As anticipation mounts for Saturday’s Las Vegas superfight, a man no stranger to promoting huge contests in Las Vegas believes Errol Spence and Terence Crawford are meeting at the right time.
Former Golden Boy boss Richard Schaefer is looking forward to the fight as much as anyone else.
“Oh, this is the right time,” Schaefer said, of a bout that’s been in the works for years. “It absolutely is. Both fighters are still undefeated, both of them are in the top five of every and any pound-for-pound list you look at, those two are in the top five. Many of them have Crawford at No. 1 if not No. 2, Spence at No. 4 or No. 5. So to see two fighters universally recognised in the top five pound-for-pound list is extremely rare. Because only a few times it happens that in the top five you have two guys who are in the same weight class. It shows you, because both of them are still in the top five, that they are the best, they are still on the top of their game. That’s why I think the timing is absolutely right.”
This is what big-time boxing is about. Schaefer was side by side with Oscar De La Hoya for many of his biggest fights, and Richard is encouraged that boxing has been experiencing some quality fights.
“Yes, you sort of wait for those moments,” he added. “Sometimes there are a lot of appetisers unique to digest before you get to the main course. This is as good of a main course as it gets. I am very encouraged actually, we have see a lot of good fights recently. One just a few days with Fulton and Inoue, you saw the Tank Davis-Ryan Garcia fight happen not too long ago. You are going to see Charlo and Canelo. So, I am encouraged by what we see in most of the weight classes that the fighters are demanding that the best fight the best. And it is up to the promoters to make it happen. The one exception seems to be the heavyweight division which seems to be sort of stuck, and hopefully that is going to clear up as well.”
Schaefer noted three of the big shows PBC has made in 2023, does he see them as market leaders?
“Well I can’t see anybody else delivering at that level,” he continued. “To tell you the truth, and I don’t mean to be negative or so, but I haven’t seen any other promoter or network, for that matter, step up to enforce these fights to happen. So, I think everybody can sort of take a page out of the PBC and Showtime playbook, and hopefully get encouraged and motivated to do the same with their fighters and enforce these big fights.”
