Barclays CEO Brett Yormark to ‘build upon’ boxing resume

Apr

Not only has Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark transformed the home of the Brooklyn Nets into a boxing attraction that has caught the eye of Floyd Mayweather Jr., he's only just begun.

In addition to Brooklyn-born fighters such as Paulie Malignaggi, Zab Judah, Luis Collazo and Danny Jacobs, the venue has played host to Malignaggi's loss of his WBA 147-pound title to Adrien Broner, Brooklynite Peter Quillin's six-knockdown performance against Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam for the WBO middleweight title, two wins by RING 140-pound champion Danny Garcia (against Erik Morales and Judah) and Bernard Hopkins' unanimous decision over Tavoris Cloud to take the IBF light heavyweight title.

Thanks to a union with Barclays Center, Golden Boy Promotions has promoted a total of seven boxing cards at the site from October 2012 through this past January, including one in December, headlined by Malignaggi's unanimous decision over Judah.

January's main event featured Collazo's second-round knockout of ex-beltholder Victor Ortiz. Collazo will next fight Amir Khan on the Mayweather-Marcos Maidana card, May 3rd on Showtime Pay Per View from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

In this, the second part of his Q&A interview with RingTV.com, Yormark shared his thoughts about the future of Barclays Center in boxing.

Click here for Barclays Center CEO: Mayweather Jr. is 'aware of our interest'

RingTV.com: Which has been your favorite fight at Barclays Center?

Brett Yormark: They've all been great. Watching Danny Jacobs get back to the form that he had a few years ago has been terrific. Having Peter Quillin here and seeing him win the [WBO] belt and seeing him fight in Brooklyn was terrific.

Seeing Bernard Hopkins win a belt in Brooklyn, that was terrific. The Paulie Malignaggi-Zab Judah fight and the buildup for that was great to see.

The national appeal of the Adrien Broner-Malignaggi fight was also great. Seeing Victor Ortiz and Luis Collazo and Collazo knocking him out was a great storyline but there have been a lot of them.

RingTV.com: Your thoughts on being a place for local fighters to gain exposure and make a name for themselves.

BY: Seeing Eddie Gomez just grow as a fighter and seeing his career blossom has been good to watch. Same with Marcus Browne. I can point to a lot of fights but I don't think that there has been one particular fight. There have been many and it's been exciting and it's something that, obviously, we will look to build upon.

RingTV.com: Can you discuss your relationship with the boxers and how that had been cultivated beyond the ring, such as taking them to dinner, inviting them to Nets games and their participation in arena community events?

BY: They come out to the games. Malignaggi was at the last two home games. Zab, when he's in town, he comes to games. Eddie Gomez sits in the front row. Marcus Browne was at the game two weeks ago.

Luis Collazo comes to games. I mean, listen; they're family. After a big win, I host them for dinner. I take them to dinner. We go to Peter Luger Steakhouse or Fresco by Scotto. Those are go-to restaurants.

I usually celebrate with the boxers a couple of weeks after their wins to just thank them for doing what they do. I usually spend a lot of time with them. I think that's why we're a little different. There is a personalization that takes place at the Barclays Center.

That happens not only with me but with my other senior-level managers. The fighters know them and they come into the building and they feel like it's their home. That's something that goes a long way.

The following are the seven boxing events hosted by Barclays Center and promoted by Golden Boy:

Oct. 20, 2012

Danny Garcia KO 4 Erik Morales
Paulie Malignaggi SD 12 Pablo Cesar Cano
Peter Quillin UD 12 Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam

March 9, 2013

Bernard Hopkins UD 12 Tavoris Cloud
Keith Thurman UD 12 Jan Zaveck

April 27, 2013

Danny Garcia UD 12 Zab Judah
Peter Quillin TKO 7 Fernando Guerrero

June 22, 2013

Adrien Broner SD 12 Paulie Malignaggi
Seth Mitchell UD 12 Johnathon Banks
Sakio Bika MD 12 Marco Antonio Periban

September 30, 2013

Sadam Ali UD 8 Jay Krupp

December 7, 2013