On September 1, 2017, attorneys for Middendorf Sports, the
corporate entity for matchmaker/advisor/promoter Chris Middendorf, filed a
second amended complaint ("SAC") in their ongoing breach of contract
suit against Top Rank and undisputed Junior Welterweight Champion Terence
"Bud" Crawford in United States District Court, District of Nebraska,
Case No. 8:17-cv-00011.
(An earlier report on the SAC
by ESPN made
it seem as if Middendorf Sports had just recently filed this suit, when, in
fact, the original complaint in this case was filed on January 10, 2017.)
Sometime in the mid-to-late
aughts, Middendorf, along with Chet Koerner, formed a promotional company, TKO
Boxing Promotions. According to the SAC, in December 2010, TKO signed Crawford
to a promotional deal. By mid-2011, TKO had fallen on tough times and worked
out an Agreement and Release ("A&R") to have Top Rank promote
Crawford. In the fee provision paragraph of the A&R, Top Rank was to pay
TKO a fee equal to 8% of Crawford's purses for any world championship title
defenses promoted by Top Rank pursuant to the Promotional Rights Agreement
between Top Rank and Crawford.
In July 2011, TKO assigned its
rights under the A&R to Middendorf Sports. In September 2014, Top Rank and
Crawford entered into a Restated Promotional Rights Agreement to promote
Crawford for the next 3 years with options to extend for another 3 years.
The SAC alleges that Top Rank
paid Middendorf Sports without fail pursuant to the A&R through July 23,
2016 - including title defenses by Crawford against Yuriorkis Gamboa on June
28, 2014, Ray Beltran on November 29, 2014, Dierry John on October 24, 2015 and
Hank Lundy on February 27, 2016.
On July 23, 2016, Crawford,
then the WBO champion, unified the titles against then WBC champ Viktor Postal.
The SAC alleges Crawford was paid $1.3 million for the fight but Top Rank
failed to pay Middendorf Sports its fee under the A&R. Similarly, the SAC
alleges Top Rank has refused to pay Middendorf Sports for subsequent defenses
by Crawford against: John Molina, for which he was paid $1.5 million; Felix
Diaz, for which he was paid $1.6 million; and Julius Indongo, for which he was
paid over $2 million.
The SAC alleges causes of
action for: 1) Breach of Contract; 2) Breach of the Implied Covenant of Good
Faith and Fair Dealing; 3) Accounting; and 4) Declaratory Judgment.
The SAC does make clear in a
footnote that Crawford is only named as a nominal defendant and Middendorf
Sports does not allege that he did anything wrong or actionable.
