Al Haymon

Alan Haymon (born April 21, 1955^[1]) is an American boxing adviser/manager. He is the adviser to Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and has twice won the Boxing Writers of America Manager of the Year Award.

Early life

Haymon was raised in Cleveland, Ohio and studied economics at Harvard.^[2] He also has an MBA from Harvard.

Music career

His main career start was in music promotion, where he promoted such acts as M. C. Hammer, New Edition, Whitney Houston and Mary J. Blige, and he branched out to other entertainment areas, such as when he worked with Eddie Murphy.^[2]

Boxing career

Around 2000, Al ventured into boxing when he managed Vernon Forrest.^[2] Over the next decade, Haymon gained considerable influence in boxing, mainly due to his connection to Floyd Mayweather Jr.^[2] In 2005 and 2013, Haymon won the Al Buck Award (Manager of the Year) from the Boxing Writers Association of America.^[3][4]

Criticism and controversy

Haymon is rarely seen and never interviewed. Greg Bishop, formerly of the New York Times and now of Sports Illustrated, suggests that Haymon functions as both promoter and manager, against the principles of the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, which was designed to separate boxing promoters from boxing managers.^[2]

Haymon's influence has been seen as gaining fights for his fighters' prime spots on Showtime, but these fights are seen as less-than-quality match-ups and instead easy fights to get exposure for his fighters. This influence has been questioned by Max Kellerman of HBO Sports.^[5]

Notable client list

Fighters who are currently or were previously represented by Haymon include:^[2][6]

References