When Curtis Jackson aka 50 Cent was deciding whether to get involved in the boxing business, he called Lou DiBella to pick his brain. Now that Jackson has obtained his promoter’s license in New York, DiBella said he thinks Jackson only can help a sport that needs to add to its fan base.
“He’s a smart guy,” DiBella told The Post this week. “I think he obviously may not be an expert at boxing promotion, but he’s an expert at promotion. Right now this sport has a problem attracting the demographics that he’s really good at dealing with. We have to attract young fans. We have to attract kids in the urban communities. We’ve got to attract kids who are watching UFC. Our demographics have been getting older for a long time and people don’t want to admit it. Our fan base hasn’t evolved into the 21st Century. If he’s serious about this and he appears to be, I welcome his involvement. I don’t think it can hurt.”
DiBella turned boxing promoter more than a decade ago after a long career as a television executive and matchmaker. He knows the highs and lows, having guided fighters such as Jermain Taylor and Sergio Martinez to world championships, while launching his Broadway Boxing series to groom boxers at a grass roots level.
But 50 Cent might have an advantage because of his celebrity and his brand.
“It’s a very difficult business, but anyone entering in it now is entering at a time where there’s an opportunity because the cost of entry is not what it used to be,” DiBella said regarding the funding needed to attract quality fighters. “For someone bringing a fan base, that creates a major advantage. The other thing is if you’re smart enough to know what you don’t know, you can work with people that can help you.”
Early indications are Jackson will head TMT promotions, short for The Money Team, which is the moniker for those associated with world champion Floyd Mayweather, who currently is serving a 90-day jail sentence stemming from a domestic violence abuse case. Jackson and Mayweather are close friends.
Oscar De La Hoya’s company, Golden Boy Promotions, has promoted most of Mayweather’s recent bouts on a per-fight basis. Twitter and the internet boxing sites are rampant with speculation Mayweather will no longer use Golden Boy because he and Jackson build TMT Promotions. Jackson and De La Hoya even got into a brief Twitter war this week, in which Jackson at one point tweeted, “I bet you won’t be promoting Floyd Mayweather no more …”
Just how all this plays out remains to be seen.
“When Oscar De La Hoya became a promoter, he worked with people that were able to get him off the ground,” DiBella said. “[Jackson] has been a very successful guy in a lot of different areas, not just rapping. He’s got a pretty good knack for business. Give him a chance. I don’t think new players hurt anything.”
DiBella will promote his latest installment of Broadway Boxing on Thursday night at the Roseland Ballroom. South African southpaw Thomas “Tommy Gun” Oosthuizen (19-0-1, 13 KOs) will battle Rowland Bryant (16-1, 11 KOs) of Florida for the IBO super middleweight championship. In an added feature, WBC Continental Americas light heavyweight champion and Long Island favorite “Irish” Seani Monaghan (14-0, 9 KOs) will take on George Armenta (14-9, 11 KOs) from Silver Spring, Md. Fight Now TV will stream bouts starting at 10 p.m.
Up-and-coming undefeated DBE prospects Alex Perez (16-0, 9 KOs) of Newark and Jonathan Cepeda (11-0, 10 KOs) of West Palm Beach, Fla., will also see action in separate bouts. Also fighting on the card is former New York amateur standout, 19-year-old Zach Ochoa (1-0, 1 KO).
Tickets are priced at $125, $85, $65 and $45, with a limited number of VIP tables available for purchase. Tickets can be purchased by calling DiBella Entertainment at (212) 947-2577.
george.willis@nypost.com