Barry Hearn is really Don King, the white version!!!!
International Open
- Thread starter jasonlaus
- Start date
Don King was a great promoter and so is Barry Hearn!
Lawsuits and prosecutionsEditMuhammad AliEdit
King has been involved in many litigation cases with boxers that were focused on fraud. In 1982 he was sued by*Muhammad Ali*for underpaying him $1.1 million for a fight with*Larry Holmes. King called in an old friend of Ali, Jeremiah Shabazz, and handed him a suitcase containing $50,000 in cash and a letter ending Ali's lawsuit against King. He asked Shabazz to visit Ali (who was in the hospital due to his failing health) and get him to sign the letter and then give Ali the $50,000. Ali signed. The letter even gave King the right to promote any future Ali fights. According to Shabazz, "Ali was ailing by then and mumbling a lot. I guess he needed the money." Shabazz later regretted helping King. Ali's lawyer cried when he learned that Ali had ended the lawsuit without telling him.[21]
Larry HolmesEdit
Larry Holmes has alleged that over the course of his career King cheated him out of $10 million in fight purses, including claiming 25% of his purses as a hidden manager. Holmes says he received only $150,000 of a contracted $500,000 for his fight with*Ken Norton, and $50,000 of $200,000 for facing*Earnie Shavers, and claims King cut his purses for bouts with*Muhammad Ali,*Randall "Tex" Cobb, and*Leon Spinks, underpaying him $2 million, $700,000, and $250,000, respectively. Holmes sued King over the accounting and auditing for*the Gerry Cooney fight, charging that he was underpaid by $2 to $3 million.[22]*Holmes sued King after King deducted a $300,000 'finder's fee' from his fight purse against*Mike Tyson; Holmes settled for $150,000 and also signed a legal agreement pledging not to give any more negative information about King to reporters.[23]
Tim WitherspoonEdit
Tim Witherspoon*was threatened with being blackballed if he did not sign exclusive contracts with King and his stepson Carl. Not permitted to have his own lawyer present, he signed four "contracts of servitude" (according to*Jack Newfield). One was an exclusive promotional contract with Don King, two were managerial contracts with Carl King, identical except one was "for show" that gave Carl King 33% of Witherspoon's purses and the other gave King a 50% share, more than is allowed by many boxing commissions. The fourth contract was completely blank.[24]
Other examples include Witherspoon being promised $150,000 for his fight with Larry Holmes, but receiving only $52,750. King's son Carl took 50% of Witherspoon's purse, illegal under Nevada rules, and the WBC sanctioning fee was also deducted from his purse.[25]*He was forced to train at King's own training camp at Orwell, Ohio, instead of Ali's Deer Lake camp which Ali allowed Witherspoon to use for free. For his fight with*Greg Page*he received a net amount of $44,460 from his guaranteed purse of $250,000. King had deducted money for training expenses, sparring partners, fight and airplane tickets for his friends and family. Witherspoon was never paid a stipulated $100,000 for his training expenses and instead was billed $150 a day for using King's training camp. Carl King again received 50% of his purse, despite Don King Productions falsely claiming he had only been paid 33%.[26]*HBO paid King $1,700,000 for Witherspoon to fight*Frank Bruno. Witherspoon got a purse of $500,000, but received only $90,000 after King's deductions. Carl King received $275,000.[27]*In 1987 Witherspoon sued King for $25 million in damages. He eventually settled for $1 million out of court.[28]
Mike TysonEdit
Former undisputed World Heavyweight Boxing Champion*Mike Tyson*has described King, his former promoter, as "ruthless, "deplorable" and "greedy."[29]*In 1998, Tyson sued King for $100 million, alleging that the boxing promoter had cheated him out of millions over more than a decade.[30]*The lawsuit was later settled out of court with Tyson receiving $14 million.[31]
Terry NorrisEdit
In 1996*Terry Norris*sued King, alleging that King had stolen money from him and conspired with his manager to underpay him for fights. The case went to trial, but King settled out of court for $7.5 million in 2003. King also acceded to Norris' demand that the settlement be made public.
Like I said....
LATEST*NEWS*MOST READ*MEDIA*IRELAND*WORLD*SPORT*BUSINESS*OPINION*LIFE & STYLE*CULTURECase lifted the lid on the seamier side of professional boxingBy the time the case ended we had seen weeping in the witness box and heard of alleged doubledealings in the sometimes murky …
Wed, Feb 4, 1998, 00:00
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By the time the case ended we had seen weeping in the witness box and heard of alleged doubledealings in the sometimes murky world of professional boxing. There were accusations of perjury and betrayal as a straightforward breach of contract case turned into a 25-day legal marathon.
At issue was the question of whether a one-year management agreement between boxer Steve Collins and promoter Barry Hearn had been extended from May 1995 for a further year. Hearn had sued Collins, and yesterday the High Court found in the boxer's favour.
Had Barry Hearn and his company, Matchroom Boxing Ltd, succeeded in their claim against Collins, they could have been awarded up to £500,000. That is 25 per cent of each of the purses paid to Collins for a total of three fights. As things stand now, Hearn could end up footing a bill of £1 million for legal costs.
Hearn says that his motivation for taking the case was not exclusively money. He spoke yesterday of issues such as pride and ethics, of investing in a young boxer who had come to him "with nothing" and of not being remunerated for his efforts. According to Collins, Hearn was looking for payment for work he had not done.
On the second day of the case the court heard that when Collins came to discuss his career with Hearn in 1993 the boxer was "almost valueless". Under Hearn's guidance, the court heard, Collins's earnings had gone from £32,000 in 1993 to £1.8 million in 1995. In that time he had fought and beaten Chris Eubank in Millstreet to become WBO world super middleweight champion.
Collins's defence concerned questions about the legality of the management agreement which Hearn claimed had been extended until May 1996. Collins denied that the agreement existed. However, the judge
Collins's defence also included allegations that Hearn had neglected the boxer. These breaches, some of which were alleged to have occurred at the time of the Millstreet bout against Eubank, were discounted by the judge.
Another more serious allegation, also dismissed by Mr Justice O'Sullivan, exposed the seamy side of the sport. When New York referee Ron Lipton took the stand halfway through the trial he painted a sordid picture of the goings-on at Millstreet and made claims about Hearn.
The promoter, who managed Eubank as well as Collins at the time, had tried to "nobble" or influence Mr Lipton, it was claimed. "He put his arms around me, pulled me into him and said: `Tomorrow night, watch Steve Collins. He is a dirty fighter. Watch the use of his head'."
It was alleged that a second similar approach had been made to Mr Lipton on the night of the fight. Hearn strenuously denied that these incidents occurred. Mr Lipton also spoke of "heinous events" such as his clothes being cut up and threats being made. Officials were being offered "drink, prostitutes and gifts" by the World Boxing Organisation, he claimed.
While Mr Justice O'Sullivan yesterday dismissed Lipton's evidence of improper pre-fight advances by Hearn, his ruling that Hearn was guilty of two other fundamental breaches of the management contract were to signal the end of his High Court hopes.
The first occurred in New York in May 1995 at a purse-bidding. It was alleged that Hearn did his utmost to stop rival a promoter, Sports Network, from bidding for the purse for Collins's defence of his title against Eubank. In effect, he had attempted to ensure that Collins did not receive the best purse, and this, said the judge, amounted to breach of contract.
The second fundamental breach concerned correspondence from Hearn to the World Boxing Organisation in June 1995. It was alleged that the letters, one of which cast doubt on a finger injury sustained by Collins, had been designed to strip the boxer of his world title. Hearn denied this, but yesterday the judge held that by writing these letters he had failed in his management responsibilities.
Hearn remained calm at all times during the trial, even when being called a "perjuror and a shyster" by counsel for Mr Collins.
The now-retired former boxer was not so adept at keeping his emotions in check. At one point he wept openly under cross-examination. No doubt some more tears, this time of joy, will be shed by the emotional ex-boxer in the wake of the verdict.
That makes it okay to steal?
Glen, I beg to differ. Barry Hearn has done more for the sport of Pool then you (or me) will ever do in our lifetime. He has produced the most high profile and most widely watched pro pool events that we have seen thus far. The only thing that I can think of that compares in TV ratings was when Fats played Mosconi decades ago.
We are still waiting for you to put on your first event. I'm sorry to inform you that your highly acclaimed glue does not hold a candle to what Matchroom has done for our sport. There is a good reason Barry Hearn was enshrined into the BCA Hall of Fame. I know it's hard but show a little respect please.
We all have dirty laundry we would prefer not to have aired out and you know what I'm talking about.
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:wink:
I agree totally....
Good mornin' W. Coast
Manhattan Beach soon. :grinning-moose:
I agree totally....
Good mornin' W. Coast
Manhattan Beach soon. :grinning-moose:
Roger that Jay. Good post.
Not when myself and many others didnt get to see what we paid for.
Not that it makes things level but I have asked for a refund 2x and got them instantly.
would it be too much to ask you guys to slow the hell down? :angry:
I took the under 1k responses and I'm getting nervous. :help:
I took the under 1k responses and I'm getting nervous. :help:
8 from the over.....guess it's 7 now.:thumbup:
The videos I’ve seen on YouTube are just a side view with no commentary or anything. The type of people who would be satisfied by seeing that are the ones that wouldn’t be paying anyway.
Can pat protest to youtube? I still think he needs to make the matches available faster than he does today while there is fresh interest, whether it is dvd (that has to be a small clientele) or video on demand.
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There is very little as satisfying as free cable.
Well there were others there broadcasting side tables. That was cool because Accu-stats only was streaming one table. Even Pat re-streamed one of those feeds through his own PPV feed between a match.
But the pirated upload of his PPV on YouTube is bs. There is a "report" button on YouTube. Could probably help if everyone hit that.
The contention that only a small% of YouTube viewers would buy vids is irrelevant.
How about hand-held camera versions of new-release movies? Think they're ok?
Only the property owner can report pirated postings.
https://www.accu-stats.com/asvod.html
At the very bottom it does say that the International Open will be available soon, but doesn't give any dates.