Golden Boy settlement opens door for Schaefer

It’s finally over, and Oscar De La Hoya’s loss might be Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s gain.

On Friday, Richard Schaefer paved his way to return to boxing after he and Golden Boy Promotions settled the lawsuit that had been filed last year by De La Hoya, Golden Boy’s president and founder, against Schaefer, the company’s former CEO.

Schaefer, who had helped build the company into a major player and through an alliance with manager Al Haymon helped attract business with some of boxing’s brightest stars, left Golden Boy in June. Schaefer also has an excellent relationship with Mayweather and could end up working for him.

Schaefer would not comment about his future.

As part of the settlement, several Haymon fighters will end their relationship with Golden Boy, which still has contractual ties to Canelo Alvarez, Leo Santa Cruz and Amir Khan.

The settlement will cost Golden Boy the services of Danny Garcia, Marcos Maidana and Adrien Broner, among others who are managed by Haymon but don’t have exclusive deals with Golden Boy, which announced the signing of 12 boxers Thursday in an attempt to replenish its stable of fighters.

Along with potentially joining Mayweather, Schaefer could end up working with Haymon Boxing as it prepares to launch a TV deal this year.

There is a no-compete clause in the settlement, but the duration of it is not known. But at some point, look for Schaefer to return to the boxing business.

■ DIEGO IN TALKS — Since he turned professional in 2007, Diego Magdaleno has known only one promoter — Top Rank.

But the 28-year-old Las Vegan, who fought for the World Boxing Organization super featherweight title in April 2013, losing a 12-round split decision to Roman “Rocky” Martinez, is without a promoter after his deal with Top Rank expired Nov. 30.

Magdaleno said he wants to stay with Top Rank as he enters the next phase of his career as a 135-pounder.

“Top Rank has been good to me,” Magdaleno said. “Whatever they promised to do, they delivered.”

Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti said the feeling is mutual.

“We’d like to keep him in the family,” Moretti said. “We’ve been negotiating, and I can tell you it’s heading in the right direction.”

Magdaleno (27-1, 11 knockouts) is coming off a third-round technical knockout of Hevinson Herrera on Nov. 8 in Pharr, Texas. It was his first win as a lightweight, and he hopes to fight one of the four world champions in the division this year.

“I can stay at 130, but I think my future is at 135,” Magdaleno said. “I’m 28. I’m in my prime. It’s time to get those world title fights and put my mark on the sport. With Joel (Diaz) coaching me, I know I can be big in the sport.”

Magdaleno said he will stay in the gym and let manager Frank Espinoza handle the details on finding a promoter.

“Frank told me not to worry about it,” Magdaleno said. “He doesn’t want me to be distracted. I know we will get this done, and when we do, I’ll be ready to go.”

■ HANEY WINS — Las Vegas amateur boxer Devin Haney won the Youth Division title at 132 pounds Friday at the USA Boxing Junior Open and Youth National Championships in Reno.

Haney, a two-time champion as a junior at featherweight, moved up to lightweight in the Youth Division and defeated Henderson’s Andres Cortes 2-1 for the gold medal and a spot on USA Boxing’s national team.

“My weight class was stacked with a lot of good competition,” said Haney, 16. “My opponent made me dig down deep, but in the end I pulled it out.”

Two other local fighters won gold medals in the Junior Division. In the 110-pound final, Rey Diaz of North Las Vegas defeated Angel Cordon of Martinez, Calif., 3-0.

In the 119-pound female weight class, Yarisel Ramirez of Las Vegas defeated Jessica Juarez of Norfolk, Va., 3-0. Ramirez was named the outstanding female boxer of the tournament.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.