Itsaknockout Promotes Upcoming Boxing Match
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When Jack and Laurie Wolf were rushing to meet a deadline to name Starlight Racing stable's 2-year-olds of 2014, they were at a loss for a name for a Lemon Drop Kid colt purchased as a yearling for $350,000.
Finally, on the last day to submit names to The Jockey Club before Feb. 1 or have to pay a $100 fee after that date, Laurie came up with Itsaknockout and it was accepted by the Thoroughbred breed registry.
Now, more than a year later that name seems most fortuitous as the 3-year-old colt's run May 2 in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) is on the same day as the highly anticipated welterweight match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas.
Just a few hours after the Kentucky Derby, 11-time world champion Floyd "Money" Mayweather and eight-division world champion Manny "PacMan" Pacquiao will meet in a welterweight world championship bout. As a result of a deal worked out between Starlight's Jack Wolf and representatives of the boxing match promoter, Itsaknockout and his connections are now promoting the fight.
Wolf and the 10 members of the Starlight partnership that campaign Itsaknockout, whose three wins in four starts include the Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth (gr. II) via disqualification, will be attired in Mayweather-Pacquiao clothing Derby week. Also, the colt has a blanket that promotes the fight and jockey Luis Saez will have the name Mayweather on one leg of his pants and Pacquiao on the other in the 1 1/4-mile Derby. The partnership will benefit financially from the promotion, but Wolf declined to say how much.
Wolf, who acknowledges he is not much of a boxing fan, was unaware for the upcoming fight until it was brought to his attention by jockey agent Ron Anderson following Feb. 21 Fountain of Youth.
"I was talking to Ron and he said, 'You've got to go to the fight' following the Derby," Wolf said the morning of April 27 while watching Itsaknockout return to trainer Todd Pletcher's barn after galloping at Churchill Downs. "I said, 'What fight'?"
Realizing there might be a promotional opportunity, Wolf contacted Steve Rosner, a partner in 16W Marketing in East Rutherford, N.J. 16W, which represents athletes including NFL players, had worked previously with the connections of Big Brown and I'll Have Another when those horses were on the cusp of possibly capturing the elusive Triple Crown.
16W, in turn, contacted Stephen Espinoza, the executive vice president and general manager at Showtime Sports, which, along with HBO, is producing and distributing the pay-per-view event, and the deal came to fruition.
"There is a natural and unmistakable connection between the Kentucky Derby and Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, two world-class sporting events that showcase the talent of athletes performing at the highest level and on the biggest stage," Espinoza said. "May 2 will be an historic day in sports, one that has the potential to cement legacies and redefine what we consider to be legendary."
"The opportunity to sponsor a horse running in the Kentucky Derby appropriately named 'ItsaKnockout' is a fantastic fit for the Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight and the magnitude of the promotion on all levels," said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions. "It's going to be a knockout of a sports weekend with both events the same day and we wish this... horse well, hoping his name comes true with a victory in the Derby."
Starlight had to obtain permission from Churchill Downs to fulfill terms of the deal, including the fighters' names on Saez' breeches, and the result has been a wave of publicity.
"The main thing they are trying to do is get last-minute attention for the fight," Wolf said.
Starlight had to obtain permission from Churchill Downs to fulfill terms of the deal, including the fighters' names on Saez' breeches, and the result has been a wave of publicity.
"The main thing they are trying to do is get last-minute attention for the fight," Wolf said.
One of the most decorated fighters in the history of the sport, the undefeated Mayweather (47-0, 26 KOs) is an 11-time world champion in five weight divisions and is universally recognized as the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. A four-time "Fighter of the Year," Mayweather has defeated 20 world champions.
Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) is the only fighter to win eight world titles in as many different weight divisions. A three-time Fighter of the Year and the Boxing Writers Association of America's "Fighter of the Decade," Pacquiao is seeking to defeat his third consecutive unbeaten world champion. His last 15 fights have been against world champs.
As for Itsaknockout, he will have his work cut out for him Saturday as he faces a strong Derby field in which he will face the one-two punch of undefeated Dortmund and likely favorite American Pharoah, among others.
The only blemish on the resume of the colt, a $350,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling sale graduate who was bred in Kentucky by Brookfield Stud, is a fourth-place finish, 21 lengths behind winning stablemate Materiality, in the Besilu Stables Florida Derby (gr. I) March 28.
Wolf said the connections of Itsaknockout are counting on the fact the colt perhaps did not like the Gulfstream Park surface on Florida Derby Day and has blossomed since his arrival at Churchill Downs.
"You try to conclude that you should draw a line through that last race because he never really liked the Gulfstream surface," Wolf said as part of the justification for going forward in the Kentucky Derby.
In the Fountain of Youth, Itsaknockout was moved up to first after stewards ruled that he was impeded by winner Upstart, who was demoted to second.
Itsaknockout will be the seventh Derby starter for Wolf and/or Starlight, with the best showing a seventh-place finish.