By Thomas Gerbasi
In many ways it doesn’t seem like it was more than 14 years ago, but in others – like when the wife says something to me and I don’t hear her - Thunderbox feels like it was just yesterday.
For those who don’t remember, Thunderbox was the baby of promoter Cedric Kushner, an attempt to marry the worlds of music and boxing and mix in a tournament format. It was a noble attempt, but it was – in a word – bad. And in another, LOUD. As in your laptop is shaking loud.
The winners of that first night’s tournament in September of 2000, were four of the heavyweight division’s usual suspects from that era – Ray Austin, Cisse Salif, Charles Hatcher, and Ron Brown. Jameel McCline and Al Cole were also on the card, but the real stars were the performers of the night, Wyclef Jean and the Black Eyed Peas.
Did I mention that it was loud?
Give credit to Kushner for trying to bring a younger crowd and a different demographic to the fights, and the same can be said for HBO’s series from around that time, KO Nation, but it just didn’t work, with attendance and television ratings likely to back up my thoughts.
That brings us to Friday night and the first show of Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports at the Madison Square Garden Theater. Much has been made of the “enhanced fan experience” on fight night, with hip hop star Fabolous performing and DJ Mustard and Angie Martinez also contributing their talents between fights. Yes, you can be skeptical and wonder what this all has to do with a boxing show headlined by a bout between unbeaten Dusty Harrison and New Yorker Tommy Rainone, but there is a method to the madness, as pointed out by Roc Nation’s COO of Boxing, David Itskowitch, during a recent media teleconference.
“We have looked around at fights and at boxing in general, and if you look at a boxing event now it really hasn't changed a tremendous amount in the last however many decades,” he said. “We want to really amp up the fan experience at the event. There will be other bells and whistles at the event that I have not even gotten into that are going to make things even more enjoyable for fans and to keep the fans engaged. We want to make the in-arena experience more appealing to fans – yes, they are coming in to see a fight but we want to give them more than the fights when they go to see a fight.”
I know, I know, the fights should do the talking, and I am more than agreeable with that notion, but I’m also a realist, and with folks needing to get as much bang for their buck as possible with so many pulls at their dwindling free time, the idea of going to a fight card, getting nine bouts, a mini-concert from one of the hip hop world’s most popular artists, and sharing that experience with the likes of Jay Z, Rihanna, Victor Cruz and other stars is an appealing one.
But here’s the key for the longevity of this branch of Roc Nation Sports – no matter how many stars show up on fight night, the boxing has to shine brightest. That doesn’t necessarily mean an overload of big names, but good matchmaking and good fights. Having Itskowitch running the show is a huge step in the right direction, as he’s a longtime boxing guy going back to his days working with Lou DiBella at HBO. Since then, he moved to DiBella Entertainment and Golden Boy Promotions before landing at Roc Nation, and he knows what works in this game. And though Friday’s card isn’t stacked with notable names outside of Harrison and co-main eventer Tureano Johnson, a glance at the bout sheet shows several intriguing matchups.
“It was a mix between fighters that we have a relationship with, promoters we have good relationships with and making good fights,” Itskowitch said of his company’s first event. “Building a card that will be appealing to fans in New York, which is obviously an ethnic melting pot. So it was a variety of factors.”
As for the main event, Itskowitch says, “Dusty is a big attraction is DC and brings a lot of fans and has a history of fighting at the Garden and you put him in a fight against a guy like Tommy Rainone who is a New York guy and sells tickets himself, always comes to fight and is tough as nails you are going to have a good fight and one that is an attractive fight.”
The golden touch of the man formerly known as Shawn Carter doesn’t hurt either. As far removed from the heart and soul of boxing as the whole music / DJ / entertainment thing appears to be, Jay Z isn’t in the habit of attaching his name or brand to things perceived as cheezy, and he isn’t likely to be starting now. Sure, there’s the assumption that his foray into sports is simply a vanity project, but his company’s winning purse bid for the ultimately aborted Peter Quillin-Matt Korobov middleweight title bout proves that he’s at least putting his money where his mouth is, and according to spokesman Ron Berkowitz, he’s involved on a more than monetary basis.
“Jay Z is involved in every aspect of Roc Nation Sports and Roc Nation as a whole,” he said. “It's important for everyone that has dealt with Roc Nation and Roc Nation Sports in general, to know what kind of businessman and what kind of an owner that he actually is. He is an owner that is involved in every step of the way and in every decision.”
These are all good things on paper, setting the stage for Friday night. Now it’s time to find out whether this concept falls by the wayside or starts something that can grow into something big. Either way, I expect it to be loud, and that’s okay. As long as the fights are good, I can put up with just about anything.
