Golden Boy Rushes and Fails

So Golden Boy have done it again, no not put on a good card but thrown their young hugely hyped prospect to the wolves, again they see their fighter stopped in the 5th round and once more a clear warning to youngsters who are thinking of signing with Golden Boy Promotions. In June of last year the boxing world was “shocked” when the the explosive and exciting “Vicious” Victor Ortiz (24-1-1 with 19KO's going in) was stopped in the 6th round by the monstrously hard punching Marcos Maidana. Ortiz had had some early success in dropping the 25-1 (24) Argentine 3 times in the opening 2 rounds though Maidana's power, heart and experience out did the speed and inexperience of Ortiz who at 22 wasn't ready. Maidana had fought 4 months earlier in Germany losing a close split decision to Andriy Kotelnik in a shot for the WBA Light Welterweight title, tellingly he had seriously wobbled Kotelnik later in the fight and it had been obvious he had chilling power, yet Golden Boy were happy to through Ortiz in with him. Ortiz's early success turned to horror as he seemed to “quit” after being dropped in the 6th and broken mentally.

Fast forward a little over a year and Golden Boy's next prospect, Daniel Jacobs was thrown into a “World” title fight (WBO Middleweight title that had been controversially stripped from Sergio Martinez). Jacobs had entered with a perfect record of 20-0 (17), he was fresh faced and just a year older than Ortiz had been, he was seen by many as the champion of the future and the future champion in the Golden Boy stable. Just as Ortiz had been. Jacobs was matched with unbeaten Russian Dmitry Pirog (16-0 13KO's), a fighter who had been matched tough from the start with a notable win against Kofi Jantuah that over shadowed anything Jacobs had on his. Despite Jacobs having fought 4 more fights he had fought only 57 rounds as a professional (to Pirog's 87) and had been fed a series of tomato cans to pad his record with only Ishe Smith acting as a solid test (which accounted for 10 of Jacobs' 57 rounds).

Much like Ortiz the previous year Jacobs had some early success, winning the 3rd and 4th rounds clearly and probably pinching the 1st though the second bore the warning signs of the difference between the two fighters. Jacobs was was hurt through out the 2nd round by Pirogs hard, accurate shots, whilst in return the best Jacobs could muster seemed to be powerless jabs, that landed but had no real effect. The Russian took the centre of the ring and saw Jacobs running, using his legs to try and get away, though like Ortiz the previous year he couldn't keep his hard hitting rival away. A deadly straight right in round 5 put Jacobs out for the count, another Golden Boy Prospect had been stopped in his biggest fight to date.

Although Golden Boy Promotions are often praised for their shows, questions again need to be asked about how they treat their youngsters. Jacobs just wasn't ready for this sort of test, a close win (96-93 on 2 cards) over Ishe Smith doesn't prepare you for a fighter like Pirog, likewise wins over Carlos Maussa and Mike Arnaoutis don't prepare you for a Marcos Maidana.

For the likes of Deontay Wilder, Craig McEwan, Jermell Charlo, Frankie Gomez, Jamie Kavanagh and Ronny Rios this is the time to take note. Golden Boy MAY be good for you, though their match making leaves a lot to be desired for young fighters, who perhaps need to have the guts to tell Schaefer and Oscar to slowdown and let them progress properly. Rather than going straight from facing Journeymen to facing Contenders, their should be some tough former champions, smaller former title contenders and relatively safe learning fights.