Sunday, June 30, 2019

Boxing Podcast With Doug Fischer

My guest on this podcast is Doug Fischer, Editor-in-Chief of The Ring Magazine.  We spoke about Doug's upbringing in the midwest and his journey as a boxing writer.  We discussed the origins of internet boxing coverage and Doug's time as one of the principals of both House of Boxing and MaxBoxing, as well as his move to the The Ring.

We also did a division by division review of the sport from Heavyweight to Bantamweight as well as our candidates for Fight of the Year so far in 2019.

It was a great discussion - enjoy!

This podcast is presented by The Ring.  I'm honored to be working with them and you can find the podcast on their website at Ringtv.com.

This podcast is distributed by the Leave It In The Ring podcast network.  The LIITR network also includes great podcasts by founder David Duenez, Gabriel Montoya and Evan Rutkowski.

You can still find this podcast and older Boxing Esq. podcasts on this blog and on Soundcloud or subscribe to the Boxing Esq. Podcast on either iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher.  If you enjoy the podcasts, please leave a comment or rating, that would be greatly appreciated.  The podcast will appear on both the LIITR network of podcasts as well as under the Boxing Esq. Podcast name.




Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Legal Roundup: Salita Files Letter Requesting Enforcement Of Settlement Agreement Against Big Baby Miller

Earlier this week, counsel for Salita Promotions Corp. (SPC) filed a letter with the Court requesting a pre-motion conference in advance of a potential motion by SPC for an Order to enforce non-disparagement provisions of the Settlement Agreement entered into between SPC and Jarrell "Big Baby" Miller (Miller).

This case was originally brought by SPC (under the corporate name Star of David, Inc.) in December 2016 alleging breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing against Miller for allegedly refusing to participate in fights and meetings with top network executives.

SPC also brought claims for tortious interference with contract and tortious interference with advantageous business relationship against Stephen Nelson, Miller's co-manager; Alvina Alston and More Media, Miller's publicist; and Leon Margules and Warriors Boxing Promotions, Miller's lawyer and a rival promoter.  The tortious interference claims alleged Alston put out press releases with false accusations against SPC, that Nelson advised Miller to breach the contract by non-performance and that Margules was not just acting as a lawyer but was trying to sign Miller to his promotional company Warriors Boxing.

The parties entered into a confidential Settlement Agreement in June 2017.  The Settlement Agreement was amended in February 2019.

Counsel for SPC (former NYSAC Commissioner David Berlin) alleges in the letter to the court this week that Miller has treated the New Promotional Agreement that was entered into at settlement with "blatant disregard and disrespect - repeatedly disparaging SPC and its principal Dmitriy Salita in interviews and on social media in violation of the Non-Disparagement Clause, meeting and negotiating with promoters other than SPC in violation of the agreement's exclusivity provisions, and flaunting the sport's anti-doping rules by using prohibited drugs in violation of the clear terms of the agreement, there squandering his opportunity to fight for the World Heavyweight Championship . . . "

SPC seeks "millions of dollars" in damages from Miller for the money lost due to the doping violations and also permanent and temporary injunctions to stop Miller from disparaging Salita and SPC and keep Miller from meeting or negotiating with promoters other than SPC.

See original complaint below:
See letter to Court below:

Monday, June 17, 2019

Legal Roundup: 2nd Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Breach Of Contract Claims In Wilder v. World of Boxing/Povetkin Doping Case

Last week, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein's April 2018 decision in the Wilder/DiBella Entertainment (Wilder) vs. World of Boxing/Povetkin (WOB) case that dismissed both sides breach of contract claims and allowed Deontay Wilder's escrowed purse for a proposed fight with Alexander Povetkin to be returned to Povetkin's promoter WOB, in spite of a jury verdict that found Povetkin had ingested a banned substance in the time period it was banned by WADA.

This was a complicated case that was previously summarized on this blog. In essence, Judge Gorenstein's lower court ruling came down to the parties agreement to allow the WBC to draft the controlling bout agreement.  In the bout agreement, it stated that the WBC Rules governed the event, "in its entirety and shall be binding on all parties . . ."  In the event of a dispute, the parties were bound by the WBC's rules and regs.  The WBC's rules on PEDs leave any determination as to penalties solely in the discretion of the WBC on a case-by-case basis and explicitly state that they "do not adhere to a 'strict liability' standard in anti-doping matters."

Thus, because of the discretion given to the WBC in the bout agreement, Judge Gorenstein found that the parties were bound by the WBC's ultimate determination that it could not be conclusively proved that Povetkin ingested a banned substance.  The fact that the WBC ignored a jury verdict to the contrary was not enough to save Wilder's breach of contract claims.

The 2nd Circuit affirmed quoting the lower court's decision that to accept Wilder's arguments now "'would require this Court to determine that Povetkin breached the contract by failing to abide by 'WBC anti-doping requirements' when the parties specifically agreed that the WBC's decision on this question would be conclusive."

Similarly, the 2nd Circuit affirmed the dismissal of WOB's claims based on the lower court's determination that any damages suffered by WOB flowed from Povetkin's positive test and the WBC's determination to postpone and investigate and ultimately never reschedule the fight and not any alleged anticipatory repudiation by Wilder.

The 2nd Circuit also affirmed the award of Wilder's escrowed purse back to WOB as that was the instruction of the escrow agreement if the fight did not take place.  They similarly affirmed the lower courts dismissal of WOB's breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing claim for liquidated damages ruling that Wilder "did not act objectively unreasonably in objecting to the disbursement of the funds."

I've previously stated my takeaways from this case in my article from April 2018.  Suffice it to say that future parties drafting bout agreements for major title fights need to be extremely aware of the anti-doping provisions of the sanctioning body whose belt they are contesting.  The WBC has very open-ended rules that subject the parties to the whims of the WBC.  With the 2nd Circuit citing precedent that courts should "defer[] to a [private sports organization's] interpretation of its own rules in the absence of an allegation that [the organization] acted in bad faith or in violation of any local, state or federal laws" - parties need to be very aware of the rules they are up against.

See Opinion below:
 

Boxing Podcast With Todd duBoef

My guest on this podcast is Todd duBoef, the President of one of the leading promoters in boxing Top Rank, Inc.  We spoke about his company's television deal with ESPN and how it came about.  We also talked about his vision for the future and what shoulder-programming will go on the network.

We also spoke about his star heavyweight Tyson Fury and how he fits into the heavyweight picture as well as the great fights coming up on the schedule and collision course that Vasyl Lomachenko and Teofimo Lopez are on.

It was a great conversation - enjoy!

This podcast is presented by The Ring.  I'm honored to be working with The Ring and my good friend, Doug Fischer, the Editor-in-Chief.  You can find the podcast on the website at Ringtv.com.

This podcast is distributed by the Leave It In The Ring podcast network.  The LIITR network also includes great podcasts by founder David Duenez, Gabriel Montoya and Evan Rutkowski.

You can still find this podcast and older Boxing Esq. podcasts on this blog and on Soundcloud or subscribe to the Boxing Esq. Podcast on either iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher.  If you enjoy the podcasts, please leave a comment or rating, that would be greatly appreciated.  The podcast will appear on both the LIITR network of podcasts as well as under the Boxing Esq. Podcast name.

Boxing Esq. Podcast #66 - Eric Raskin

Excited to have one of my all-time favorite boxing writers on the pod this week, Eric Raskin from boxingscene.com (formerly of the excellent...