Opinion: A Rocky Weekend for Roc Nation Sports

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Jay Z’s foray into the world of boxing hasn’t gone all that great, has it?

In one weekend, all of the cracks came to the surface and proved that Roc Nation Sports has a lot of work to do before it can be considered a major player in the boxing community. All three of Roc Nation’s biggest signings were present in one way or another, and each had his own set of issues to overcome.

For starters, Roc Nation’s newest signee, two-time Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux, absolutely stunk up the joint with a dreadfully boring performance against Drian Francisco. A fighter regarded as the greatest amateur boxer of all-time had the opportunity to perform and impress on a grand stage, and there was no reason for the unbeaten Cuban to put forth a reserved performance against someone he should have steamrolled. There were already talks that HBO wanted nothing to do with Rigondeaux because of his lack of action, and this only cemented that idea. It’s going to be difficult for Rigondeaux to convince anyone to air his fights after this, not only because he can be the boxing equivalent of paint drying but also because there really isn’t another worthy 122-pounder to carry a promotion; and with the money Roc Nation just threw at Rigondeaux, this had to be the worst possible outcome, aside from losing, of course.

Next, you had Andre Ward, who was originally slated to fight on the Miguel Cotto-Saul “Canelo” Alvarez undercard before he had to pull out because of a knee injury. Although Ward has been considered to be the heir apparent to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in terms of boxing ability, his career has been a rollercoaster of tremendous highs and inexplicable lows. Unfortunately, for Roc Nation, it signed him in the midst of his lows in hopes that he could reach the heights he obtained three years ago as the Super Six super middleweight tournament winner and a subsequent thrashing of Chad Dawson. Since then, he has battled injuries and became embroiled in a contract dispute with the late Dan Goosen that kept him from being active in the ring. Since beating Dawson in September 2012, Ward has only fought twice. Meanwhile, names such as Gennady Golovkin and Sergey Kovalev have surpassed him on the popularity chart.

With the opportunity to put his name back on the map on the undercard of one of the biggest PPVs not featuring Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, Ward ended up on the sidelines. Fair or unfair, fans have blasted Ward’s lack of activity and gone as far as suggesting that he simply doesn’t want to fight. Although that’s likely not the case, it’s something that Roc Nation is going to have to figure out; and putting him in fights on BET isn’t going to help.

Then there was Cotto.

Cotto dropped a unanimous decision to Alvarez in a fight where the Puerto Rican proved to be ineffective against a bigger, stronger and younger opponent. However, it wasn’t the loss that ended up doing the most damage, nor was it how Cotto opted to skip both the post-fight interview with HBO’s Max Kellerman and the ensuing press conference. The damage came weeks before, as the promotion for the fight was in full swing. For a fighter that Roc Nation promised a hefty check of $15 million, there probably should have been more done to promote the fight. It doesn’t make sense, honestly. During fight week, I spoke to Oscar De La Hoya about the buildup to the fight. Always jovial, De La Hoya poked a little fun when he incredulously asked “Where’s Jay Z?” in a half serious, half joking manner.

Seriously, though, where was Jay Z?

A fight of this magnitude needed all the extra promotion it could get. It was already one of the most highly anticipated fights of the year, but after the nasty taste the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight left in the mouths of casual fans, perhaps more needed to be done to help push Cotto-Canelo; and pushing the fight into the mainstream is exactly where Jay Z comes into play. It would have been nice to see Jay Z -- or one of his Roc Nation artists -- hit the radio, do an interview or use social media to promote the fight. Surely, Jay Z is a man of many hats so there’s an explanation for why he didn’t do anything publicly but show up for the fight. Still, wouldn’t it help to get a tweet from Rihanna or an Instagram video from Beyonce? Maybe Big Sean or Shakira could have snuck a mention into an interview.

Now comes the question of what you do with Cotto next. At the age of 35 and with a lot of mileage on his tires, there isn’t too much you can squeeze out of the Puerto Rican. He’s a sure-shot hall of famer who has fought just about anybody you can think of. However, it makes little sense to put him in there with another young talent. Cotto wants to win a big fight, but it’s becoming increasingly hard to find an opponent with stature that he can beat up on.

It’s not all bad for Roc Nation and Jay Z. The talent is there. They just need to take the proper steps to ensure that these investments don’t blow up in their face.

Andreas Hale is a content producer for Jay Z’s LifeandTimes.com and editor-in-chief of PremierWuzHere.com, as well as a frequent Sherdog.com columnist. Check out his archive here.