Kathy Duva/Main Events Files Suit Against Showtime, Golden Boy, Haymon

Published

11 years ago

April 30, 2014

The temp in the room just dropped a few more degrees, with word that promoter Kathy Duva, of Main Events, made good on a promise to look into legal action against Adonis Stevenson, the Canadian light heavyweight whose choice to latch on to uber advisor Al Haymon has heated up the Cold War clash in the fight game to fiery new heights.

The Sweet Science learned that Main Events and Duva filed suit, in Federal Court, in NY, against Al Haymon, Showtime, Golden Boy Promotions, promoter Yvon Michel, and boxer Adonis Stevenson.Attorney Patrick English filed the suit on Tuesday, on behalf of Main Events.

Main Events, in the complaint filed by longtime Main Events counselor Patrick English, alleges that there exists a legally binding contract between Main Events and Michel to co-promote a Sergey Kovalev-Stevenson bout. The complaint maintains that Michel breached the contract, and Main Events “suffered damages as a result.”

On the phone Wednesday afternoon, Duva told me that she will pursue damages, including punitive damages. “I keep coming to the scene in the movie ‘Network,’ when the character says, ‘I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!’ It would be easier in some ways not to do this, but it’s harder for me not to do something when someone stomps on my rights. I was taught to stand up to bullies.”

I spoke to Showtime boss Espinoza. He offered a “no comment,” because, he said, he hadn’t seen the complaint.

Michel emailed me back when I requested a response. The Canadian deal-maker said he heard about the suit but also hadn’t seen it. “It seems Miss Duva is basing her case on the sole agreement made between us for a Stevenson/Kovalev fight but she certainly knows it was only a piece dependent and including a multi-fight deal we, Main Events and (Michel’s company) GYM, seperately, were negotiating with HBO.” Michel said the deal had several parts, but his side wasn’t able to strike a deal for the first part of it, a fight pitting Stevenson against Andrzej Fonfara, so the other elements became moot. “She also seems to have a lot of imagination and have fantasized a major conspiracy against her. I am amazed! The fact is, I have not been able to deliver my fighter, who was not satisfied with HBO’s proposal, period. At the end of the day, it is the fighter who is making the choice of getting in the ring with a specific fighter, and it is his prerogative to choose not to, no matter his reason or if someone likes it or not.” Michel said deals like this fall apart all the time, even after similarly lengthy negotiation periods. He questioned what Main Events’ damages could be, since Kovalev just won a bout on HBO and signed a multi-fight deal with HBO. “We are going to strongly contest Main Events’ claim and expose their twisted affirmations,” he said, to close.

In the complaint, Haymon, the behind-the-scenes tree shaker/jelly maker whose power has grown immensely in the sport in the last several years, is accused of “tortious interference” with the contract forming a Kovalev-Stevenson bout, along with Golden Boy, Stevenson, Showtime, and John Does 1-8 (in other words, other parties which may be found to be liable.)

The complaint also contains exhibits, in the form of letters sent to Michel, and Showtime boxing boss Stephen Espinoza, and a counterpunch letter from an attorney representing Stevenson. That letter maintains that “no deal was ever consummated…” and wording suggesting that the Main Events case has but a minute chance of prevailing.

Duva said she talked the issue over with Attorney English, and got second and third opinions from other attorneys. All said she had a strong case, she told me.

“When we were building this company up, we sued the WBC, WBA, Top Rank, Don King…my husband (Dan Duva) founded it as a company which asks that you follow the rules, and if you don’t we will call you out on it. Our track record for wins in court is good, we don’t do this lightly.”

Duva said she’s doing it for her company, for her conscience, for fight fans, and as much as anything, Kovalev, who she says, simply wants to fight the best. “I’d rather take my chances than be gutless. I couldn’t live with myself, and say, ‘Oh everyone might get mad at me.’ They are already trampling on my rights..what have I got to lose here? As a person, do I want to live life in fear?”

You might recall, the impetus for the suit occurred right before Main Events’ top dog, light heavyweight Kovalev was going to glove up against underdog Cedric Agnew. That’s when Stevenson lobbed a grenade, by informing all that he didn’t want to go the route that had apparently been planned by his promoter, Yvon Michel, and HBO and Main Events, which was a warmup fight for each before Stevenson and Kovalev would face off in a light heavyweight title consolidation tussle in the fall. The pin on the grenade, you could say, was likely primed back in the third week of February, when Stevenson tapped Haymon to manage him. Emanuel Steward had performed that duty, but he died in October 2012.

The fury in Duva’s voice was barely contained when she met with press several days before the March 29 Kovalev-Agnew card, in AC. Duva said that on Jan. 23, she and Team Kovalev and then Michel decided on mutually agreeable terms which would net a Sergey-Adonis showdown. Michel was on board, she said, and all assumed that Adonis was in the fold. The next day, Jan. 24, Duva said, Michel and HBO matchmaker/exec Peter Nelson agreed to terms, which included fights beyond the interim one, and the biggie, for both boxers. Michel told Duva his lawyer would type up a contract, and then send it over. It never came…

Duva took aim at the reclusive Haymon four days before Kovalev smashed Agnew. “He’s the man best known for making sure the public doesn’t get to see the fights they want,” she told me. “It’s true, isn’t it? Ask Mayweather and Pacquiao.”

That day, she said she’d look into a legal remedy, as she was sure, she said, that the terms of a deal had been agreed to, and Stevenson’s pull-up was a breach of contract, in her mind.

To be completely honest, I somewhat shrugged off the legal threat, figuring that the anger would diminish, other compelling bouts would appear for Kovalev, and the lawyers would find other bones of contention. But that light heavyweight division contains names which are on the Showtime-Golden Boy side of the street, with Stevenson and Bernard Hopkins being the other lead dogs. The options for Kovalev, with Stevenson now firmly in the other guys’ camp, aren’t boundless…so perhaps Duva figured she had little to lose, beyond some extra lawyer fees, perhaps, in attempting to rescue a deal for a fight which was on the short list for boxing fans’ 2014 wish list.

“This is why we have a legal system, so someone like me, not the biggest player on the board, gets justice,” Duva said on Wednesday. “Kovalev wants the fight, the fans want it done…but it wasn’t made because of someone elses agenda.”

Yes, she’d still like the fight to occur. But barring that, she’s hoping for monetary damages, “in the millions.”

The case was filed in the Southern District of NY, and in the federal realm, which makes sense because the parties are so spread out, in Canada, and California, and wherever Haymon lives.

“This action is for the good of sport and my business,” she said, in summation. “Someone has to stand up to them, I’m tired of it.”

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Skylar Lacy Blocked for Lamar Jackson before Making his Mark in Boxing

Published

4 days ago

January 19, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Skylar-Lacy-Blocked-for-Lamar-Jackson-Before-Making-his-Mark-in-Boxing

Skylar Lacy, a six-foot-seven heavyweight, returns to the ring on Sunday, Feb. 2, opposing Brandon Moore on a card in Flint, Michigan, airing worldwide on DAZN.

As this is being written, the bookmakers hadn’t yet posted a line on the bout, but one couldn’t be accused of false coloring by calling the 10-round contest a 50/50 fight. And if his frustrating history is any guide, Lacy will have another draw appended to his record or come out on the wrong side of a split decision.

This should not be construed as a tip to wager on Moore. “Close fights just don’t seem to go my way,” says the boxer who played alongside future multi-year NFL MVP Lamar Jackson at the University of Louisville.

A 2021 National Golden Gloves champion, Skylar Lacy came up short in his final amateur bout, losing a split decision to future U.S. Olympian Joshua Edwards. His last Team Combat League assignment resulted in another loss by split decision and he was held to a draw in both instances when stepping up in class as a pro. “In my mind, I’m still undefeated,” says Lacy (8-0-2, 6 KOs). “No one has ever kicked my ass.”

Lacy was the B-side in both of those draws, the first coming in a 6-rounder against Top Rank fighter Antonio Mireles on a Top Rank show in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and the second in an 8-rounder against George Arias, a Lou DiBella fighter on a DiBella-promoted card in Philadelphia.

Lacy had the Mireles fight in hand when he faded in the homestretch. The altitude was a factor. Lake Tahoe, Nevada (officially Stateline) sits 6,225 feet above sea level. The fight with Arias took an opposite tack. Lacy came on strong after a slow start to stave off defeat.

Skylar will be the B-side once again in Michigan. The card’s promoter, former world title challenger Dmitriy Salita, inked Brandon Moore (16-1, 10 KOs) in January. “A capable American heavyweight with charisma, athleticism and skills is rare in today’s day and age. Brandon has got all these ingredients…”, said Salita in the press release announcing the signing. (Salita has an option on Skylar Lacy’s next pro fight in the event that Skylar should win, but the promoter has a larger investment in Moore who was previously signed to Top Rank, a multi-fight deal that evaporated after only one fight.)

Both Lacy and Moore excelled in other sports. The six-foot-six Moore was an outstanding basketball player in high school in Fort Lauderdale and at the NAIA level in college. Lacy was an all-state football lineman in Indiana before going on to the University of Louisville where he started as an offensive guard as a redshirt sophomore, blocking for freshman phenom Lamar Jackson. “Lamar was hard-working and humble,” says Lacy about the player who is now one of the world’s highest-paid professional athletes.

When Lacy committed to Louisville, the head coach was Charlie Strong who went on to become the head coach at the University of Texas. Lacy was never comfortable with Strong’s successor Bobby Petrino and transferred to San Jose State. Having earned his degree in only three years (a BA in communications) he was eligible immediately but never played a down because of injuries.

Returning to Indianapolis where he was raised by his truck dispatcher father, a single parent, Lacy gravitated to Pat McPherson’s IBG (Indy Boxing and Grappling) Gym on the city’s east side where he was the rare college graduate pounding the bags alongside at-risk kids from the city’s poorer neighborhoods.

Lacy built a 12-6 record across his two seasons in Team Combat League while representing the Las Vegas Hustle (2023) and the Boston Butchers (2024).

For the uninitiated, a Team Combat League (TCL) event typically consists of 24 fights, each consisting of one three-minute round. The concept finds no favor with traditionalists, but Lacy is a fan. It’s an incentive for professional boxers to keep in shape between bouts without disturbing their professional record and, notes Lacy, it’s useful in exposing a competitor to different styles.

“It paid the bills and kept me from just sitting around the house,” says Lacy whose 12-6 record was forged against 13 different opponents.

As a sparring partner, Lacy has shared the ring with some of the top heavyweights of his generation, e.g., Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte. He was one of Fury’s regular sparring partners during the Gypsy King’s trilogy with Deontay Wilder. He worked with Joshua at Derrick James’ gym in Dallas and at Ben Davison’s gym in England, helping Joshua prepare for his date in Saudi Arabia with Francis Ngannou and had previously sparred with Ngannou at the UFC Performance Center in Las Vegas. Skylar names traveling to new places as one of his hobbies and he got to scratch that itch when he joined Whyte’s camp in Portugal.

As to the hardest puncher he ever faced, he has no hesitation: “Ngannou,” he says. “I negotiated a nice price to spend a week in his camp and the first time he hit me I knew I should have asked for more.”

Lacy is confident that having shared the ring with some of the sport’s elite heavyweights will get him over the hump in what will be his first 10-rounder (Brandon Moore has never had to fight beyond eight rounds, having won his three 10-rounders inside the distance). Lacy vs. Moore is the co-feature to Claressa Shields’ homecoming fight with Danielle Perkins. Shields, basking in the favorable reviews accorded the big-screen biopic based on her first Olympic journey (“The Fire Inside”) will attempt to capture a title in yet another weight class at the expense of the 42-year-old Perkins, a former professional basketball player.

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Mizuki Hiruta Dominates in her U.S. Debut and Omar Trinidad Wins Too at Commerce

Published

5 days ago

January 18, 2025

David A. Avila

Mizuki-Hiruta-Dominates-in-her-U.S.-Debut-and-Trinidad-Wins-Too-at-Commerce

Japan’s Mizuki Hiruta smashed through Mexico’s Maribel Ramirez with ease in winning by technical decision and local hero Omar Trinidad continued his assault on the featherweight division on Friday.

Hiruta (7-0, 2 KOs), who prefers to be called “Mimi,” made her American debut with an impressive performance against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez (15-11-4) and retained the WBO super flyweight world title by unanimous decision at Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

The pink-haired Japanese southpaw champion quickly proved to be quicker, stronger and even better than advertised. In the opening round Ramirez landed on the floor twice after throwing errant blows. On one instance, it could have been ruled a knockdown but it was not a convincing blow.

In the second round, Ramirez again attacked and again was met with a Hiruta check right hook and down went the Mexican. This time referee Ray Corona gave the eight-count and the fight resumed.

It was Hiruta’s third title defense but this time it was on American soil. She seemed nervous by the prospect of getting a favorable review from the more than 700 fans inside the casino tent.

For more than a year Hiruta has been training off and on with Manny Robles in the L.A. area. Now that she has a visa, she has spent considerable time this year learning the tricks of the trade. They proved explosively effective.

Though Mexico City’s Ramirez has considerable experience against world champions, she discovered that Hiruta was not easy to hit. Often, the Japanese champion would slip and counter with precision.

It was an impressive American debut, though the fight was stopped in the eighth round after a collision of heads. The scores were tallied and all three saw Hiruta the winner by scores of 80-71 twice and 79-72.

“I’m so happy. I could have done much more,” said Hiruta through interpreter Yuriko Miyata. “I wanted to do more things that Manny Robles taught me.”

Trinidad Wins Too

Omar Trinidad (18-0-1, 13 KOs) discovered that challenger Mike Plania (31-5, 18 KOs) has a very good chin and staying power. But over 10 rounds Trinidad proved to be too fast and too busy for the Filipino challenger.

Immediately it was evident that the East L.A. featherweight was too quick and too busy for Plania who preferred a counter-puncher attack that never worked.

“He was strong,” said Trinidad. “He took everything.”

After 10 redundant rounds all three judges scored for Trinidad 100-90 twice and 99-91. He retains the WBC Continental Americas title.

Other Bouts

Ali Akhmedov (23-1, 17 KOs) blasted out Malcolm Jones (17-5-1) in less than two rounds. A dozen punches by Akhmedov forced referee Thomas Taylor to stop the super middleweight fight.

Iyana “Roxy” Verduzco (3-0) bloodied Lindsey Ellis in the first round and continued the speedy assault in the next two rounds. Referee Ray Corona saw enough and stopped the fight in favor of Verduzco at 1:34 of the third round.

Gloria Munguilla (7-1) and Brook Sibrian (5-2) lit up the boxing ring with a nonstop clash for eight rounds in their light flyweight fight. Munguilla proved effective with a slip-and-counter attack. Sibrian adjusted and made the fight closer in the last four rounds but all three judges favored Munguilla.

More Winners

Joshua Anton, Tayden Beltran, Adan Palma, and Alexander Gueche all won their bouts.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

Published

7 days ago

January 16, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila Perspective, Chap. 309: 360 Promotions Opens with Trinidad, Mizuki and More

Best wishes to the survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires that took place last week and are still ongoing in small locales.

Most of the heavy damage took place in the western part of L.A. near the ocean due to Santa Ana winds. Another very hot spot was in Altadena just north of the Rose Bowl. It was a horrific tragedy.

Hopefully the worst is over.

Pro boxing returns with 360 Boxing Promotions spotlighting East L.A.’s Omar Trinidad (17-0-1, 13 KOs) defending a regional featherweight title against Mike Plania (31-4, 18 KOs) on Friday, Jan. 17, at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

“I’m the king of L.A. boxing and I’ll be ready to put on a show headlining again in the main event. This is my year, I’m ready to challenge and defeat any of the featherweight world champions,” said Trinidad.

UFC Fight Pass will stream the Hollywood Night fight card that includes a female world championship fight and other intriguing match-ups.

Tom Loeffler heads 360 Promotions and once again comes full force with a hot prospect in Trinidad. If you’re not familiar with Loeffler’s history of success, he introduced America to Oleksandr Usyk, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and the brothers Wladimir and Vitaly Kltischko.

“We’ve got a wealth of international talent and local favorites to kick off our 2025 in grand style,” said Loeffler.

He knows talent.

Trinidad hails from the Boyle Heights area of East L.A. near the Los Angeles riverbed. Several fighters from the past came from that exact area including the first Golden Boy, Art Aragon.

Aragon was a huge gate attraction during the late 1940s until 1960. He was known as a lady’s man and dated several Hollywood starlets in his time. Though he never won a world title he did fight world champions Carmen Basilio, Jimmy Carter and Lauro Salas. He was more or less the king of the Olympic Auditorium and Los Angeles boxing during his career.

Other famous boxers from the Boyle Heights area were notorious gangster Mickey Cohen and former world champion Joey Olivo.

Can Trinidad reach world title status?

Facing Trinidad will be Filipino fighter Plania who’s knocked off a couple of prospects during his career including Joshua “Don’t Blink” Greer and Giovanni Gutierrez. The fighter from General Santos in the Philippines can crack and hold his own in the boxing ring.

It’s a very strong fight card and includes WBO world titlist Mizuki Hiruta of Japan who defends the super flyweight title against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez. It’s a tough matchup for Hiruta who makes her American debut. You can’t miss her with that pink hair and she has all the physical tools to make a splash in this country.

Mizukii Hiruta

Two other female bouts are also planned, including light flyweight banger L.A.’s Gloria Munguilla (6-1) against Coachella’s Brook Sibrian (5-1) in a match set for six rounds. Both are talented fighters. Another female fight includes super featherweights Iyana “Right Hook Roxy” Verduzco (2-0) versus Lindsey Ellis (2-1) in another six-rounder. Ellis can crack with all her wins coming via knockout. Verduzco is a multi-national titlist as an amateur.

Others scheduled to perform are Ali Akhmedov, Joshua Anton, Adan Palma and more.

Doors open at 4:30 p.m.

Boxing and the Media

The sport of professional boxing is currently in flux. It’s always in flux but no matter what people may say or write, boxing will survive.

Whether you like Jake Paul or not, he proved boxing has worldwide appeal with monstrous success in his last show. He has media companies looking at the numbers and imagining what they can do with the sport.

Sure, UFC is negotiating a massive billion dollar deal with media companies, as is WWE, both are very similar in that they provide combat entertainment. You don’t need to know the champions because they really don’t matter. Its about the attractions.

Boxing is different. The good champions last and build a following that endures even beyond their careers a la Mike Tyson.

MMA can’t provide that longevity, but it does provide entertainment.

Currently, there is talk of establishing a boxing league again. It’s been done over and over but we shall see if it sticks this time.

Pro boxing is the true warrior’s path and that means a solo adventure. It’s a one-on-one sport and that appeals to people everywhere. It’s the oldest sport that can be traced to prehistoric times. You don’t need classes in Brazilian Jiujitsu, judo, kick boxing or wrestling. Just show up in a boxing gym and they can put you to work.

It’s a poor person’s path that can lead to better things and most importantly discipline.

Photos credit: Lina Baker

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