Golden Boy and TMT Promotions Angling For November 17 Showtime Date

Both Golden Boy Promotions and the new TMT Promotions are trying to secure a November 17 date on Showtime, which Showtime Sports chief Stephen Espinoza is still up for grabs, while also saying that he has indeed had talks with both promoters.

TMT, led by 50 Cent and Floyd Mayweather, wants to stage their first card that night, which would be a double-header. Yuriorkis Gamboa would move up to 130 pounds in the main event to challenge IBF titlist Juan Carlos Salgado, while Andre Dirrell would be in the co-feature bout.

Golden Boy's possible card hasn't had specifics named, but most of their name fighters are tied up too close to that date. Canelo Alvarez fights on September 15, Adrien Broner is booked for HBO on October 6, Danny Garcia and Paul Malignaggi both fight on October 20, Abner Mares is booked for October 13, Amir Khan won't be back until December and that will be on HBO, etc.

Maybe they could do a Robert Guerrero-led card on November 17, but who would he fight, and could Golden Boy offer better than the proposed TMT card? It's possible, too, that the rumored Mares vs Moreno fight could be pushed back a month.

I think there's some worry out there that with their relationship with Espinoza appearing to be what it appears to be, Golden Boy might just assume they have "dibs" on any fight date they want, and other promoters will have to take a hike. But if TMT is offering a better card, you just have to hope that Espinoza gives someone else a deserved date.

The other thing to consider is that anyone who lands the November 17 Showtime date will be going against the HBO replay of Manny Pacquiao's November 10 PPV fight, which will more likely than not be paired with a live Top Rank card.

Golden Boy and TMT have already had some social media beef, as 50 Cent took offense to what he perceived as Oscar De La Hoya slamming him on Twitter, to which De La Hoya played dumb, basically. Richard Schaefer attempted to calm that down, saying he and GBP had no problems with 50 Cent entering the boxing world. Top Rank has been on the outside of this, but Bob Arum has said he's got no problems working with 50 Cent and TMT.