Jay Z and Roc Nation Sports are turning heads again, this time winning a purse bid to promote "Kid Chocolate" Peter Quillin's next fight, a title defense against Matt Korobov. According to reports, Roc Nation bid $1,904,840, blowing away both Golden Boy and Top Rank.
Quillin's WBO middleweight title will be on the line for the November fight, and WBO president Francisco "Paco" Valcarcel expressed surprise and happiness to be welcoming Jay Z into the promotional fold.
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"I'm definitely surprised by their participation," Valcarcel said. "On behalf of the WBO, I welcome Jay Z and his company, Roc Nation (Sports), 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 have chosen a WBO world championship contest to mark their entrance to the sport as boxing promoters and look forward to working with them."
Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya commented on Roc Nation's big bid as well, telling ESPN.com "I'm surprised by the offer but glad someone like Jay Z and his team realize the value and opportunities in boxing."
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With Jay Z lending his star power to the fight, it may be enough to raise Quillin's profile to star caliber. If Quillin gets past Korobov, who is undefeated at 24-0-0 with 14 knockouts, it could set up a unification matchup with the consensus No. 1 middleweight in the world, Gennady "GGG" Golovkin.
The last time Golovkin fought, he scored a TKO win over Daniel Geale in the third round, and made it clear he wants to fight unification bouts. Golovkin singled out Miguel Cotto, but has also talked about being willing to fight Quillin and IBF champion Sam Soliman.
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