Golden Boy/Affliction to put Boxing and MMA on same PPV cards

[ishy]

LAS VEGAS -- Golden Boy Promotions, one of the leading boxing promotional companies in the world, is branching out into mixed martial arts, CEO Richard Schaefer announced Saturday at a news conference at the MGM Grand.


Golden Boy Promotions, which is promoting the Joel Casamayor-Juan Manuel Marquez lightweight title fight here on Saturday night, took a break from boxing to talk MMA in announcing a partnership with Affliction, a fledgling MMA promoter and apparel company known for its hip T-shirts.


"We have started looking at mixed martial arts and we finally decided to throw our hat into the mixed martial arts ring," Schaefer said. "I think there are some tremendous opportunities for crossover promotions and to team up with an iconic brand such as Affliction is a big step for us."


Golden Boy and Affliction will partner 50-50 on at least four pay-per-view shows next year that will include boxing matches and MMA fights on the same card. Smaller promoters have paired the two sports on cards, but never at the top level.


"We're looking to put together top MMA fighters as well as top boxers in one night. I think the two worlds have finally merged, and this is a perfect example," Affliction vice president Tom Atencio said.


Affliction, whose apparel is popular with many MMA fighters and boxers such as Kelly Pavlik and Bernard Hopkins, promoted its first MMA event July 19 in Anaheim, Calif. A second show was scheduled for Oct. 11 in Las Vegas but postponed because of lagging ticket sales.


The main event was supposed to be a heavyweight match between Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett with the winner expected to face Fedor Emelianenko.


When the card was called off, Golden Boy attempted to have Arlovski-Barnett rescheduled as part of the Oct. 18 Pavlik-Hopkins HBO PPV card. However, co-promoter Top Rank and HBO rejected the overture.
"They presented us with the option and we respectfully declined," HBO PPV chief Mark Taffet told ESPN.com.


As part of its deal with Golden Boy, Affliction will produce a line of event T-shirts for Golden Boy fights to sell at retail locations and at the fight. The first fight it will make shirts for is the Dec. 6 match between Golden Boy boss Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao. In addition, Affliction will become the official apparel licensee for Ring Magazine, which Golden Boy bought last year. It unveiled several sample T-shirts featuring old covers of Ring magazine, including ones of Sugar Ray Robinson.


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Thoughts? Is this good or bad for boxing?

[TommyV]

Awful. :sad2

[Bslice]

It will be like going to a sports bar

[Bad_Intentions]

Wow.

[elgrancampeon]

Sounds pretty gay to me since we have to pay PPV for those fights as opposed to boxing undercards

[Addie]

:patsch :patsch :patsch :patsch HELLLL NO!

I really hope they don't do this. I'm a Boxing fan, fuck MMA.

[Alcaldemb]

Not sure how successful this will be unless HBO bankrolls it the same way they have bankrolled GBP. Afflicition MMA is on the verge of collapse as Fedor is now going to work with UFC because of Couture signing with them for three more fights, and Affliction's two biggest names are Arlovski and Sylvia who have already fought each other twice, Sylvia won both times, and Fedor made Sylvia his bitch.

[Marnoff]

I prefer Boxing undercards leading to Main Events, so this is not good for me.

[rapidHOOK]

i is a very bad idea because mma fans like this quick action guys getting knocked out or submitted in within 5 mins whereas boxing fans enjoy a great fights like casa v marquez they just can not mix, you either have one or the other

[Maxmomer]

I fucking hate to watch most MMA fights, I'm not going to buy a PPV if I know part of my money is going to go to pay for a shitty hug-and-roll fest that I won't even watch. Fuck that shit. Fuck that shit right in it's stupid fucking ass.

[Hatesrats]

I fucking hate to watch most MMA fights, I'm not going to buy a PPV if I know part of my money is going to go to pay for a shitty hug-and-roll fest that I won't even watch. Fuck that shit. Fuck that shit right in it's stupid fucking ass.:D

[lenin]

fuck mma but whatever

[cruisecrweight]

I fucking hate to watch most MMA fights, I'm not going to buy a PPV if I know part of my money is going to go to pay for a shitty hug-and-roll fest that I won't even watch. Fuck that shit. Fuck that shit right in it's stupid fucking ass.

Bernard Hopkins, Sam Peter and Wlad Klitschko will most likely not be on the card, so you don't have to worry about hug fests.

[elgrancampeon]

Bernard Hopkins, Sam Peter and Wlad Klitschko will most likely not be on the card, so you don't have to worry about hug fests.

He said hug-and-ROLL. There is no rolling in boxing.

[cruisecrweight]

He said hug-and-ROLL. There is no rolling in boxing.

If im gonna watch a hug fest there might as well be some rolling involved. Nothing worse then guys standing in one spot and hugging.

[UliUli]

I dont really like mma, but I don't mind this merge. It's worth a shot at getting boxing more exposure. If it works great, if it doesn't oh well, they'll stop. MMA isbig now, especially here in the southwestern U.S.

[SFPLAYBOY415]

I dont really like mma, but I don't mind this merge. It's worth a shot at getting boxing more exposure. If it works great, if it doesn't oh well, they'll stop. MMA isbig now, especially here in the southwestern U.S.

thats the ONLY thing i like about this merge. Im not a fanatic of MMA BUT if this is going to help the sport of boxing(that we all love), i guess im for it.

[sugarngold]

I've always said there should be some kind of platform that would showcase all of the fighting arts. I'm glad to see something like this happening - but I don't think boxing fans are going to be very accepting of it.

[Hermit]

I've always said there should be some kind of platform that would showcase all of the fighting arts. I'm glad to see something like this happening - but I don't think boxing fans are going to be very accepting of it.

A good fight is a good fight. :deal

[letsrun4it]

I think this is a great thing.....if the undercard MMA fights are top quality

[BOGART]

I have zero interest in mma and would not pay any money to watch it. For me personally, I would skip any ppv boxing card that had mma on it. I hope this is more talk than reality but I wouldn't be too surprised if we see some mixed cards in the future atleast to see how the ratings pan out.

[saul_ir34]

FUCKING GREAT!!! Im starting to not like DLH and his team.
Why would you do this???
ITs like putting some heavy metal on a beautiful symphony cd.
The only positive thing that can come of this is that now i can watch PPVs at the bar. The fuckers only tend to get MMA fights.
However this is not gonna fly with the Mexican community. I showed some of my dad and his friends MMA and thought it was retarded. They yelled at me and told me to change the channel.
If this does go down. No way in hell am i buying anymore PPVs. And im a pretty solid PPV fan. Looks like its off to the bars to watch them.

[jaois138]

Very lame. Who the fuck wants to see two dudes roll around on the floor for like 20 minutes and then get up and throw crappy punches? Like the Superman punch...WORST PUNCH I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. If someone ever threw that punch in boxing then its lights out for the one who throws it. Horrible idea. MMA should stick to MMA and Boxing should stick to Boxing.

[Sweet Pea Pacquiao]

GBP is cleaning up boxing.



Ha.

[Scar]

MMA and WWE should be on the same card, not boxing.

[Cookie]

This is really one of the worst scenarios. I was never someone who would bash MMA and worry about it's popularity threatening boxing, but I'm totally against people trying to marry the two together. This is a horrible idea and someone else quite rightly pointed out how awfully they would mix. Incredible to think you would have a fight take up over forty minutes and then next up a couple of junk yard works pound each other to a standstill in 30 seconds.

No suprise that GBP is involved in this. Plenty of us have been concerned about this cartel for years.

[cruisecrweight]

Very lame. Who the fuck wants to see two dudes roll around on the floor for like 20 minutes and then get up and throw crappy punches? Like the Superman punch...WORST PUNCH I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. If someone ever threw that punch in boxing then its lights out for the one who throws it. Horrible idea. MMA should stick to MMA and Boxing should stick to Boxing.


That and the spinning backfist have to be the most ridicolous things i have ever seen. In my eyes boxing and mma are the same thing. It's prizefighting, it just depends what rules you prefer. Nothing wrong with appreciating both. A schooled ground specialist would make short work of a boxing pro in the cage and a vice versa.

[Alcaldemb]

Anyone who has been to an event that showcased both boxing and MMA would realize how bad of an idea this is. Those events usually attract a very mixed crowd that sees both being bored for half of the given evening due to their disinterest in the other sport.

[hipnusol]

BAD BAD move ...

I don't see how this possibly can be a good move for boxing.

[aj415]

Bet that boxing fans and MMA fans get into a riot in the crowd

[Casa]

I think I'm the only person that actually follows boxing and MMA.

And a Superman punch is like that becomes you fake a kick. Of course you'd never see a punch like that in boxing. If you want to talk about technique, that's a different story.

Let's wait and see.

[Maxmomer]

MMA and WWE should be on the same card, not boxing.

Why do people keep comparing MMA to Pro-wrestling? It's kind of stupid.

[stilltharow]

if its decent fighters den why nt! but afflication have crap fighters signed to their company

[Galileo Galilei]

:good Good going Oscar!!!!

Fuck up a boxing card with amatuer hour included.

Boxing fans usually watch, buy, go to boxing matches because they are...........boxing fans.

Oscar is a dipshit and I hope his idea tanks.

I've watched this shit called mma and it blows more than some of the $5 hookers I've known in my time.

People can feel free to love this if they want.

But I get the feeling 90% of boxing fans think this idea eats monkey shit.

[T.C.W]

it will not work and HBO will not go for this.

[geppy]

MMA will be far better off if De La Hoya stays away from it.

[geppy]

Boxing is a great sport but one dimensional. MMA fighting is complete fighting. MMA involves punches, kicks, knees, elbows, submissions, etc. I am surprised to see so may posters here that do not like MMA. I find Judo/ Sambo to be my favorite Martial art but the drive is too long. So, I considering training in BJJ.

[Jack Presscot]

It's typical of a man who loves dressing in drag to get involved with a sport that constitutes two barefoot men wearing spandex short shorts in the missionary position with the manfeets in the air the entire fight.

[401Tank]

this can be really good for both mma and boxing im not a fan of mma but who knows it may just bring boxing fand to mma and mma fans to boxing an also the ppv buys will be alot higher so from a business standpoint it makes since to try it i would like to see how it turns out and hey who know it can make for a exciting night of fights....props to dlh for the idea i might put alot of cash in his pocket he need to team up with ufc for it to really take off

[eliqueiros]

Why do people make the assumption that boxing and MMA share the same audience. I love boxing but I couldn't give a crap about MMA. All respect to those fighters but MMA does nothing for me. And how are they gonna change a square ring into an octagon and back again?:huh

[eliqueiros]

Here's another thing Oscar's forgetting. The undercard also works as showing off new prospects to new fans. If boxing shares cards with MMA is likely going to be big names from both sports and no new blood in either.

[geppy]

David Haye claims not only that he can unify the Heavyweight division, he can beat any MMA fighter. After all he did beat Jean Marc Mormeck, so that is undestandable to think that.

So, Haye could have his chance being promoted by De La Hoya.

[SouthpawSlayer]

its ridiculous, mma fights are totally boring, i have trained bjj but these so called great fights turn out to end up being a one punch ko or a hug and roll fest with some ground amd pound

mma does not get the ebb and flow of a boxing match, i hate watching mma now bar fedor

[JIM KELLY]

keep them separated!!