Arian Clark, CEO of Fighters First Management, recently announced that he would be partnering with the mobile boxing game “Boxing Manager” and adding his wealth of knowledge in management to give it even more of an authentic experience. Aside from that, Clark was able to provide an update on his client & WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) while also discussing his newest signing.
An Update on The Return of Brian Norman Jr.
This has been an interesting year for 23-year-old Norman, who began 2024 with a no-contest against Janelson Figueroa Bocachica in March. It was ruled a no-contest due to cuts on both fighters. Two months later, Norman would get the opportunity of a lifetime and face Giovanni Santillan for the WBO interim title. With Terence Crawford being the sitting champion at the time and a move to junior middleweight looming, Norman and Santillan knew that the winner would likely be elevated shortly after, making that May fight as important as ever for both men. That night, Norman would break down Santillan, score a tenth-round knockout, and earn the interim WBO title.
Shortly after, the WBO received correspondence from Crawford that he would no longer compete at welterweight, so they made Norman the full champion at 147. Once that was made official, the rest of the champions and contenders came around for a potential fight with Norman. One of those fights that made it to the offer table was against IBF champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. The situation took a turn when Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn made the negotiations public to pin Norman and his team into a corner. Norman’s representatives, Fighters First Management, more specifically Clark, tried to educate fans on social media on why the deal wasn’t right for his client and that they would move on. The details and story were the talk of social media for weeks before Top Rank would eventually announce Norman’s next opponent, Derrieck Cuevas, on November 8.
On October 1, Jake Donovan, for The Ring, reported that Norman suffered a hand injury, forcing Top Rank to cancel his fight with Cuevas. FightsATW checked in with Clark to hear the latest news with his client and WBO world champion Norman.
“We had to follow protocol with regard to pulling out of a title fight. We had to send the full medical report to the WBO. Brian [Norman Jr.] will be allowed to start punching on October 26, I believe. He’ll be back training hopefully before the year is over with. He’ll be as close to 100% as he can be and will look to return early next year. I’d imagine it would be against Derrieck Cuevas, but in this business, you don’t know what could come up. Eddie Hearn could come back with a deal, so we’ll see how ‘Boots’ [Ennis] looks on November 9.”
Fighters First Management Signs Kent Cruz
Earlier in the week, Fighters First Management announced via social media that they signed welterweight Kent Cruz (16-1, 10 KOs) from Saint Louis, MO. Cruz hasn’t been active enough, and his last fight was a first-round knockout loss to Gary Antuanne Russell in August 2023.
Clark prides himself in the fighters he signs as it has to make sense for his company. When asked about the signing of Cruz, Clark said “Kent [Cruz] can fight his as% off. The only thing Kent has been missing his entire career is solid representation. Joelene [Mizzone] is going to kill it for us.” After only fighting four times in the last four years, Cruz is already seeing progress as he is scheduled to fight on November 23 in his hometown of Saint Louis, MO.
With Norman recovering from his injury and the signing of Cruz, Fighters First Management is staying busy as they look to expand their profile on social media platforms next year, giving even more exposure to all of the fighters on their roster.
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