[ad_1]
Former UFC champion Jon Jones has enlisted veteran boxing promoter Richard Schaefer as a consultant, he introduced through social media on Wednesday.
Jones, 33, is without doubt one of the most dominant fighters in UFC historical past, though he has not fought since February 2020. A former mild heavyweight champion, Jones vacated his UFC title final August in preparation of a transfer to heavyweight, however he and the promotion have been unable to return to phrases on a title combat between Jones and present title holder Francis Ngannou.
In April, Jones and his former representatives at First Spherical Administration introduced that they had parted methods.
“I’ve retained Richard Schaefer as my advisor,” Jones wrote on Instagram. “Richard has been within the fight area for over 20 years and has put collectively a few of the greatest international pay-per-view occasions over that interval. The likes of [Floyd] Mayweather, [Oscar] De La Hoya, Canelo [Alvarez], [Bernard] Hopkins, [Marco Antonio] Barrera and [Juan Manuel] Marquez have headlined the thrilling occasions that Richard has produced. His data and expertise of the pay-per-view business and fight sports activities are second to none.
“I’m excited to embark on this subsequent chapter of my profession as I proceed to cement my place in historical past as one of many greats with Richard as my advisor. I am unable to wait to offer my followers and the game the fights they wish to see.”
A former Swiss banker, Schaefer is finest recognized within the boxing world as the previous CEO and co-founder of Golden Boy Promotions, the place he served as an government for greater than 10 years alongside De La Hoya. That partnership resulted in 2014, and in the end led to a courtroom settlement the next 12 months over allegations made by De La Hoya of breach of fiduciary obligation.
Schaefer went on to discovered his personal boxing promotion, Ringstar Sports activities, in 2016. This partnership with Jones is his first high-profile foray into blended martial arts.
“It is an honor and a privilege to have the ability to work with such an incredible athlete and individual like Jon Jones,” stated Schaefer, in an announcement launched by Jones. “Jon is the gold normal of UFC and one of many biggest athletes to ever dominate his or her sport … I’m trying ahead to sitting down with [UFC president] Dana White and his staff on behalf of Jon to place collectively the fights the followers wish to see.”
Earlier this 12 months, White publicly acknowledged Jones (26-1) would face the winner of a heavyweight title combat between Ngannou (16-3) and Stipe Miocic at UFC 260. Instantly after Ngnanou received, Jones took to Twitter with the easy phrases, “Present me the cash.”
In a number of interviews since, White has stated Jones is demanding an unrealistic amount of cash to face Ngannou and the promotion intends to maneuver on with a heavyweight title combat between Ngannou and Derrick Lewis. For his half, Ngannou has made it clear he’d desire to face Jones subsequent.
Jones, who fights out of Albuquerque, turned the youngest champion in UFC historical past when he first received a title at age 23 in 2011. He dominated the division from his UFC debut in 2008 to 2020, though he additionally misplaced his title a number of instances resulting from disciplinary causes. His solely loss got here through a extremely controversial disqualification in 2009.
Source link
