Standing 8 Court: Tuesday Sparring Session

Can Valero’s Estate Score the 28th and Final KO on His Behalf?: On April 19, 2010, troubled former WBC lightweight champion Edwin (El Inca) Valero, whose professional problems provided a lot of material for Standing 8 Court, hung himself in his jail cell in Venezuela shortly after he was arrested for killing his wife. While the story of his death is well known by now, the question is begged as to what, if anything, could happen next in connection with his death? Standing 8 Court is not familiar with Venezuelan civil law, but in the United States a host of negligence and/or federal civil rights allegations could arise from such an incident. Indeed, lawsuits tend to follow many prisoner suicides, as the usual theory is that prison officials should have not only recognized signs of suicidal tendencies in a given inmate, but also should have been appropriately monitoring a potentially suicidal inmate at all times. Applying the basics of what is known about the days before Valero’s death, such a civil rights lawsuit would essentially argue that Valero’s well-documented substance abuse treatment and time in a psychiatric hospital in the month or two preceding the killing of his wife put his jailers on notice that he was a serious suicide risk, and thus should have been monitored accordingly. Whatever becomes of his death, Standing 8 Court is hopeful that Valero has finally found the peace that was apparently so elusive in his life. For more on some of the problems that plagued Valero in professional career, please see “Edwin Valero: Would an Exception Knock Out the Rule?” , as well as the “Punches After the Bell” section of several other Standing 8 Court postings.


Khan Nearly Denied Visa to Join the American Express: After several days of suspense, Pakistani-British junior welterweight champion Amir Khan was finally given his work visa and is clear to face Paulie (Magic Man) Malignaggi at Madison Square Garden on May 15. For a full analysis of what international boxers who seek to fight in the United States need to do in order to acquire a visa, please see “Immigration Issues in Boxing”

Benedict Alexander Receives Presidential Pardon: A few days after Standing 8 Court went behind the WBC’s threat to strip WBC/IBF junior welterweight champion Devon Alexander for daring to an express an interest in facing fellow titleholder Timothy (Desert Storm) Bradley in a unification, WBC president Jose Sulaiman and Alexander reportedly made amends with each other after Alexander stated that the firestorm began over an unauthorized letter to the WBC. The question remains as to what happens if and when talks about unifying with Bradley, rather than facing some WBC mandatory challenger, begin again. Will Alexander again be accused of treason, or will the WBC finally see the upside of having one of their titleholders as a participant in a unification bout in one of the hottest divisions in boxing?


Don King Seeks to Block Mayorga From Showing He’s Half MMAmazing: Ricardo Mayorga’s desire to show the world that he’s half man, half MMAmazing may come to an abrupt halt if Don King has his way. King purports to have a promotional contract that gives him the exclusive right to represent Mayorga and has asked that Shine Fights, a Florida-based MMA promoter, cease and desist in their plans for Mayorga to make his MMA debut this month. One might ask how this could arise if King promotes boxing and Shine promotes MMA. A typical boxing promotional agreement includes language prohibiting a boxer from entering into an agreement that in any way would materially conflict with the promoter’s ability to promote the bouts provided for in the agreement. Here, the theory would be that King’s efforts to schedule bouts for Mayorga would be hindered by Mayorga’s conflicting MMA schedule, and thus Shine would be tortiously interfering with King’s contract with Mayorga. Further, even if there was not an actual conflict of dates, there is always the possibility that Mayorga could get injured in an MMA bout and be rendered ineligible to participate in a boxing match at a later date. For more on the logistical issues facing boxers who seek to dabble in MMA, please see “Half Man, Half Amazing”


Could a Morals Clause Prove a Jinx to Spinks?: IBF junior middleweight champion Corey Spinks was arrested in Vero Beach, Florida in early April on charges of driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident. Spinks has a promotional agreement with Don King Productions, and depending how it is worded, this arrest could spell trouble. In the event that his promotional agreement contains a morals clause that allows DKP to terminate its promotional agreement in the event of Spinks’ arrest, it may now be up to DKP whether or not it wishes to continuing promoting its troubled titleholder. Standing 8 Court has not heard either way whether DKP plans to stand by its man, or whether it gave itself that option in its agreement with Spinks. For more on the use of a morals clause in promotional agreements, please see “Throwing Stones When Living with a Glass Jaw?”  and all “Morals Clause Alerts” in subsequent postings. Incidentally, similar questions could be asked about the current promotional situation, if any, of the chronically plagued former bantamweight champion Johnny Tapia. However, at this point in his “vida loca,” one would expect that a promoter knows exactly what he might be getting into if he signs Tapia to even a single fight deal.


Who the Funeka Actually Had the Unfair Advantage in the Guzman Rematch?: Top lightweight contender Ali (Rush Hour) Funeka caught yet another bad break after his loss to an overweight Joan Guzman when he tested positive for the banned diuretic hydrochlorothiazide and was suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. No question whose performance enhancing methods paid higher dividends in this instance, as Guzman both won handily and did not face a suspension afterwards.


Chinese Herb May Kick Larsen’s Career to Curb: Long-time Danish super middleweight contender Mads Larsen, age 37, 51-3 (38 KOs), may soon be reaching a forced end to his career following a positive drug test after his January loss to Brian Magee. Larsen acknowledged ingesting a Chinese herb, but reportedly stated that he was not aware it contained a banned substance. Although initially given a fine and reprimand from the Danish Pro Boxing Federation, the ruling is being internally appealed, as the judgment was not rendered in accordance with the rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency, which the Danish Pro Boxing Federation is affiliated with. Under World Anti-Doping Agency rules, an athlete’s first violation could result in a two-year suspension, meaning Larsen would be nearly 40-years-old if the appeal is successful and he is penalized under WADA rules.


Kimbo Sliced from the UFC: And who says MMA is totally different from boxing? In a move reminiscent of DiBella Entertainment’s release of Jermain Taylor following his vicious knock out loss to “King” Arthur Abraham in the Super Six World Boxing Classic, UFC President Dana White announced that he was releasing former internet sensation Kevin (Kimbo Slice) Ferguson following his second round TKO loss to Matt Mitrione at UFC 113. If Slice’s contract is similar to a typical boxing promotional agreement, the UFC likely gave itself the right to terminate Slice in the event that he was not declared the winner of a given MMA bout during the term of the agreement.


Silva May Lose Serious Dollars For Antics at UFC 112: It was reported that UFC President Dana White was exceptionally unhappy with the antics employed by middleweight champion Anderson Silva during his win over Demian Maia at the UFC’s debut in Abu Dhabi in early April. Initial reports suggested that Silva might have lost his cachet with the UFC brass, as well as a lucrative bout with welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre as a result of his actions. One has to wonder if the withdrawal of an opportunity to face St. Pierre was simply a knee-jerk reaction by Dana White to an embarrassing performance before his new Abu Dhabi-based investors, or whether there might actually be a provision buried in Silva’s UFC contract that provides for an express ban on certain types of behavior during a given bout that would empower White to hold out on Silva and other similarly out-of-line UFC competitors.


Promoter Becomes Prime Example of Need for a Two-Way Morals Clause: In early April, Pennsylvania-based boxing promoter Damon Feldman was indicted for fight fixing and operating without a promoter’s license following a celebrity boxing competition. Feldman promotes celebrity bouts through his group, the Celebrity Boxing Federation. While the Celebrity Boxing Federation does not showcase serious professional boxers, the question is begged as to what kind impact this indictment could have on Feldman’s promotion of conventional professional boxing matches. Would a boxer feel comfortable signing a promotional agreement with someone who has been accused of fight fixing? If so, perhaps the boxer would nonetheless want to negotiate a morals clause into the promotional agreement that allows him to terminate the agreement in the event of any further arrests and/or indictments of Feldman that might call into question his fitness to promote or sully the reputation of those in his stable.


Perhaps Rigondeaux Has the Luck of the Irish After All: Former Cuban amateur legend turned undefeated bantamweight prospect Guillermo Rigondeaux recently secured a partial victory in court over his boxing manager, Gary Hyde, of Ireland. In early April, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Scott Silverman, while affirming an arbitration award previously made in favor of Hyde, who has a contract entered into under Irish law with Rigondeaux, also ruled that it would have no force and effect until further notice. Where this leaves his management situation is unclear, but it would appear that Rigondeaux has been looking to clean house for the past several months on all fronts, as he also axed trainer Freddie Roach from his team. Roach does not have any recourse. Whether or not Hyde ultimately does, however, has been placed in limbo by Judge Silverman. For more on the initial ruling in their dispute, read here.


Berto-Quintana Provides for Another Replay by Anyway Alert: WBC Welterweight Champion Andre Berto’s eighth round TKO of Carlos Quintana back on April 10, 2010 came after the threat of a potential injustice in the early rounds. In round one, Berto appeared to be dropped by Quintana, but referee Tommy Kimmons did not call it as such. The seemingly blown call became moot in round eight, but provided yet another example of the need for the universal adoption of instant replay in boxing.


Austin’s Situation May Yet Again Showcase Ethical Bankruptcy of WBC: It was recently reported that the WBC’s top ranked heavyweight contender Ray (The Rainman) Austin was dropped in its rankings as a result of his declaration of bankruptcy and the rejection of his promotional agreement with Don King Productions. The drop in his ranking means that he will no longer be facing undefeated Cuban sensation Odlanier Solis in a “final eliminator” for a shot at WBC champion Vitali Klitschko. Austin’s attorney, John Tripp, has already threatened a lawsuit against the WBC for its actions as to Austin and indicated that a RICO cause of action may be among the potential claims. RICO is the federal racketeering law, historically used to combat organized criminal organizations, that was used to help imprison the former top brass of the IBF several years back and as a successful weapon in a federal lawsuit against the WBC filed by former light heavyweight champion Graciano Rocchigiani back in 1997.


Paul Stuart Haberman, Esq. is an attorney at the New York law firm of Heidell, Pittoni, Murphy & Bach, LLP. He is also a New York State licensed boxing manager and the Chairman of the Sports Law Committee of the New York County Lawyers Association. Paul can be e-mailed at haberman@8countnews.com.