ESPN.com's Dan Rafael is reporting that the Undefeated Peterson Brothers have signed promotional contracts with Top Rank and promoter Bob Arum. Rafael says Arum received signed contracts from the Petersons earlier this week, but co-manager Shelly Finkel still has to approve the deal.
The Petersons have been looking at offers from both Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions, Rafael says, and it was co-manager and trainer Barry Hunter who decided to take the Top Rank offer.
Arum had very nice things to say about the Petersons.
"They're good prospects and nice kids," Arum said. "Besides being good fighters, the most important thing to me is they're gentlemen, well-behaved kids and very respectful. At this stage of my career and my life those are the kinds of kids I want to devote my time to. I want good fighters who are gentlemen. Fortunately, the kids I have are that way. That's what makes it a pleasure."
Arum told Rafael that junior welterweight Lamont (24-0, 11 KOs), 24, would make his debut for the company July 5 on Showtime in the opening fight of the card headlined by the Ricardo Torres-Kendall Holt junior welterweight title rematch. Arum said lightweight Anthony (26-0, 19 KOs), 23, would fight June 26 on Versus.
Had they signed with Golden Boy, they would have been televised on the HBO undercard of the Oscar De La Hoya-Steve Forbes bout May 3.
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They are nice kids and great fighters but I am confused by a few things. I thought Shelly Finkel had released the Petersons? Also, what about PrizeFight Promotions? Where would the Petersons be without Prizefight getting them on TV so many times, without building the fighters by selecting their opponents and building them in to the solid prospects they are today? Come on man - where is the loyalty? The Peterson brothers didn't get there on their own.
Finkel did not release the Petersons. They were free agents, meaning their contracts had expired with Prize Fight Promotions.
This seems to be strictly a business decision. I totally agree that PrizeFight did a nice job in moving the Petersons..to a point.
The facts, however, are that Anthony has been ranked number one by the WBO at lightweight for about two years and hasn't gotten a title shot.
Lamont has been ranked third at junior welterweight for more than a year as well.
The Petersons probably stand a better shot at getting a world title shot with Arum at this point. As great as they have been, they were a tough sell for Showtime on the big Saturday Night show with Prize Fight, who is a solid player but not an elite player yet. Arum could get them over that hump.
I understand loyalty and I agree with you, but this is all about business.
What about PrizeFight did PF offer then any of the money they were getting from the promoters trying to sway them over,,,no PF probably kept the money for itself....PF got what they paid for....if they wanted more from the petersons then they should have came with a better offer.
Gary - You should not be speaking of matters that you no nothing about. You should not be judging Prize Fight anymore than you should be judging Baltimore Pro Bouts, Wagner or Hensley on the way they handle the promotion of their fighters. You have no idea or no understanding of how the sanctioning bodies work at the top, what is necessary to force the issue, the inner workings of Showtime or the relationships of any promoters to the tv networks.
If you want to go there you open yourself up to a whole different level of response to what you chose to say or not say on your blog. As they say. "Stick to your knitting".
I do know for a fact (because I have talked to them and had this documented), that Prize Fight has had a very difficult time getting the Petersons past the ShoBox level on Showtime. In fact, if you go in the archives, that subject has been discussed.
I am not judging Prize Fight. On the contrary, they have done an outstanding job with the Petersons, Ty Barnett, Reggie Taylor and Fernando Guerrero.
Quite honestly, you don't exactly know what I know and who I have talked to. And if you read carefully what I said, it does say it "SEEMS" to be a business decision. My theory on this is nothing more than what anyone else would say. I will definitely talk to Barry as to why he made the move.
and if Barry is as smart as he "seems" to be, he will tell you "no comment".
Come on dude, lighten up. All Digital is doing is responding to a comment from one of the bloggers. I find the business end of boxing, which is very mysterious to me, fascinating. I am glad Digital is shedding some light on the subject and I'm glad he didn't take the "no comment" route. He may be 100% dead on or he may be off the mark, but he did preface the statement with "seems" as in it's his opinion. Lighten up dude! Keep doing it big Digital!
SSH for what its all over the sport news bloggs....
My problem is when misinformation is spread via Gary's blog, dude.
If he is going to hold himself out to the world as voice of beltway boxing, then it is his responsibility to know the sh*t and get it right. Otherwise he is spreading misinformation, dude.
What kind of misinformation did
Digital spread? And I don't hear Gary saying he's the voice of beltway boxing, some people may say that but I've never heard Gary say it. Basically, Gary is a passionate boxing fan who is also a member of the boxing media and who puts in his time, effort, and energy in to cover the local boxing scene and you want to hate on him! Ease up DUDE!
It's about time!!!! Congrats on the new contract and good luck on future matches as well as better pay days. It is what it is - business. A boxer's career can be a very short lived one so these guys have to take advantage of what's in front of them before it's too late. You have boxers just coming out emerging from the 2007 Olympic Trials under carding in Las Vegas and have less than 5 fights! The Peterson bros couldn't even get off of ShoBox let alone kiss the desert of Las Vegas on a big card. They had to make a move. There are more decisions to make in the future, especially the other crab that has been in their pocket!
Anon said: "Gary - You have no idea or no understanding of how the sanctioning bodies work at the top, what is necessary to force the issue, the inner workings of Showtime or the relationships of any promoters to the tv networks."
You sound like a guy that just found out how they work.
Gary's been around a while, talked to a lot of people, and his professionalism makes him the kind of guy everyone would easily confide in.
I would suspect he knows a hell of a whole lot more than what you say he knows.
But, I do agree that PFP has done a great job so far with the two moderately talented brothers.
The Peterson's bought a dog....ssshh dont tell anybody Gary
This explains it all. Petersons please don't spend your money too fast.
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=3354408
goldboy would have gave them a$300.000 dollar signing bonus.
someone screwd up big time
berrie hunter messed up
Copy and paste link above. Petersons, Barry Hunter and Shelly Finkel head to Arbitration. Shelly did not know anything about the new contract with Top Rank. Asking for $300K!!!
wow that espn website tells it all
shit has hit the fan.
dem boys need a manager. dey good boxers and someone needs 2 help dem
Yep, I knew it was going to get ugly! The bad guy here is not Finkel b/c the Petersons and Barry Hunter would not be where they are today without Finkel, the bad guy, and the sneaky guy here is Barry Hunter! How could you not let Shelly Finkel negotiate with Top Rank? You can say whatever you want about Finkel but this guy is definitely one of the most powerful men in boxing! He's more really than just a manager, he's got the big time TV connections, he has the venue connections, he has the connections with promoters. Basically, he was the Petersons Manager AND Promoter which of course is technically illegal under the Ali Act. Technically he wasn't the Petersons promoter, that was Prize Fight Promotions, just like technically Main Events promoted Shelly Finkel managed fighters like Rocky Juarez and several others back in the day. Remember how many times those guys, Juarez, Dominick Guinn, Jeff Lacy, Juan Diaz, etc. were on Showtime in their early careers? Who do you think was behind it? Main Events? NOPE! It was Shelly Finkel who negotiated directly with Showtime and had his own financial package worked out with the network. He worked out deals with the arenas, sponsors, etc. Don't believe it? Check out this link: http://www.secondsout.com/Columns/index.cfm?ccs=208&cs=14278
and also this one:
http://www.secondsout.com/USA/plusa.cfm?ccs=366&cs=14138
Of course what old Barry thought he could do was circumvent Shelly's work and do the Top Rank deal without him. Yeah right! Of course the Petersons didn't get the same deal Shelly would have gotten them. Also, where would the Petersons be without Shelly? Forget Prize Fight Promotions they are just license holders in all this. Sure, they are promoters, but that's just so they can be in the game. The guy that runs them used to be a fitness consultant with Main Events back in the day. Those boys were on Showtime and ESPN so often because of one man, and one man only and that is Shelly Finkel! And now Barry Hunter is trying to kick him to the curb! Barry you better recognize or else those boys will be on the shelf for years without fighting! This is going to get really, really ugly and it's going to hurt the Petersons career! Mark my words!
Check this out from one of the articles on Finkel:
Ultimately, Showtime sent Finkel shopping with its checkbook at the Sydney Olympics. The original concept was for the network to pay Shelly a set amount of money to sign certain fighters and deliver a series of fights. Finkel would also designate an approved promoter, who he would pay out of a predetermined license fee given to him by Showtime to do the nuts and bolts work on the fights. Main Events and Top Rank were pre-approved as promoters.
And you thought Prize Fight Promotions were behind the Petersons! NOT!
FASCINATING! Those articles about Finkel and the business of boxing are a must read for everyone here! Let's hope the Petersons aren't on the shelf for long periods of time like another promising young prospect and Finkel managed fighter, Francisco Bojado.
u guys need to give berrie hunter a break. he is new at this and meant no harn at all. ofcourse shelly finkel could have gotten triple the amount for the petersons but berrie was just trying to get them some well deserved money. top rank may have gotten over on berrie, but those boys will be around for along time.
they will wind back up with shelly in the long run. i guess we will see what the courts end up doing.
i have a feeling they r going to side with shelly. it looks like berrie has made a huge mistake.
i wonder if the peterson brothers even know what is going on righjt now. they deserve better. shelly was their man. i hope he comes back and gets them back on track and fighting on the oscar delahoya card on may 3rd, as planed. what a loss if they r not on there.
barry hunter has ruined them youngins. i hope someone steps in and helps them boys out. they started with nothing and now they are fighting for peanuts. i hope keystone signs them boys.
have you bumped your freakin head
the petersons are on their way to baldeagle with slingshots.
look out berrie!!!
dear barry, i am selling realeste in manhatton right now. 4 bedroom for 35 dollars. give me a call
ya'll got jokes.
i am a looyer and barry u have screwed up big time. throw awa your shoe laces
i am a looyer and barry u have screwed up big time. throw awa your shoe laces
please leave barry alone. enough is enough.
it sound like a side deal? could it be the petersons was sold out.
all u so called know it alls..dont know what the hell u talking about. First Barry would never do a deal behind the boys back..l And all u shelly finkel fans....he the one doing all the back door deals behind there backs. dealing with shelly the boys would only see one tenth of the money....its easy to say the boys would get triple...they can say that he could of got triple once the deal has been made...Barry is not an idiot if it is true that the boys could have gotten triple from golden boys then something was in the contract that barry did not agree with to take less money and go with another promoter. BArry and the boys are as tight as a family can be something shelly could never be to the boys...so remember that...and thats from somebody who knows
whatever! just two weeks ago you were bragging about shelly finkel...
PETERSON'S ARE OVERRATED. ANTHONY IS A GOOD KID, BUT MOST PEOPLE WOULD RATHER WATCH PAINT DRY RATHER THAN WATCH HIM FIGHT. LAMONT PETERSON IS ALSO A GOOD KID, BUT VERY MUCH UNTESTED. PRIZEFIGHT IS A CLASS ACT PROMOTER THAT SIMPLY GOT MUSCLED BY BIGGER DOLLARS BY A BIGGER PROMOTER IN TOP RANK.
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