Dropcents

1.11.12

Done deal



50 Cent, Floyd Mayweather done

By Dan Rafael | ESPN.comThe relationship between rapper and aspiring boxing promoter 50 Cent and pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. is over.

The breakup, rumored for weeks, was announced by 50 Cent on Twitter on Thursday. It means that featherweight titlist Billy Dib, one of the fighters that 50 Cent signed, will make his next defense on the undercard of Miguel Cotto's fight against junior middleweight titleholder Austin Trout on Dec. 1 (Showtime) at Madison Square Garden in New York.
50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, announced during Mayweather's two-month summer incarceration for domestic abuse that he had formed TMT Promotions, which is short for "The Money Team," which is what Mayweather calls his entourage. 50 Cent and Mayweather were going to promote fights together and 50 Cent also strongly hinted that the company would promote Mayweather's fights instead of Golden Boy Promotions, which has been promoting Mayweather's events since 2007.

TMT Promotions was licensed by the New York State Athletic Commission in July and 50 Cent signed multiple fighters, including undefeated former unified featherweight titleholder Yuriorkis Gamboa, Australia's Dib and super middleweight contender Andre Dirrell.
But 50 Cent said that he and Mayweather are no longer working together, tweeting, "TMT IS OVER. The Money team is no longer a team. So it's SMS Promotions. That's it. That's all."
SMS Audio is the name of 50 Cent's headphone product line.50 Cent also tweeted, "I'm no longer a part or down with TMT Promotions. If anyone wants a Money Team jacket I'm selling mine for a dollar. The (snap) back hat comes with it. That's a (fair) price.
"Get your TMT sweat suit NOW!! For just $7.99 online No shipping and handling. I move the fighters to SMS Promotions 'cause the other half of the money team didn't put up (their) MONEY$."
Leonard Ellerbe, one of Mayweather's advisers, could not be reached for comment.The Nevada State Athletic Commission is expected to approve 50 Cent's application for a promotional license at its monthly meeting in mid-November -- the date is not set yet -- according to commission executive director Keith Kizer.The application process began in June with 50 Cent and Mayweather named as the two principals in the company. However, Kizer said that on Sept. 19 that he received an email from 50 Cent's representative saying that Mayweather would no longer be part of the venture. On Tuesday, Kizer said he received a letter from 50 Cent's attorney saying the company would now be called SMS Promotions instead of TMT Promotions.
50 Cent also tweeted that Dib (35-1, 21 KOs) would make the third defense of his 126-pound belt against Cotto-promoted Puerto Rican prospect Jayson Velez (19-0, 14 KOs) on the Trout-Cotto undercard."We negotiated and agreed to terms for the fight for our fighter, Jayson Velez, to challenge Billy Dib," Gaby Penagarícano, Cotto's adviser, told ESPN.com. "It is not signed yet, but we have agreed on the terms. It shouldn't be any problem. We are just putting it all down on a contract. We've been discussing and negotiating it over the past several days."
Penagarícano said the fight would be part of Showtime's telecast."It is definitely one of the fights on the telecast on regular Showtime," he said. "We are working on a third fight, but it has not been decided yet. We are working with (Showtime Sports general manager) Stephen Espinoza on that, but (Dib-Velez) will on Showtime."50 Cent also tweeted what promoter Top Rank said earlier this week -- that Gamboa (21-0, 16 KOs) would face Miguel Beltran Jr. (27-2, 17 KOs) on the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez IV undercard on Dec. 8 (HBO PPV). Gamboa-Beltran will be for a vacant interim junior lightweight title.Top Rank was Gamboa's promoter until earlier this year. Gamboa, who is friendly with Mayweather, was unhappy with Top Rank, which led to 50 Cent buying out his promotional contract for seven figures. Now, Gamboa is reunited with Top Rank after it made a deal with 50 Cent to put him on the card.
Top Rank is also working with 50 Cent to put Dirrell on the undercard of the Nonito Donaire-Jorge Arce junior featherweight title fight it is in the process of finalizing for Dec. 15 in Houston. Dirrell (20-1, 14 KOs), who was part of the Super Six World Boxing Classic before dropping out because of an injury he suffered in a disqualification victory against Arthur Abraham in March 2010, has only fought once since.

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