I am sure I will get some disagreement when I say Al Haymon is bad for boxing. I will say, he is a great business man and adviser/manager for his increasing stable of fighters. He has been monopolizing boxing increasingly in recent years, and many boxing fans probably could not pick him out of a lineup. The Ohio native has been very successful his entire business career which started in the music industry and has carried over into the boxing world for the last 15 years. He has most notably been adviser to Floyd Mayweather who has drawn his own critics and controversy, but likewise has been nothing but successful.
Where Haymon becomes controversial for me and many others is in regard to the multiple hats he wears in boxing. Not only is he the manager for fighters, he is also a major promotional power. Subsequently, this has created quite an antagonistic impact on the sport and a bad taste in the mouths of fans and other promoters in boxing; most notably Golden Boy and Top Rank Promotions, both of whom have significant law suits against Haymon in federal court for violating the Muhammed Ali Boxing Reform Act which was intended to prevent exactly the type of vulture business practices that are currently going on in boxing, and in my opinion doing the exact opposite of what Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) and Haymon have indicated they are trying to do; bring back great fights on free cable networks for fans upset with lackluster pay-per-view (PPV) cards.
Haymon acting as both manager and promoter with with his PBC cards and fighters has not been good for boxing. His cards have been bogus, generally matching up A-list fighters in very lopsided fights. He has also made it that much more difficult for some big fights to happen, given the political issues another promoter with competing networks causes. He has delivered only in the sense there have been a lot of free PBC cards on television in the last year; however, these cards are not bringing back old fans and definitely not creating new ones. These cards have been predominantly boring, from the lopsided action to the corny ring entries/introductions, and bad commentary. It is a subpar product for which fans are getting what they pay for….nothing.
We don’t have to look far to find another problem with Haymon and his negative impact on boxing. Take last night’s fight in Montreal between Sergey Kovalev and Jean Pascal. Kavalev, who fights under Kathy Duva and Main Events Promotions on HBO, has become a fan favorite and an undeniable force in boxing. Unfortunately, despite entertaining post fight antics from Adonis Stevenson (Haymon fighter) after being called Adonis “Chickenson” by Kovalev for continually ducking the dangerous Russian, we will probably never see that fight for several reasons. The biggest reason is Al Haymon.
That said, Stevenson’s interruption of the post fight interview was all show, despite Al Haymon, and he wants nothing to do with Kovalev if he wants to keep his belt and stay healthy. However, that is neither here nor there, as Haymon’s role of manager and promoter for a competing company that has monopolized fighters and has successfully shut out other promoters and venues with questionable business practices is ultimately why fights like this continue not to happen. It’s unfortunate for fans as Kovalev just destroyed a legitimate light heavyweight by corner stoppage, and the most simple and fan practical step would be a light heavyweight super fight between the two champions, Kovalev and Stevenson. Sorry folks, but thanks to Haymon, this will never happen.
That said, let’s go back in memory a bit, and tell me what you think of when you see or hear the name “Don King.” I have two words that come to my mind: SHADY and CROOKED. Those are also words that come to mind when I think of white collar criminals. Now for the record, I am not saying Haymon is a criminal, and contrary to Don King he is almost never seen or heard. However, as a promoter I think you can draw some comparisons to the once dominant King and Haymon. What comes to your mind when you think of Al Haymon in comparison to a past controversial promoter like Don King, and the impact he is having on boxing?