Atencio To Make Announcement Saturday, Possible Golden Boy Deal?
September 10, 2008
Affliction VP Tom Atencio spoke with MMAWeekly about the postponement and he stated more information would be coming soon:
Atencio declined to comment whether Fedor Emelianenko would spearhead the show’s new Jan. 17 date, but promised an announcement about the company’s future at the Marquez/Casamayor fight in Las Vegas on Saturday.
The Marquez-Casamayor fight is certainly an interesting choice of venues for the next announcement on Affliction’s future. That card is being promoted by Golden Boy and will air on HBO PPV. Affliction and Golden Boy had exploratory talks on possibly working together when Affliction was formulating it’s plans to enter MMA in early 08.
The possible pairing unraveled in late March due to issues over who would be in ultimate control of the promotion. However, Affliction apparently remained interested in the possibility of mixed boxing and MMA cards as part of their future. Part of Affliction’s decision to use the 5 roped over-sized boxing ring was reportedly to do MMA and boxing together on the same shows at some point.
Speculation within the industry concerning a potential deal between the two companies has been strong in recent weeks. Still open to speculation is the inclusion of HBO in any pairing between Affliction and Golden Boy. Golden Boy and HBO have a very close relationship, but the folks at HBO have been resistant to MMA in general.
Oscar De La Hoya speaks with Jaime R. MartÃnez, Jr. of www.thenhbshow.com on MMA and Affliction:
Disclaimer: It should be noted that MMAPayout.com has been unable to confirm the reports at this time. As a result, the above report should be considered rumor or informed speculation at best. It also bears mentioning that business situations such as this one are very fluid and can change quickly.
