S. Samuel
G-Unit leader 50 Cent and boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr.'s newest The Money Team Promotions signee Billy Dib has discussed joining the new company and revealed how much respect he has for the rapper-turned-promoter.
Dib specifically credited Fif for showing support and inspiring his TMT signing.
50 Cent will run TMT – which stands for The Money Team – with undefeated world champion Floyd Mayweather when the boxing great is released from prison this week. Dib, the Australian IBF featherweight champion, said linking with TMT was a huge boost for his career. 50 Cent has showed us a lot of respect and love on his trip over to America and nothing but positive things have come out of this trip so far,” Dib said. “I just feel blessed to be chosen by this group to come out and represent Australia on the world stage.” (Fox Sports)
A few days ago, new signee Andre Dirrell talked about joining 50 and Mayweather’s newly formed company.
“Honestly, it’s just the leadership. It’s the leadership of 50 Cent. But when you sit down with 50 Cent, man, people can say, “well, he’s just a rapper.” They may say, “he deals with music, he deals with endorsments, he ain’t got no time for boxing.” But I looked at like this: He’s a total businessman, and a 100-percent wraparound. He’s always talking business. Anytime that I need advice, he’s willing to give it to me, man. He’s just always on his game. So he’s been around Floyd for years, and they’ve been talking to me. He knows the game, man. When I got to see that side of him, I knew I was in good hands.” (Ring TV)
This week, Fif got into a brief but heated exchange with former boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya over his new TMT venture.
If Mayweather does indeed end Golden Boy’s and his six-fight relationship, that would be a huge loss for Golden Boy–as no one can draw an audience in person and on pay-per-view like Mayweather. TMT Promotions is expected to sign featherweight Yuriorkis Gamboa and up-and-coming super middleweight Andre Dirrell as the company’s first fighters. Adding Mayweather would seem like the natural next step for TMT Promotions, as 50 Cent mentioned that it’s his and Mayweather’s company in one of his tweets, and the company bears Mayweather’s nickname, “Money” in its name. The emergence of TMT Productions could have a big effect on boxing, as some fighters who are with Golden Boy or their rival Top Rank could end up with TMT Promotions, opening up fights that may not been possible before due to the feud between Golden Boy and Top Rank. (Bleacher Report)
Last weekend, reports surfaced online which claimed 50 officially became a licensed boxing promoter.
Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix reports that Curtis Jackson is now an officially licensed boxing promoter in New York State, with plans to get his license in Nevada as well. His company is called The Money Team Promotions (TMT) and will reportedly rep Yuri Gamboa and Andre Dirrell at the outset. There’s no word on whether 50 will ultimately work officially with Floyd. And while a Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight is still a longshot, if anybody can make it happen it’s a dude who survived nine gunshot wounds. (Complex)
Check out some Billy Dib highlights below:
