Bernard Hopkins is just one of several name fighters caught in a mess that HBO has caused with December and January dates. (Photo via a.espncdn.com)

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Rick Reeno and Robert Morales worked together on an excellent piece over at BoxingScene.com that details a fracturing relationship between HBO and Golden Boy Promotions, a relationship that has been criticized by just about every other promoter in boxing as having been too close in recent years.

The mess centers on something I talked about last night, HBO's inability to secure a date for Shane Mosley, which is messing with dates for Bernard Hopkins, Andre Berto and Joshua Clottey. To recap quickly:

• Mosley was set to fight on December 5;
• Pavlik-Williams moved from October 3, and HBO gave them the December 5 date, asking Mosley to move back to December 26, which he and Golden Boy accepted, even setting up the Staples Center as a venue;
• Talks were all but finalized for Mosley to face Joshua Clottey;
• HBO then decided they didn't want the December 26 date, which might put Clottey on the December 5 undercard;
• HBO wanted Bernard Hopkins to fight on January 30, but now they want Mosley on that date, which probably eliminates the chance of Mosley fighting either Clottey or Andre Berto, who both also want to fight before the end of 2009;
• Hopkins is mad, Mosley is mad, and Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer is m-a-d mad:

"I'm frankly becoming pissed off at the way Shane Mosley has been treated and I'm not going to tolerate it any longer. People shouldn't mistake my kindness for weakness. If they do, they'll get a wake-up call."

Andre Berto's promoter, Lou DiBella, says a January 30 date with Mosley is very unlikely from their side, as they fear the WBC would strip Berto of his title, which seems odd, but then you never know with these sanctioning bodies. Berto has defended twice this year, against Luis Collazo and against Juan Urango. He's looking to unify with Isaac Hlatshwayo before the year is out.

The thing is, all these guys want to get in there before the end of the year, and aren't willing to wait that extra month. Frankly, you have to wonder if it's just a mental thing more than anything, because the one month would probably not be seen as a huge deal if we were talking about May to June instead of December to January. But that calendar turns.

Also complicating matters is Hopkins, who turns 45 on January 15. HBO wants (wanted?) to do a show with him in January that was sort of a big celebration of his long, excellent career.

Head over and read the original article from Robert Morales and Rick Reeno, because all the best details are in there. It's a really interesting bunch of drama unfolding between a network and a promoter that have been pretty happy with each other for a good while now. Dan Rafael also had a lot on this situation in his Friday blog.