When Affliction postponed their scheduled October 11th show stating it would be for the better many were left wondering what the better could be. Days later the company announced a partnership with boxing’s Golden Boy Promotions.
“When we first started out we kind of thought that it would make a lot of sense to work with someone of their stature.” Affliction VP Tom Atencio tells MMANews.com. “We sat down with them and it looked like it was going to work out (for the first card in July). Even though it didn’t work out we kept the relationship and now we are working together.”
Golden Boy has been around the boxing promotion for quite some time and in Atencio’s eyes, they have it together.
“I think they bring a lot to the table. They have been in the industry for a long time and they know how to run an event efficiently. They have some of the best boxers involved with them, in the world.”
Plans for the first event between the two companies have all roads leading to a card scheduled to take place in the first quarter of 2009. There have been rumors of possible dates but Atencio says there is nothing finalized yet but they do have an idea of what type of card they may be putting on.
“We are going to do a combination show of boxing and MMA. They will run the back end and we will do what we do well.” Atencio says of the show. “It will be between nine and ten fights total. Right now it looks like we are going to do a boxing main event and everything under it will be MMA. It really depends on who we have boxing though. If they are big enough names then absolutely they will be the main event and that is what we have planned right now. Things change though and we have nothing finalized.”
Going with a top boxing match up backed by a solid MMA undercard could bring in fans of both sports as well as the newbies that may have not began watching the other.
One question that has been up in the air since it was announced they would be postponing the October offering was whether or not Fedor Emelianenko would be fighting on the card. With the abundance of Affliction ads that appeared on the EliteXC card this past weekend on CBS and with Atencio’s assertion that the heavyweight king WILL NOT be fighting on New Year’s Eve in Japan, it would be a safe bet that he will be fighting on the early 2009 card.
“We have a solid relationship with Fedor. We have extended our deal with Fedor. He and M-1 global are 110% our partners. The rumors are that he is fighting in Japan on New Year’s Eve but I can crush and squash those rumors right and tell you he is not fighting on New Year’s Eve.”
Another bout that has been rumored to be on the card is that of Vitor Belfort taking on Gegard Mousasi after made comments by Mousasi following his DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix win, telling FightersOnlyMagazine.com that he would be fighting the former UFC Light heavyweight champ on the second card. Atencio says as of now this is not true.
“It’s a rumor. We would love to have him fight for us. I have sponsored him but it hasn’t gone any further. We haven’t even talked to him about that (fighting for Affliction) yet.
Atencio also went on record to tell MMANews.com that more information on the show should be available within the next few weeks so stick with MMANews.com as we will have the info has it breaks.
Bookmark Us
Contact Us