(Photo by Michael N. Todaro/FilmMagic)
Retired boxer Daniel Franco is suing JAY-Z and Roc Nation over brain injuries he sustained in 2017, two years after he allegedly signed to Roc Nation Sports with a 10-0-3 record, Complex reports.
Franco claims the management company forced him to participate in three fights within a 79-day period, despite his lack of preparation.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Franco claims he won his first five fights after signing with Roc Nation. But when it came to a fight scheduled for March 23, 2017, he got sick with the flu leading up to the big event and couldn’t hit the gym for three-week to train properly.
Franco claims that he and his father informed Roc Nation he was too sick to perform and suggested the fight be cancelled or postponed, but Roc Nation wasn’t trying to hear that.
He would go on to lose that fight by TKO.
Franco reportedly had another fight scheduled for May 12, 2017 and again on June 10, 2017. He claims in the court docs that he entered the third fight in no condition for battle and did not receive medical clearance beforehand. He believes he was suffering from two skull fractures and a brain bleed going into the fight.
Franco was reportedly knocked out in the eighth round and says he suffered “a devastating brain hemorrhage” — resulting in a coma and he had to undergo surgery.
via The Blast:
Back in 2017, Franco told The Blast his family was first told Roc Nation would help with the medical bills but claims it was a false promise.
The 25-year-old, who still has slurred speech and must wear a protective helmet as a result of his injury, says Roc Nation even asked him to take down a GoFundMe page his family set up, and told him they “would figure it all out,” but never followed up or called him back. He said that was the only time he has heard from them.
Franco says Roc Nation Sports has not “been true to their word, and they haven’t been great people.”
Adding, “They left me out there to dry.”
He’s suing Roc Nation Sports, Live Nation and Jay-Z for negligence, seeking unspecified damages.
