DiBella takes jab at Barclay's Center deal
Boxing promoter Lou DiBella, right, jokes with Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, center, and first lady Janet Huckabee at the Arkansas Governor's Mansion in 2006. Credit: AP
Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment was going for the big publicity splash with last week's formal announcement of a three-year deal with Los Angeles-based Golden Boy Promotions to stage a monthly boxing series at the future home of the Nets. What BSE didn't bargain for was a turf war with New York-based promoter Lou DiBella, a Brooklyn native and longtime force in the city's boxing landscape.
Calling the 36-show deal a "slap in the face" to New York-based promoters, DiBella said, "They're not opening the building for two years and already have closed it off to major promoters based in the tri-state area. In effect, they locked their building to anybody else until the year 2015. I don't think they did themselves any favors."
DiBella said no one from BSE ever contacted him about the prospect of staging a boxing series at the new arena despite his obvious connections as an independent promoter for the past decade and the former head of programming for HBO Sports for a decade before that. He regards Golden Boy, which is owned by former champion Oscar De La Hoya of East L.A., and is run by Swiss banker Richard Schaefer, as an interloper in an area he has cultivated for years.
"It's absurd to think about it," DiBella said. "They call themselves Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment. Change your name guys. Are you L.A. Sports and Entertainment?"
As soon as he got wind of the deal, DiBella was vociferous with his criticism of BSE and its president, Brett Yormark, for essentially providing a foothold in New York for Golden Boy. Since then, DiBella has been contacted by BSE to discuss the situation, but he was insulted by comments from Yormark suggesting they were willing to work with "local promoters."
"It's offensive to be called a 'local promoter,' not only for me but for other guys in this state who have promoted nationally and internationally," DiBella said. "We're not 'local promoters.' We're New York-based promoters. I have no interest in being a subservient worker bee for Golden Boy, and I'm sure a number of my colleagues feel the same way.
"I will sit down and talk to them. But I don't believe that's changing anything. I'm not going to pay lip service about how I can go talk to Richard about working with them. What's done is done. I mean, there's no room at the inn."
DiBella said he and other veterans of the New York boxing scene question the viability of staging 36 shows in 36 months. He also wondered how it might serve the interests of BSE to set up Golden Boy with an "advantaged" position to go out and sign New York fighters.
"They don't have a monthly series at the Staples Center in their own hometown," DiBella said of Golden Boy.
Obviously, the liaison between Golden Boy and Barclays Center poses a threat to Madison Square Garden, which is owned by Cablevision, the company that owns Newsday. DiBella said he has met with MSG in the past about staging a regular series of boxing events and expects to meet with Garden boxing head Joel Fisher on the subject again in the near future.
" exclusive deal with Golden Boy is going to insure that the Garden remains the 'Mecca of Boxing,'" DiBella predicted. "Where do you think Bob Arum and myself and Gary Shaw and every other promoter of substance is going to want to do their show? We can't get into Brooklyn. Are we going to do a show a week after Golden Boy? You think they ignored any goodwill with every other promoter?"
