Boxing Podcast - Scott Shaffer - 2018 Review/2019 Preview

My guest on this podcast is Scott Shaffer, litigation attorney and Partner at Olshan Frome Wolosky, as well as a longtime senior boxing writer at Boxingtalk.com.  Scott has represented some of the top promoters in the sport including Sauerland Promotions, DiBella Entertainment and Gary Shaw, as well as world champions such as Ricky Hatton.  We look at what happened in the year of boxing for 2018. We also look ahead at what's to come in 2019.  It was a great discussion - enjoy!

To get more of Scott's thoughts on the sport you can check out his work at www.boxingtalk.com.  He's also on Twitter at @sasnyc.

This podcast is distributed by the Leave It In The Ring network.  I'm honored to join the LIITR network that includes 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 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.
 

Thoughts on GGG-Canelo

Excellent fight on Saturday night between two of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport, WBC, WBA and IBF Middleweight Champion Gennady "GGG" Golovkin and former WBC Middleweight Champ Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.  The general consensus seems to be that GGG should have gotten the decision.  However, the back and forth nature of many of the rounds made it difficult to score and the draw verdict was not a completely unjust one.  I scored the fight 115-113 (7-5 in rounds) for GGG.  One of the official judges Adalaide Byrd scored it 118-110 for Canelo.  Her card seems to be an outlier as most folks in press row seemed to have it 115-113 or 116-112 for GGG, with a few scoring it 115-113 for Canelo.

Below is a breakdown of the scoring totals of the official judges scorecards, as well as my own:

A few observations on what went down:

• As mentioned above, judge Adalaide Byrd had a card that was an outlier from not only her two fellow judges but most of the viewing public and even the fighter she scored it for (in the post-fight interview, Canelo stated that he won 7 or 8 rounds - Byrd gave him 10).  She definitely has some history as an outlier who scores fights wider than or contrary to her fellow judges. As recently as June of this year, she scored the Eddie Ramirez - Erick Bone fight 7-3 for Bone, as the other judges had it 7-3 Ramirez prompting the commentators to ask "What was Adalaide Byrd looking at?"  She had Errol Spence up 7-3 vs. Kell Brook in a fight most had close to even in rounds going into the 11th and final round. In December 2016, she had Richard Commey beating Denis Shafikov 8-4 in an IBF eliminator but was overruled by her two fellow judges. Also in 2016, in what was a real head scratcher, she somehow had Maurice Hooker beating Darlys Perez 7-3 in a fight most everyone in press row and at home had Perez winning handily. In other words, this is not the first time she's scored a fight way out of line with the majority. Top Rank, apparently, objected to her as a judge for the Vasyl Lomachenko-Nicholas Walters, though the NSAC still allowed her to judge the fight. I'm pretty sure K2/GGG Promotions wish they had objected as well in hindsight.
• GGG looked really tight in the early going and, despite the exhortations of Abel Sanchez, completely ignored Canelo's body for nearly the entire fight. According to an ESPN statistical breakdown of the fight, GGG only landed 8 body shots for the entire fight. That is not a misprint. He also connected on only 31% of his total punches, way down from his norm of 40%. His headhunting cost him accuracy and did not slow Canelo and allowed him to get that second wind and come on down the stretch. I'm sure Abel will chide him during film study for the rematch that to slow down Canelo - he needs to pay more attention to landing those lethal body shots. Ask Matthew Macklin what a difference maker GGG's body shots are.
• Canelo surprised me with how superior his hand speed was to GGG's. He was able to beat GGG to the punch time and again and looked like he could have stood in and traded a little more. Canelo made a huge tactical error in my estimation by constantly going idle and letting GGG get off for sometimes minutes at a time in rounds. Canelo often started rounds by landing crisp clean combinations on GGG but then would practically give the rest of the round away. Obviously, a big part of that was stamina but also poor tactics. This was a very winnable fight for Canelo. He needs to study the tapes of Hagler-Leonard or Ali-Frazier II to learn how to get his shots off and then tie up to get his rest - as opposed to aimlessly dancing and settling on the ropes. By clinching, instead of falling into the ropes, Canelo could have muted GGG's rallies and caught a breather in order to mount his next quick-handed volley. We'll see if he makes this adjustment in the inevitable rematch. 

Middendorf Sports Files Second Amended Complaint vs.Top Rank and Bud Crawford

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.

See the entire filed SAC, including exhibits, below:

Multi-District Litigation In Re: Mayweather-Pacquiao PPV Dismissed

On August 25, 2017, in the United States District Court, Central District of California, Judge R. Gary Klausner issued an opinion dismissing all of the claims filed in 26 individual actions and 15 consolidated complaints alleging that Defendants Floyd Mayweather, Mayweather Promotions, LLC, Manny Pacquiao, Top Rank, Inc., Michael Koncz, Bob Arum, Todd DuBeouf and HBO all concealed Pacquiao's shoulder injury and mislead the buying public into paying for the fight that they would not have otherwise purchased.

Judge Klausner ruled that letting these claims stand would "disrupt the nature and integrity of competitive sports."   Judge Klausner used the doctrine known as the "license approach" in determining the legal rights of the ticket purchasers.  Under this doctrine, "a ticket to a sporting event gives the purchaser 'nothing more than a revocable license' to view what transpires at the ticketed event, regardless of prior promises or representations about the performance."

Judge Klausner held that "a misrepresentation or omission implicates the core of athletic competitions, and therefore does not constitute a cognizable injury to a legally protected interest under the license approach, if it is related to: (A) competitive strategy, or (B) the quality or outcome of competitive performance." Judge Klausner then reasoned that all of the alleged misrepresentations of the Defendants in regards to Pacquiao's injury fell under either competitive strategy or the quality of the performance.

"The Court is sympathetic to the fact that many boxing fans felt deceived by the statements and omissions made by the fight's participants and promoter.  The proper remedy for such unscrupulous behavior when it implicates the core of athletic competition, however, is not a legal one.  Disappointed fans may demand that fighters be more transparent in the future, lobby their state athletic commissions to impose more stringent pre-fight medical screenings and disclosure requirements, or even stop watching boxing altogether. They may not, however, sustain a class-action lawsuit."

"In this case, Plaintiffs ultimately received what they paid for, namely: the right to view a boxing match between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, sanctioned and regulated by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Plaintiffs had no legally protected interest or right to see an exciting fight, a fight between two totally healthy and fully prepared boxers, or a fight that lived up to the significant pre-fight hype."

See Judge Klausner's opinion below:

NY State Settles Mago Case for $22 Million

Yesterday, both ESPN and BoxingTalk reported that the family of heavyweight boxer Magomed Abdusalamov ("Mago") has agreed to settle its personal injury suit against the State of New York and certain officials of the New York State Athletic Commission ("Commission") for the sum of $22 million.  The settlement encompasses claims made against the state of New York in Thomas v. New York, Case No. 126865 in the New York State Court of Claims, as well as claims against the Commission's Chief Medical Officer Barry Jordan and an inspector (and former boxer) Matthew Farrago in Thomas v. Farrago, Case No. 505880/2014, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Kings.

Mago was injured in his bout with Mike Perez at Madison Square Garden on November 2, 2013. Mago appeared to take a hard forearm to the face in the first round and visibly complained to his corner.  Mago fought on and went the full ten rounds with Perez in what was a very spirited and competitive bout.  After being examined by Commission doctors in his dressing room, Mago was allowed to leave the arena on his own and soon after started vomiting.  He was taken to the hospital in a taxi by his handlers where he was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma.  He was then operated on to relieve the pressure on his brain and placed in an induced coma.

According to the ESPN report, Mago, 36, is still unable to walk and is paralyzed on the right side of his body.  His speech is also severely impaired and his doctors have stated he may never walk again.

The complaint filed in the Supreme Court, County of Kings, named Farrago, Jordan, as well as ringside doctors Anthony Curreri, M.D., Osric King, M.D., Avery Browne, D.O., Gerard Varlotta, D.O., referee Benji Esteves, Jr., promoter K2 Promotions, LLC and the venue MSG Holdings, L.P., as defendants.  All but Curreri, King, Varlotta and Esteves have now been dismissed from the case.

On June 29, 2017, Mago's attorneys filed a note of issue in the Supreme Court that they are ready for trial. Their most recent filing was a good faith demand letter to the attorneys of defendant doctors Curreri, King and Varlotta that they settle for the limits of their insurance coverage, which would net an additional $6.2 million for Mago.