Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports’ boxing imprint took a hit today with the departure of promoter Gary Shaw.
Shaw bought the majority of Roc Nation’s fighters into the mix and without him they are back to square one in terms of their boxing status.
“We gave it a try and unfortunately it did not work out for both parties,” Shaw told ESPN.com on Monday. “It is an amicable separation. Roc Nation was very professional at our meeting and they allowed me to keep all of my fighters and my company, and terminate any agreements we had together. They gave me back my company.”
Roc Nation Sports spokesman Ron Berkowitz told ESPN.com, “Both parties decided to go their own way and we wish Gary nothing but the best.”
The loss of fighters may prove to be the collapse of this Roc Nation experiment.
Among the fighters Shaw promotes — who now won’t be joining Roc Nation Sports — are Jennings, interim lightweight titlist Darleys Perez, middleweight contender Tureano Johnson, lightweight Jonathan Maicelo, lightweight prospect Kenneth Sims Jr., welterweight Francisco Santana, unbeaten junior featherweight Roman Morales and former middleweight titlist Daniel Geale.
Other fighters Shaw promotes, including welterweight contender Thomas Dulorme and junior lightweight contender Jose Pedraza (who he co-promotes with Lou DiBella and Javier Bustillo), were not going to join Roc Nation Sports in the first place.
Let’s see if Jay-Z can work his magic and challenge Al Haymon in terms of boxing power moves.