Don King Productions has filed a lawsuit against Ring Magazine, Sela, Michael Hunter and the WBA after a heavyweight fight between Hunter and Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller was announced that DKP claims was in breach of its promotional agreement with Hunter.
The 37-year-old Hunter, 24-1-2 (17 KOs), was originally promoted to fight fellow American Miller on September 11 as part of the build-up to the contest between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Terence Crawford in Las Vegas on September 13.
It was Miller who, owing to what was cited as “legal and regulatory” reasons, announced that the fight was off, and DKP has now followed with a lawsuit, also addressing the involvement of Bash Boxing, Reid Boxing and Epic Sports and Entertainment.
“Multiple players within boxing induced and colluded with each other to misrepresent the rights and contract between Don King and his fighter,” King attorney Alejandro Brito told BoxingScene on Thursday night after filing the lawsuit in Broward County, Florida.
The September 13 promotion, incidentally, represented the first of the TKO Group’s venture into the sport where the 94-year-old King made his name promoting the likes of Muhammad Ali, Julio Cesar Chavez Snr and Mike Tyson.
It was Southern California’s Steve Bash who was the promoter of record for the September 11 bill, entitled “The Ring Presents the Underdog.”
Hunter is the WBA’s No. 11-ranked heavyweight, and King has argued he had him in position to fight recently defeated secondary WBA titleholder Kubrat Pulev, who instead lost to Murat Gassiev.
“This action arises from a coordinated, knowing campaign by the WBA and the promoter defendants to undermine and misappropriate DKP’s exclusive rights to promote Hunter, a professional prize fighter under contract with DKP,” the lawsuit reads.
“The WBA and the promoter defendants knew DKP held exclusive rights, yet they proceeded to organize, facilitate and market a competing event featuring Hunter, intentionally inducing Hunter to breach and/or circumvent DKP’s exclusive rights.
“DKP seeks preliminary and permanent injunctive relief prohibiting the promoter defendants from continuing to induce Hunter’s participation in other boxing events and from further interfering with DKP’s contractual and promotional rights, as well as compensatory damages resulting from defendants’ misconduct.”
Among other allegations, the lawsuit also challenges the WBA and those involved with the alleged interference with contract, Hunter with being in breach of contract, and the WBA, Sela, Ring Magazine, Bash Boxing, Reid Boxing and Epic with contributing to a civil conspiracy.
The development follows that of Queensberry Promotions’ Frank Warren preparing a lawsuit against Sela and TKO for $1 billion on the grounds of their partnership and his exclusion from it.
“I’ll let the Warren lawsuit speak for itself,” Brito said. “In the Hunter case, we are trying to resolve issues to enforce our rights and get him to participate in Don’s events.
“Don King is 94, and I believe the individuals in this lawsuit understood that and are trying to take advantage of that and take over and usurp the business of Don King, giving license to clothes to do the same.
“We’re simply not going to let that happen.”
Sela were approached for comment.
