Jay-Z

The boxing world needs a change and Jay Z is ready to make it happen.  There’s finally going to be a little shakeup as Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions will have to welcome Roc Nation Sports into the business.

Roc Nation Sports founded by Jay Z in April 2013, has already made a big splash as sports agents now they’re taking on a new venture.

“There’s no question the sport of boxing needs a new player, someone who can do something different,” Michael Yormark, the president and chief of branding and strategy for parent company Roc Nation, told ESPN.com on Sunday night. “We’re energized and we’re going to make a difference. This is a huge priority to us. This is a highly serious business to us.”

Roc Nation Sports is also prepared for the challenge and made a big move as they’ve hired David Itskowitch to serve as the chief operating officer of its boxing division.

Itskowitch, who said Roc Nation Sports has already secured a promoters license in New York and Washington, D.C., is a highly respected and experienced executive with 18 years in the boxing business.

“This is a serious business for us moving forward and Dave has one of the great reputations in the boxing industry,” Yormark said, adding that Jay Z and Roc Nation Sports president Juan Perez are big boxing fans. “Hiring him should be a loud and clear statement this is serious for us and that we will do this the right way. We have one of the most respected individuals in the sport leading the charge for us.

“We’re going to promote our first event by the end of the year and we’re currently strategizing on which fighters we will seek to sign,” Itskowitch told ESPN.com.

Itskowitch said Roc Nation Sports is willing to work with any promoter, manager or television network, something uncommon in boxing.

Said Itskowitch, “We will be a promoter, but our job won’t end once a guy fights on a particular Saturday night. We will promote him 365 days a year.”

Jay isn’t the first rapper to enter the biz as 50 Cent stepped away from Mayweather’s TMT and formed SMS Promotions.  I wonder how he feels about this.

Floyd-Mayweather-50-Cent-Jay-Z-580x386-580x360

http://thesource.com/2014/08/18/jay-z-roc-nation-sports-obtain-license-to-become-boxing-promoters/

 

 

Steven_Counts_Peter_Quillin_Kid_Chocolate_06

Credit:  Photo by Steven Counts.com / Article by Lenn Satterfield –

WBO middleweight titleholder Peter Quillin may have landed his biggest pay day and a fight before fans familiar to him against Matt Korobov on Nov. 8 either in Washington, D.C., or New York City, thanks to a purse bid won by Roc Nation Sports on Monday.

The winning bid for Roc Nation Sports, the company founded by rapper Jay-Z, was made by newly-hired former Golden Boy Promotions COO David Itskowitch.

Itskowitch bid $1,904,840 compared to $1,207,000 by Golden Boy Promotions representative Ramiro Gonzalez and $515,000 by Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti, according to Jose Izquierdo, general secretary of the WBO.

Izquierdo and WBO President Paco Valcarcel said that Quillin (31-0, 22 knockouts) is entitled to 75 percent ($1,428, 630) of the bid to 25 percent ( $476,210) for Korobov (24-0, 14 KOs).

“I’m already making enough money where I’m able to take care of my family and to own a couple of things and to live a good life, but that’s damn near $2 million on the table that they’ve bid on this fight,” said Quillin, who is promoted by Golden Boy and advised by Al Haymon.

“I don’t think or believe that [WBA 160-pound titleholder] Gennady Golovkin has come close to being offered nothing like that. Of course, my other pay days are very good pay days, and I’m looking to put away as much as I can for life after boxing. Some of these other guys around me may be making more money, but I just hope they’re making the right decisions with their money.”

Izquierdo said Itskowitch proposed the date of Nov. 8 either in Washington, D.C. or New York City, where Roc Nation has been licensed.

Michael Yorkmark, president and chief of branding and strategy for Roc Nation, is the twin brother of Brett Yormark, the CEO of Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., where Quillin has competed in two of his past four fights contested under the banner of Golden Boy.

Quillin debuted at Barclays Center in October 2012 when he scored a unanimous decision win over previously unbeaten Hassan N’Dam, whom he dropped six times to earn the WBO’s vacant belt.

In Quillin’s next fight in April 2013 at Barclays Center, he scored two second-round knockdowns 30 seconds apart and dropped his man twice more in the seventh and final round of a technical knockout victory over Fernando Guerrero.

In his last fight in April at The D.C. Armory in Washington, D.C., Quillin dominated Lukas Konecny, winning a unanimous decision by the scores of 119-109, 119-109 and 120-108.

“Both of those areas are places that have the demographics where I have been able to relate to people and to get my story out there. I feel as though I have a big following in Brooklyn, as well as in D.C.,” said Quillin.

“I just want to be able to deliver my story in a positive way to people, regardless of whether it’s in Brooklyn or in D.C. or against Korobov or any of those other guys.”

http://ringtv.craveonline.com/news/352919-peter-quillin-poised-for-lucrative-defense-vs-matt-korobov

Bienvenida a Roc Nation

El presidente de la Organización Mundial de Boxeo (OMB) dio la bienvenida a Roc Nation Sports, empresa que ganó hoy la subasta de la OMB para la pelea entre el campeón peso mediano Peter Quillin y el primer clasificado Matt Korobov.

“Definitivamente estoy sorprendido por su participación”, dijo Valcarcel de la primera incursión de Roc Nation Sports en el mundo del boxeo. “En nombre de la OMB le doy la bienvenida a Jay Z y su compañía Roc Nation Sports y les deseo éxito en su empeño por traer eventos de boxeo de calidad y representar bien a los boxeadores que adquieran”.

“Nos sentimos honrados de que ellos (Roc Nation Sports) hayan optado por un combate de campeonato mundial de la OMB para hacer su entrada al deporte como promotor de boxeo y esperamos trabajar con ellos”, dijo Valcárcel sobre la pelea, cuya fecha propuesta es el 8 de noviembre 2014, posiblemente en  Washington DC o Nueva York.

Con una oferta de $1,904,840 Roc Nation Sports, la compañía fundada por el rapero y estrella de la música Jay Z, ganó la subasta, que se llevó a cabo en las oficinas de la OMB en San Juan, Puerto Rico, para promover la pelea de Quillin (31-0, 22 KOs), campeón mediano de la OMB, contra Korobov (24-0, 14 KOs).

Roc Nation, representado por David Itskowitch, superó la oferta del promotor de Quillin, Golden Boy Promotions ($1,207,000) y el promotor de Korobov, Top Rank, ($515.000).

 

10616494_967511609932762_4977041032167718474_n

World Boxing Organization (WBO) President, Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel welcomed Roc Nation Sports, company that won today’s WBO purse bid for the fight between the middleweight champion Peter Quillin and the #1 ranked Matt Korobov.

“I’m definitely surprised by their participation,” said WBO President Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel of Roc Nation’s first foray into the world of boxing. “On behalf of the WBO I welcome Jay Z and his company Roc Nation and wish them nothing but success in their quest to put on quality boxing events and represent well the fighters they eventually sign.”

“We are honored that they (Roc Nation Sports) have chosen a WBO World Championship contest to mark their entrance to the sport as boxing promoter and look forward to working with them,” said Valcarcel of the fight proposed for November 8, 2014 at an undetermined venue in either Washington, DC or New York City.

With a bid of $1,904,840 Roc Nation Sports, the company founded by rapper and music superstar Jay Z, won Monday’s purse bid at the WBO Headquarters in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to promote Quillin’s (31-0, 22 KOs) mandatory WBO Middleweight title defense against Korobov (24-0, 14 KOs).

Roc Nation Sports, represented by David Itskowitch, outbid both Quillin’s promoter Golden Boy Promotions ($1,207,000) and Korobov’s promotor Top Rank ($515,000).