Roc Nation Sports Throne Boxing 2015: Fight Card, TV Schedule and More

The first ever Roc Nation Sports boxing event will be about much more than just fighting. On Friday night, the Jay-Z-owned company will take over Madison Square Garden's 5,000-seat arena as it hosts an event that features the company's newest and brightest pugilists.

The show will also double as a concert. If that wasn't enough, the Fox Sports 1 broadcast has enlisted the team of Gus Johnson and Rich Marotta to handle the play-by-play and color commentary.

Also, Jay-Z has tabbed Michael Buffer to be the ring announcer for the event, per Karl Freitag of FightNews.com. Last but not least, Brookyln's own Fabolous is scheduled to perform at the event.

What more can I say? What else did you expect when the Roc is in the building? Warning: I feel compelled to drop as many of those types of references as possible throughout this article.

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Jay-Z is said to be involved in all decisions with the company, and he will be present at the weigh-ins on Thursday, as well as the event itself on Friday. Welterweight prospect Dusty Hernandez-Harrison will face Tommy Rainone in the main event. Their fight will be preceded by a middleweight scrap between Tureano Johnson and Alex Theran, and a welterweight tilt featuring Chris van Heerden taking on Cecil McCalla.

While the fighters scheduled to compete aren't exactly household names at this point in their careers, many are hoping you'll want an encore after seeing them perform at MSG. 

Here's a look at the card and TV schedule. Just beneath the table is a closer look at the top two bouts on tap.

Date and Time	Network
Matchup	Weight Class
Friday, Jan. 9 at 10 p.m. ET	Fox Sports 1
Chris van Heerden vs. Cecil McCalla	Welterweight
Tureano Johnson vs. Alex Theran	Middleweight
Dusty Hernandez-Harrison vs. Tommy Rainone	Welterweight

Tureano Johnson vs. Alex Theran

During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Johnson represented the Bahamas. Thus, he brings some noteworthy credentials into the ring on Friday night. The 30-year-old should get a test from 24-year-old Colombian southpaw Alex Theran.

Both men come in with just one loss on their record. However, few fighters have a recognizable name on their resume. Most notable of either man's past foes is Curtis Stevens, who stopped Johnson in the 10th round back in April 2014.

Since then, Johnson has won three fights in a row. The inaugural Roc Nation show offers a spectacular platform for him and Theran to garner some much-needed exposure.

Dusty Hernandez-Harrison vs. Tommy Rainone

USA TODAY Sports

The featured fighter, Hernandez-Harrison will take on Rainone in the main event. Hernandez-Harrison is a 20-year-old, undefeated welterweight prospect. He's 6'0" tall and more of a boxer than slugger. The Washington D.C. native has shown some flashes of power in his brief career.

In his last fight, he stopped Michael Clark in the very first round. He'll be hoping to put on another impressive performance in the Roc Nation debut.

Per David P. Greisman of Boxing Scene, Hernandez-Harrison talked about his experience thus far working with The Roc:

"

We went up there and met with all of them and dealt with them. They treat us great. They’re good people, especially the ones we interact with the most. You’re not really dealing with Jay-Z, but I’ve been dealing with Michael Yormark [Roc Nation’s president and chief of branding and strategy], David Itskowitch [its chief operating officer for boxing], they’ve just been treating us great.

The other thing about Roc Nation, they may not have the track record of moving boxers, obviously, but boxing is just as much about making money outside of the ring. We thought about that a lot, too.

"

It's obvious, Hernandez-Harrison and his team have their eye on becoming more than just a well-known name in the boxing community. It remains to be seen whether Roc Nation can deliver the opportunities for stardom and if Hernandez-Harrison can take care of business in the ring.

Rainone is not well-known outside of the Long Island area, but he does come with a reputation for being an entertaining scrapper who will test the young prospect.

The 34-year-old veteran is a club fighter who hasn't fought anyone most fight fans have heard of. He's coming off a unanimous-decision win over Carl McNickles.

If nothing else, Rainone is expected to be competitive. Jay-Z and Roc Nation are hoping this show is the first step in carving a niche in the boxing world.

Follow Brian Mazique on Twitter. I dig boxing and MMA.