Bob Arum: Matt Korobov signs to fight Peter Quillin

Aug

Middleweight Matt Korobov has signed his contract to face WBO titleholder Peter Quillin, Korovbov’s promoter, Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum, confirmed on Friday.

“That’s absolutely correct,” said Arum of Korobov’s signing. “We’re all set and that should be a very good fight.”

In addition, the Quillin-Korobov fight is likely to happen on Nov. 1 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., where Quillin (31-0, 22 knockouts) has fought two of his past four bouts, according to Jose Izquierdo, general secretary of the WBO.

Izquierdo said all parties were informed that Quillin, 31, was granted a signing extension until Sept. 3 in the wake of having recently become a father. On August 23, Quillin’s wife, Allison Beth Quillin, gave birth to Joaquin Enriquez Quillin at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Joaquin, who shares his father’s middle name, weighed eight pounds, two ounces.

“The Quillin camp requested an equitable extension to sign the agreement,” said Izquierdo, assistant to WBO President Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel, who was unavailable for comment. “The WBO notified all sides involved that the extension request was granted. They now have until Sept. 3 to submit the finalized bout agreement.”

David Itskowitch, the new COO of Boxing for Roc Nation Sports, could not be reached for an immediate comment. Itskowitch posted the winning bid of more than $1.9 million on August 18 to surpass counterparts Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank for the right to promote Quillin-Korobov.

Of the winning bid of $1,904,840, Quillin is entitled to 75 percent ($1,428,630) compared to 25 percent ($476,210) for Korobov (24-0, 14 KOs), according to Izquierdo.

Quillin made his Barclays Center debut in October 2012 when he scored six knockdowns during a unanimous decision win over previously unbeaten Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam to earn the WBO belt.

Coming off a unanimous decision over Jose Uzcategui in June, Korobov could also be a big attraction at Barclays, as the owner of the Brooklyn Nets is Russian Mikhail Prokhorov.

In June, Barclays Center was a major attraction to the Russian community when Ruslan Provodnikov lost his WBO 140-pound title to Chris Algieri.

Michael Yormark, president and chief of branding and strategy for Roc Nation, is the twin brother of Brett Yormark, the CEO of Barclays Center.

“Peter has a history there. There’s continuity there. Peter lives in Brooklyn. New York is his adoptive home,” said Itskowitch in an interview with RingTV.com. “Korobov also has a significant fan base in Brooklyn among the Russian community, so the fight does make sense at Barclays Center.”

Itskowitch also discussed the potential date conflict with a light heavyweight unification bout between IBF/WBA titleholder Bernard Hopkins and WBO counterpart Sergey Kovalev also announced for Nov. 8 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.

Before the confirmation of Hopkins-Kovalev, Itskowitch said he “would not say” that the Nov. 8 date for Quillin-Korobov is “100 percent.”

“The fight is proposed for for Nov. 1,” said Izquierdo. “Definitely Nov. 1. It will not be on the same date of the Hopkins fight.”