Brian Norman Jr. will defend his WBO welterweight title against #7 Derrieck Cuevas on November 8th at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.
Failed negotiations after a rock bottom offer
Unfortunately, negotiations for a unification bout between the undefeated Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) and IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis fell out over money. According to Norman Jr’s manager, Adrian Clark, Boots Ennis’ management “didn’t want to pay what we asked for.”
Promoter Eddie Hearn revealed that they Norman Jr. offered $1.5 million for the fight, which he describes as a “fortune”. Norman is believed to have wanted more than $2 million for the fight. While some fans complain that Norman Jr. should have accepted the offer from Hearn is $1.5 million for a risky unification fight against a popular champion like Boots Ennis a lowball offer.
Given the risk and magnitude of the fight, it’s worth more than $1.5 million to Brian Norman Jr. or any of the welterweight champions. If Hearn can’t see that, he’s blind. I wouldn’t expect the casual fans to understand, but Hearn must.
If only $500K to $750K prevented the match from being made, it’s surprising that Hearn didn’t come up with the money because Boots Ennis needs this fight to further his goal of becoming undisputed champion at 147. Hearn doesn’t see the big picture. picture.
If Hearn believes the welterweight champions will accept whatever he offers them for a tough fight against Boots Ennis, he is deluded. He doesn’t understand the champion.
Would Hearn accept less money to have one of his popular fighters face someone he didn’t think could beat them? He wouldn’t do it. So, Hearn will have to pay the champions what they are asking if he wants to help Boots capture the remaining three welterweight titles to increase his popularity and go undisputed.
Hearn isn’t saying what Boots Ennis will get, but some believe it will be in the same ballpark as recently signed lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson is getting for his next fight, which is guaranteed $5 million.
Undercard status
Norman Jr. will fight on the undercard of lightweight contender Keyshawn Davis vs. Gustavo Lemos. Top Rank is pushing 2020 Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn hard to turn him into a star. Accordingly, Norman Jr. being given the undercard treatment despite being the world champion.
What’s sad about this is that Keyshawn Davis isn’t going anywhere with his career, and he’s the one who should be on Norman Jr’s undercard, buried at the bottom. However, this is business, and it is about selling tickets. So, the less talented fighter, Keyshawn, is the main role while the valuable gemNorman Jr., is on his undercard.
Keyshawn isn’t popular in the US outside of Virginia, but Top Rank is shoving him down fans’ throats by placing him in highly visible spots on ESPN, hoping he can gain a following.
It’s an oddity for sure, but it goes to show that world titles mean nothing in this era of boxing. It’s interesting that Norman is being put on the undercard of a fighter like Keyshawn, who doesn’t look like he’ll ever capture a world title in his career and has looked awful in his recent fights. What a waste.
Now it’s more about selling tickets, attracting interest and name recognition, and less about titles or actual talent. Norman Jr. will need to destroy the Puerto Rican native Cuevas (27-1-1, 19 KOs) to continue to gain attention from the boxing public to main cards.
Cuevas, 29, has fought obscure positions throughout his professional career and will likely be out of his depth going up against Norman. It’s unclear why Top Rank chose Cuevas as the opponent for Norman Jr, but perhaps that was as good as it got with the money on the table.
If Norman Jr. was the lead role, he would be better positioned to land a notable competitor like Alexis Rocha. However, the welterweight division is weak right now, with few quality fighters for talents like Norman Jr and Boots Ennis to fight.
Dude was used to managers accepting whatever for their customers. We have come to negotiate and get the best deal for @OfficialBNorman .
They didn’t want to pay what we asked for.
We will try again next year.#box
— Adrian Clark (@TheAdrianClark) 30 August 2024
