Deontay Wilder is an undefeated heavyweight boxer with insane knockout power… Does that sound marketable to you?
Wilder obviously sounded profitable to Roc Nation Boxing. ESPN’s Dan Rafael is reporting that Roc Nation offered Wilder 2 million dollars to fight Bermane Stiverne.
With Wilder’s lack of a promotional agreement somewhat common knowledge in the industry, Roc Nation president Michael Yormark visited Wilder and Deas at Wilder’s home base in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in mid-September, spent two days there and offered Wilder $2 million for the Stiverne fight as the first bout of a five-year contract with Roc Nation Sports, according to a source with knowledge of the offer.
That is an astronomical number for the fight and would be about 10 times more than Wilder has ever made for a bout. Under a purse bid, Wilder is entitled to 30 percent of the money, meaning somebody would have to bid nearly $7 million for him to make the same amount. A $7 million bid for the fight would be as stunning as any purse bid amount ever. Even Roc Nation would be unlikely to bid close to that much.
I’m told Wilder and Deas were very interested in the Roc Nation offer, which was on the table until Sept. 26. When Haymon didn’t reply to the offer, it was taken off the table.
Rafael also spoke about Al Haymon’s relationship with Roc Nation:
Roc Nation Sports, music mogul Jay Z’s company that in August made public its intention to promote boxing, is just waiting for the chance to overwhelm the competition with a massive bid. That’s what it did when it blew away two other bidders for Peter Quillin’s middleweight mandatory defense against Matt Korobov. But once Haymon, who runs Quillin’s career, lost control of the fight, he persuaded Quillin to give up the title and a career-high payday of more than $1.4 million with no other fight scheduled.
Haymon’s bad blood with Jay Z (and Beyonce, Jay Z’s wife) goes back to their paths crossing in the music business, and it seems that Haymon, who does not speak to the media, has no intention of assisting in Roc Nation’s entrance into boxing. King’s reticence in allowing a giant purse bid is unclear, but what is clear is that he and Haymon are doing everything in their power to prevent a purse bid. King did not return a call seeking comment.
The end of the boxing “Cold War” between Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank was supposed to allow fighters to make more money and for fans to get bigger fights. So far it has only unearth boxing’s greed and has further highlighted who truly controls boxing.
Richard Schaefer’s recent departure from the boxing world has made Al Haymon the most powerful man in boxing and it seems as though he no longer has any allegiance to these promoters, which is going to make for an interesting couple of years in boxing.