As the world turns its attention to UFC 118 in Boston where former boxing champion James Toney takes on Randy Couture, I offer this look back at another famous boxer's ill-fated attempt to switch combat sports.
In the spring of 2010, Shine Fights Promotions, LLC announced that its third event would feature a fight between former Welterwight Champion Ricardo Mayorga and UFC Veteran Din Thomas. The addition of Mayorga (best known for fights against Vernon Forrest, Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya), brought instant media attention to the Ft. Lauderdale based promotion. It also attracted the attention of Don King, Mayorga's boxing promoter.
The Timeline
October 1, 2009 – Mayorga Enters into a three-year, exclusive Promotional Agreement with Don King Productions, Inc. Interestingly, the copyright notice on the Agreement indicates it was last revised in 2006. At that time MMA did not hold the threat for boxers "crossing over" that exists today.
April 15, 2010 – Shine Fights Promotions holds a press conference announcing "Worlds Collide: Mayorga vs. Thomas" scheduled to take place ony May 15 in Fayetteville, NC.
April 20, 2010 – Don King sends a letter to Shine CEO Devin Price putting him on notice of Don King Productions' contract with Mayorga and that DKP will take “any and all necessary steps" to enforce its contractual rights. Putting Shine on notice about the contract was a necessary step. Since Shine was not a party to the contract, DKP has to establish that Shine was aware of the contract as an element of a lawsuit for "tortious interference" with the contract.
April 22, 2010 – Pamela Bradshaw, Shine's General Counsel, writes back and says the Agreement does not prevent Mayorga’s participation with Shine because the Agreement only covers boxing, not MMA.
April 27, 2010 – King writes back and “categorgically disagrees” with Bradshaw. He also uses the dreaded I-word...“injunction.”
May 5, 2010 – Shine issues a press release “dismissing Don King’s threat,” essentially daring Don King to sue them.
May 7, 2010 – Don King obliges.
May 15, 2010 – Broward County Circuit Judge Marc Gold holds an emergency hearing, and grants DKP's Emergency Motion for Injunctive Relief pending entry of an appropriate bond. Bond was required because the ruling restricted Shine's actions without a final determination on the merits of the case. If the court later determined that Shine had not tortiously interfered with DKP's contract, DKP could have been held responsible for the profits Shine would have received if the fight had taken place. King had two hours to up with a bond of $1 million—cash—on a Saturday! No problem. (Don King actually has a history with cash and duffel bags.)
The Complaint and Ruling
DKP's complaint in Broward County Florida alleged tortious interference and sought a preliminary injunction, asking the court to stop the Shine event from taking place. The complaint had two major arguments. The first was that DKP has an exclusive right to promote Mayorga's "Bouts." A "Bout" is defined in the Agreement as a “professional boxing bout." (This is probably why Shine thought it was in the clear.)
The second argument was that participation in Worlds Collide would place Mayorga in risk of "substantial physical harm" because Din Thomas has a black belt in jiu-jitsu and Mayorga had never competed in MMA. This argument was where DKP's firm- Zarco Einhorn Salkowski & Brito, P.A. -earned their money.
In granting the injunction, Judge Gold relied on paragraph XVI(c) of the Agreement which prevents Mayorga from entering into any other agreement “which would or might interfere with Fighter’s full and complete performance hereunder.” In short, the court appeared to believe that Mayorga might get hurt which would prevent him from engaging in boxing matches promoted by DKP.
The Aftermath
Shine Fights announced that it was going ahead with the fight despite the Court’s order [note: that would have been an even worse idea than daring Don King to sue them], but ultimately had the choice removed from their hands when the North Carolina Athletic Commission pulled the plug on the whole event.
Ron Foster who was the matchmaker for the ill-fated event has now left the company entirely. In his intervew with MMAWeekly.com, he explained that he was left alone to deal with the events in North Carolina while Devin Price was stuck in Florida dealing with the litigation. That would explain why, shortly after the event was canceled, Price was not aware of the reasons for the cancellation. Subsequent reports indicated that it was because Shine had not provided the Athletic Commission with the funds that were to be distributed to the fighters and/or that a doctor was not going to be in attendance at the event. Terrance Merriweather, chair of the North Carolina Boxing Authority, told MMAJunkie.com that: "The show was canceled over concerns [about] the fighters' safety and well-being."
Shine and the fighters who were slated to participate in the event continue to trade barbs in the press with Shine claiming the fighters were taken care of (with 25 or 35% of their show money) and some fighters claiming they haven't received a dime.
Shine has claimed that it plans to put on another event this summer, but their website continues to promote Worlds Collide.
Shine's appeal of the ruling was dismissed, and Don King got his money back from the court. Sadly, the court issued him a check. No word on whether the duffel bags were returned.
The Lessons for Promoters
1. Do everything you can to make sure that your fighters are not under contract with someone else.
2. If you get a letter threatening litigation, take it seriously. Sometimes, such letters are a bluff, but it's tough to go into an event with the threat of an injunction hanging overhead.
3. Most importantly, if you're a promoter, never EVER ignore the Athletic Commission.
