Golden Boy brings boxing to Barclays

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer confirmed a report by NYFightBlog that October 20 has been targeted as an opening date for a series of regular boxing events at the Barclays Center, a state-of-the-art arena that is under construction in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Schaefer, whose organization has signed an exclusive deal with the Barclay Center, also had a response to a story that appeared on Yahoo!Sports regarding the heavyweight titleholding siblings, Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko.

In the arctle, Bernd Boente, the Klitschko's manager, claims that Golden Boy Promotions foiled a proposed title defense by Wladimir Klitschko against Chris Arreola in favor of an event featuring former IBF junior welterweight titleholder and Brooklyn native, Paulie Malignaggi.

"This is about really creating an opening night in Brooklyn which will be used to promote season ticket sales for the Brooklyn Boxing programs, and we have come up with big plans there. The facts are that Oct. 20 is not a Klitschko date, it's not a Golden Boy date, it's not a Barlclay date. It's a date for the fight fans of Brooklyn," said Schaefer.

"It's the opening night to bring boxing back to Brooklyn on a regular basis. And this date is going to be used to really showcase the diversity of Brooklyn, the diversity of the great New York area, and it's going to be a red carpet event with many fighters there. It's going to be almost like a fan-fest for boxing. So, if the Klitschkos want to be a part of that, then we will be happy to have them as a part of that."

Lem Satterfield can be reached at lemuel.satterfield@gmail.com