O’Shaquie Foster's signing with Top Rank Inc. stunned many.
Foster looks to make the second defense of his WBC super-featherweight title when he faces Abraham Nova on Friday, February 16, at the Madison Square Garden Theater, in New York City.
It isn’t that the WBC champion isn’t talented, it was more so that people assumed Foster was under contract with Matchroom Boxing and/or DAZN. The news broke the night Shakur Stevenson defeated Edwin De Los Santos. Now, Foster is on the verge of his Top Rank debut.
“Matchroom [Boxing] passed on us, they did even give us a call after the Rocky Hernandez fight,” Foster’s trainer, Bobby Benton told ProBox TV. “Which I thought [they would make an offer]. I thought they’d run after us after the fight, and try to make the [Joe] Cordina fight,but they didn’t.
“It is what it should be, and it is what he deserved. This boxing game is weird until somebody really wants you, and I am glad to be wanted by Top Rank, because they are one of the best.”
Now, at 30-years-old, Foster, who holds the WBC super featherweight title, has a home and a network behind him.
“Top Rank called me, Brad [Goodman] called and told me the kid could fight,” Benton explained. “I have known Brad my whole life almost, and I told him ‘You know we are a free agent?’ He was like, ‘What? Matchroom didn’t get an option on you?’ I said, ‘No’. He said I will call you right back.”
The following call included a new promotional offer for Foster.
“So then they made an offer and we accepted,” Benton added. “It was a dream come true. Now, ‘Shock’ gets exposure. He gets backing, we blue-collared it through this whole thing. DiBella Entertainment helped us out a lot. They just couldn’t get us to the next level, they didn’t have a network, so it is hard to get us to the next level. He definitely helped us out a lot.”
Foster had one of the best years in 2023. Yet neither Showtime nor DAZN seemed to take a liking to him. Top Rank not just signed Foster, but also have him headlining a nationally-televised card in his first fight on the network.
For Foster, who had been a hard-luck fighter for so many years, maybe this is the start of new trend in his career.
