoya have publicly sneered at this recent changing of the guard.

TIME WILL TELL

Provided that this new union produces valuable economic fruit, then they will have the last laugh. On the other hand, there is a very real possibility that the swapping of Ellerbe for Schaefer may be a move that Mayweather Promotions comes to bitterly regret. It also remains to be seen if Floyd Mayweather, who loves the spotlight, can put his fighters completely first and build some solid careers. In either instance, the next evolution of Mayweather Promotions will be very interesting, indeed!

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