Fight Biz Quote: Jared Shaw
August 20, 2008
“Nick Diaz is the No. 1 contender. K.J. Noons should step up and be the champion that we think he is and take this fight. Nick Diaz will take this fight any place, anywhere,†Shaw told MMAWeekly.com. “(Noons’ management) won’t even return our calls.
“I don’t understand it. This fight on CBS is maximum exposure and the opportunity for maximum sponsorship dollars, way more than he could make on Showtime. At this point, I question his management.â€
Shaw was quick to point out, however, that they support Noons as their champion. “We believe in K.J. as our champion. For some reason (his camp) is not coming straight out and saying no, but they are making it very difficult to make it happen.
“His manager doesn’t want us talking to him directly. Who knows what K.J. even knows about the situation, but his management is holding us hostage.â€
–Jared Shaw, speaking with MMAWeekly, on KJ Noons and Mark Dion. Dion seems to be burning bridges and must be looking at boxing as being the other option for KJ, because I can’t imagine him going back to the bargaining table with the Zuffa folks. Isolating your client from the promotion may see a bit drastic, but may sometimes called for. Randy Couture noted in his book that when Jerry Lappen was his agent and negotiating his contract, Zuffa attempted back door talks with him while Lappen was negotiating the deal. Similar comments have been made recently by Matt Lindland in reference to Nate Quarry.
