Golden Boy Promotions added St. Louis' Devon Alexander to its stable of fighters Saturday, and introduced plans to create a multi-fighter tournament in the welterweight division.
Obviously, the division already has the greatest star power in boxing with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.
Richard Schaefer, chief executive of Golden Boy, said he will begin negotiations next week with HBO and Showtime to televise a single-elimination tournament of four to eight fighters that could start as soon as January.
"The tournament doesn't need to have a belt, but it needs a network committed to telling the backgrounds of these guys," Schaefer said. "Let's say Mayweather and Pacquiao fight each other [in 2012], we need to have some opponents -- fighters people recognize -- to challenge them."
Two of the obvious backup challengers in place to fight either Mayweather or Pacquiao should they win their next bouts -- Mayweather on Saturday against Victor Ortiz and Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez Nov. 12 -- are long shots to participate in the Schaefer tournament.
World Boxing Assn. welterweight champion Amir Khan will fight in December against Lamont Peterson, and he'd be well-positioned to be Mayweather's next foe, perhaps at England's Wembley Stadium.
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