When you speak of the best venue for boxing in the United States, The Barclays Center in Brooklyn immediately comes to mind. Already host to the likes of Danny Garcia, Adrien Broner, Bernard Hopkins, Paulie Malignaggi, and Zab Judah. The venue will now host its biggest name to date when Miguel Cotto makes his first middleweight title defense against Daniel Geale.
Miguel Cotto is boxing’s number 3 draw in the United States behind Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Miguel Cotto has been a staple in the New York boxing market being the highest ticket selling boxer ever at Madison Square Garden while making an appearance at the new Yankee Stadium as well. Now he takes his talents away from Manhattan and the Bronx to a new borough in Brooklyn.
Because Madison Square Garden has a bout lined up a week after, it made no offer to host Cotto. Barclays Center has a bout the week before but landing a big fish like Miguel Cotto is something you can’t walk away from according to Brooklyn Nets CEO, Brett Yormark
“There was no offer from Madison Square Garden. Miguel Cotto was looking for something different, and the Barclays Center is quickly becoming a destination for premium events,” said the CEO
Of course having his brother Michael Yormark at the helm of Roc Nation Sports, the company who now handles Miguel Cotto’s career also helps matters.
“Michael called me and told me we’d love to come into your venue for this fight on June 6th. You support your brother when you can; I told him we have a fight on the 29th. If you’re not concerned going back to back, we’ll make it work, and we did. It’s about bringing two world class fights to the Barclays Center on the 29th with Khan-Algieri and the week after with Cotto-Geale,” Yormark told ThaBoxingVoice.com.
However, Yormark made it clear that it’s about bringing the best fights to his venue. Although he will work with anyone, it’s all one fight at a time and in the same sentence he couldn’t help himself by taking a shot at his competitors in Manhattan.
“One fight at a time,” Yormark said. “This was a request for the 6th. We’re thrilled to be working with him but its one fight at a time. It’s all one fight at a time with everyone. We want Brooklyn fighters on the card because we want our local fighters to aspire to fighting in our arena. We want to bring fights that bring national significance, but we also want 50-50 fights. If you think about the fight at MSG (Klitschko-Jennings) in a couple of weeks that might be a one rounder, we want compelling fights that bring drama and that create a lot of attention from the fans.”
Since he’s landed one of the bigger fish in boxing, he still wants to land the ultimate fish in Floyd Mayweather Jr before Mayweather retires.
“We keep trying,” Yormark said.
But Yormark knows there are just some things he can’t provide to Mayweather even though he feels Mayweather will fight there eventually.
“Floyds become a personal friend. He’s been at Barclays for a couple of events. We made a significant offer for Floyd to fight here and what I’ve learned is Floyd is very loyal to the MGM. There’s a convenience factor there. He gets out of bed and drives a short distance there. I can’t afford him that opportunity but I do think before he’s done he will fight in Brooklyn because I think being able to do it on the biggest stage in New York would be a crowning moment for him and his career. I still have hopes that we land his next fight.”
