Today has been just full of surprises. Not long after Lou DiBella snatched Joshua Buatsi vs Jean Pascal out from under Eddie Hearn’s nose, MarvNation Promotions won the rights to Jose Zepeda vs Regis Prograis with a gigantic $2.4 million bid, doubling up on PBC’s $1.2 million offer.
From what I’ve been able to gather, MarvNation is a local promotion out of California. Its website, which looks like it was slapped together in about two hours by an underpaid web designer, isn’t even up to date with its fighters’ records. The most notable member of their stable is Yokasta Valle, who signed a co-promotional deal with Golden Boy in June and will headline one of their shows a week from Thursday.
So, any guesses as to what the story is and how things will play out? Is this a Triller situation? Is MarvNation functioning as a front for Golden Boy or Probellum, whom they’ve worked with before? Are they going to come up empty-handed when it’s time to scrounge up the down payment and leave the rights in PBC’s hands?
Or is this a true underdog story, one where a plucky upstart realized this was their chance to be a big shot and put everything they had into chasing that dream?
Whatever the case, I just hope the fight happens. Zepeda (35-2, 27 KO) and Prograis (27-1, 23 KO) will beat the tar out of each other if they get the chance to share the ring.