Heredia Boxing Management Files Nine-Count Complaint Against MTK Global, Kinahan, Golden Boy

[Ruthless-RKO]

Heredia Boxing Management Files Nine-Count Complaint Against MTK Global, Kinahan, Golden Boy

MTK Global’s efforts to make inroads in the U.S. boxing market has drawn the ire of at least one rival company.

Heredia Boxing Management (HBM) and Moses Heredia have filed a nine-count complaint against the Dubai-based management company, MTK co-founder Daniel Kinahan, MTK Chief Strategy Officer Paul Gibson, law firm VGC LLC and Golden Boy Promotions (GBP). The allegations include four counts of racketeering against MTK, Kinahan and Gibson, four counts of tortious interference against MTK and VGC and one count of breach of promoter-manager contract against GBP.

The case was filed with the U.S. District Court Central District of California on December 18.

Two of the boxers named in the lawsuit include 130-pound titlist Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz Jr. and rising 140-pound prospect Luis Feliciano, both of whom remain under contract with Heredia Boxing Management according to the complaint. Diaz was the first U.S.-based major titlist to sign with MTK, doing so this past August in a move that came as a surprise to many in the industry.

Among those stunned by the development was Heredia, who—according to the lawsuit—still has a binding managerial contract with Diaz which runs through February 2022.

“MTK’s management contract with Mr. Diaz was entered into in violation of California law, federal law, and in complete disregard for the established and lawful management contract Mr. Diaz recognized by the State of California with Mr. M. Heredia,” Rajan O. Dhungana, lead attorney for D.C.-headquartered Federal Practice Group representing HBM states in the 32-page complaint, a copy of which has been obtained by BS.com. “All attempts to resolve this matter with MTK have been met with hostility.

“VGC, LLC, a law firm, has been acting as an agent for MTK to perpetrate its tortious and unlawful activities and is on full notice of their illegality. GBP has also colluded with VGC and MTK to facilitate agreements despite being placed on full notice that neither VGC, nor MTK have lawful authority to conduct and/or engage in the management of Mr. Diaz through either contract or proper licensure.”

Among the pointed claims made in the complaint include allegations of MTK Global’s day-to-day operations. The plaintiffs specifically allege that the company remains under the control of Kinahan, who was previously named by the High Court of Ireland as “a criminal and gang lord” and who has “controlled and managed” the operations of Kinahan Organized Crime Group (KOCG) according to the Criminal Assets Bureau in Ireland.

The complaint references no fewer than three instances alleging Kinahan’s ties to criminal activity, along with claims of KOCG operating “one of Europe’s largest drug trafficking and money laundering networks according to several law enforcement agencies.”

It is noted in the lawsuit that neither MTK Global, Kinahan, Gibson nor law firm VGC, LLC are licensed to perform boxing management functions in the State of California.

From there comes claims that VGC has “on behalf of MTK and at their direction, has conspired with GBP to serve as Mr. Diaz’s managers to negotiate and secure a title defense for Mr. Diaz with full knowledge and disregard for Mr. Diaz’s contractual obligations and without compliance with any of the laws or regulations, that provide the authority to do so and collectively remain subject to both criminal and civil consequences for these alleged violations.”

The lawsuit comes nearly four months after Heredia filed a request for arbitration, immediately following the news that Diaz (31-1, 15KOs) signed an advisory pact with MTK Global on August 20, 2020. The case was approved for review by the California State Athletic Commission, and due to go to arbitration at some point in the New Year.

Meanwhile, Diaz continues to move forward with his career. The 2012 U.S. Olympian claimed his first major title on his second try earlier this year, soundly outpointing Tevin Farmer to win a 130-pound belt this past January in Miami, Florida. His first defense will come February 13 versus mandatory challenger Shavkat Rakhimov, as recently announced by GBP who present the bout live on DAZN from Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.

The bout was under negotiation for several months, well before MTK Global became involved and despite the existence of a contractually bound rematch clause with Farmer. HBM alleges that talks continued without their involvement, with MTK and GBP reaching terms with Rakhimov’s team for the since-announced fight.

Heredia claims that “[t]hrough emails obtained, VGC is directly performing a boxing management role through the negotiation of a title bout with GBP, has removed Mr. Diaz’s actual managers (Plaintiffs) from the conversation with GBP, and has explicitly acknowledged they have been hired and funded by MTK.”

It is also claimed that MTK lured Diaz into an advisory pact through a $100,000 advance against the boxer’s next purse, which “essentially caused Mr. Diaz to mortgage his future away, which is why the Federal Government and the State of California created statutes and regulations to protect boxers.

“These funds are directly or indirectly derived from racketeering activity... MTK receives funds directly or indirectly from Mr. Kinahan which are derived from racketeering activity such as drug trafficking and money laundering. MTK itself is laundering the illicit proceeds of the KOCG drug trafficking enterprise.”

Diaz is one of at least eight stateside boxers to have signed with the global managerial conglomerate since entering the U.S. market earlier this year. Several of the clients are currently under the GBP roster, including unbeaten welterweight contender Vergil Ortiz Jr., secondary junior bantamweight titlist Joshua Franco and prospects Hector Tanajara and Jonathan Navarro.

The cluster of boxers collected by MTK will be referenced as part of a racketeering pattern to acquire or maintain “an interest in or control of an enterprise.” All but Diaz are also linked to managerial pacts with Rick Mirigian, who joined forces with MTK Global earlier this fall. The alignment came after MTK had reached out to no fewer than a dozen other managers and mid-level promoters, sources have informed BS.com.

Mirigian is not tied to Diaz, nor is named in the complaint.

The suit also alleges that MTK's relationship with GBP and securing Diaz has also compromised Heredia's professional relationship with Feliciano (14-0, 8KOs), a Milwaukee-bred Boricua who is now based in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Like Diaz, the 27-year old Feliciano is currently bound to a five-year contract with HBM, with his contract due to expire in March 2022.

Feliciano has not fought since last December, scoring a 10-round unanimous decision over Herbert Acevedo to rack up a five-win 2019 campaign. Like most boxers, his 2020 has been hampered by the coronaviruis pandemic, including a canceled ring appearance from this past March at the start of the ongoing global health crisis.

Efforts to get Feliciano back in the ring are not limited to a lack of available fight dates, according to HBP. Rather, it is alleged that the year-long inactive stretch is born from the strained relationship, which HBM claims was caused by GBP’s alleged efforts to go around the manager to speak directly with Feliciano.

“GBP intended to disrupt the performance of this contract and/or knew that disruption of performance as certain or substantially certain to occur,” alleges the plaintiffs. “GBP’s communications are intended to sow doubt in Mr. Feliciano and the management he receives from Plaintiffs. GBP wants this disruption to occur as their ultimate goal is to cause Mr. Feliciano to breach or not renew his management contract with Plaintiffs.

“The Plaintiffs have been harmed by the actions of GBP. Plaintiffs fulfill a firewall function between the [promoter] and the boxer which is being trampled upon. Plaintiff’s relationship with Mr. Feliciano has been hampered. GBP’s conduct is the substantial factors in causing Plaintiff’s harm. But for the interference of GBP, Plaintiffs’ contract with Mr. Feliciano would not [have] been interfered with and harm would not have been caused. The conduct of GBP is the substantial factor in causing Plaintiff’s harm.”

A spokesperson for GBP informed BS.com that the California-based outfit has respectfully declined comment on the subject, as it has now become a legal matter.

HBM and Heredia seek compensatory damages awarded in treble, in an amount to be determined by a jury trial which they demand.

Representatives for MTK Global have not yet responded to an inquiry from Boxing Scene seeking comment. For now, plenty has been said by the plaintiffs about the managerial giant and those with whom they choose to conduct business.

“VGC and MTK intentionally interfered with an economic relationship between Plaintiffs and Mr. Joseph Diaz, Jr. that probably would have resulted in an economic benefit to Plaintiffs. Namely, Plaintiffs had a contract with Mr. Diaz for boxing management and due to the interference Defendants have impacted the future relationship between Mr. Diaz and Plaintiffs. VGC and MTK knew of the relationship. VGC in emails and letters to GBP has unlawfully demanded that GBP declare the promotion contract null and void and declare Mr. Diaz a “free agent.” Similarly in these emails and letters, VGC has referenced the contract/relationship between Mr. Diaz and the Plaintiffs. MTK did so without the knowledge or consent of Plaintiffs and did so with the intent of taking over as Mr. Diaz’s manager.

“At all relevant times, Mr. Diaz was still under contract with Plaintiffs. By engaging in this conduct, VGC and MTK intended to disrupt the relationship or knew that disruption of the relationship was certain or substantially certain to occur.”

[JimJim2009]

Can see somebody finding a horses head at some point with this.

[SAPFO]

Can see somebody finding a horses head at some point with this.

For fock sake someone tell the guy he's poking the bear.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Heredia/MTK Complaint Given To Judge Overseeing Joseph Diaz's Lawsuit Against Manager

A complaint filed by Heredia Boxing Management to reinforce its existing contract with its top client has been reassigned to the very courthouse reviewing a case to have the company removed from that very role.

As previously reported by BS.com, Heredia Boxing Management (HBM) and Moses Heredia have filed a nine-count complaint against MTK Global, MTK co-founder Daniel Kinahan, MTK Chief Strategy Officer Paul Gibson, law firm VGC LLC and Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) regarding their estranged relationship with 130-pound titlist Joseph Diaz Jr. The case was filed with the U.S. District Court Central District of California on December 18 and assigned to U.S. District Judge Fernando M. Olguin and Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym.

Upon review, an order was made to reassign the case to U.S. District Judge John W. Holcomb and Magistrate Judge Kenly Kiya Kato due to a similar or closely related transaction, happening or event. The court to which the complaint now resides is currently overseeing an ongoing lawsuit filed by Diaz against Heredia’s half-brother, Ralph Heredia on October 7, a copy of which has been obtained by Boxing Scene.

The eight-count complaint alleges Fraud, Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Breach of Implied-in-Fact Contract, Conversion, Tortious Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage, Violation of Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, Quantum Meruit, Accounting against Ralph Heredia and unnamed parties.

Diaz is represented by VGC, LLC, who is named as a defendant in Moses Heredia’s complaint which only identifies Diaz as an interested party but not as a defendant. Similarly, Moses Heredia is named as an interested party in Diaz’s complaint, through association with his half-brother Ralph, who is identified as Ralph Heredia Tarango and having operated under several aliases, allegedly due to his having served prison time as part of a drug trafficking ring in the 1990s.

Moses Heredia’s complaint alleges an existing five-year managerial contract which runs through February 2022. Diaz’s complaint notes that the day-to-day handlings have been through Ralph, with Moses functionally serving as manager only on paper allegedly due to Ralph’s inability to obtain a Manager’s license with the California State Athletic Commission due to his criminal past.

The complaint against Ralph Heredia alleges that he “repeatedly stole from Diaz—both money and personal property. He did so with the help of an attorney, Defendant John Doe, Esq., whose name Diaz does not know and whom he never agreed to retain.”

According to the complaint, Diaz was first introduced to Ralph Heredia in his early teens and maintained “a cordial relationship… for several years. In or around 2011… Heredia took a greater interest in Diaz.”

Their cordial relationship advanced to the professional level shortly after Diaz’s tour with the 2012 U.S. Olympic Boxing team which competed in London. At that time, Moses Heredia signed the official managerial contract due to Ralph being unable to obtain a manager’s license “likely due to the fact that Defendant Heredia has a documented criminal history and did not want to reveal his true identity to the Commission (or to Diaz).”

The two complaints are similar in more ways than both sides alleging breach of contract and tortious interference. Both cases document the criminal history of the named defendants—alleged criminal activity, in the case of MTK Global and its co-founder Kinahan.

In Diaz’s complaint comes the revelation that Heredia was indicted under the working alias Rafael Bustamante “in connection with a headline-making extortion and threatened murder plot against [former] Los Angeles Rams player Darryl Henley over a $350,000 debt stemming from a drug deal involving over twenty-five pounds of cocaine.

Heredia (under the alias Rafael Bustamante) was convicted along with two associates of conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine, for which they were sentenced to 20 years in prison. Heredia was released in 2005, while Henley remains in prison with 16 years remaining on a 41-year sentence for drug trafficking and threatening to murder—through hired contract killers—the trial judge and a witness to the case.

Despite Moses serving as the licensed manager, court documents suggest it was Ralph who did all of the legwork including his allegedly leveraging his association with Diaz into a working relationship with Golden Boy. From there, Heredia was able to sign—among others—Francisco Vargas, who would become a 130-pound titlist, and current 140-pound prospect Luis Feliciano.

In the complaint against Heredia, Diaz alleges that the manager stole from him, specifically throughout their renegotiated managerial agreement which was signed in February 2017. In said agreement, Diaz agreed to pay Heredia a fee of 18%, negotiated down from a demanded 20%. In submitted documentation, Diaz points to a contract showing Moses Heredia’s name, and nothing indicating Ralph as a co-manager. This didn’t stop Ralph from acting on Diaz’s behalf to negotiate his current promotional contract with Golden Boy which was made official on March 22, 2017 according to court documents which show both Moses and Ralph Heredia listed as co-managers.

Diaz alleges that Ralph Heredia continued to extract a 20% fee from the boxer in lieu of the negotiated 18%, with the unnamed attorney for Heredia “directly aware of and participated in this scheme to steal the 2% from Diaz. Practically speaking, Heredia also stole whatever portion he received of the 18% manager’s fee from Diaz… able to do this because, by virtue of his role as Diaz’s manager, Heredia has full access to Diaz’s finances, including compensation paid by Golden Boy.”

Attempting to take control of his career, Diaz entered an advisory agreement with Dubai-based managerial conglomerate MTK Global this past August, seven months after soundly outpointing Tevin Farmer to win a 130-pound title. According to the complaint filed by Moses Heredia, the deal was allegedly motivated by a $100,000 advanced paid by MTK to Diaz against his next purse.

Diaz is next due to face mandatory challenger Shavkat Rakhimov on February 13, 2021 in Indio, California.

The complaint filed by Diaz alleges that Ralph Heredia acted in retaliation to this move by repossessing a 2016 Lexus RC350 he had purchased for the boxer last October, to which he agreed to “make a (presumably unlicensed) “auto loan” to Diaz until Diaz could pay it off.”

According to court records, Diaz paid $25,000 towards the car along with an additional $4,000 to have the originally white vehicle painted black. Heredia allegedly repossessed the car this past September—at which time Diaz claimed to have another $300 in the vehicle— in retaliation for Diaz’s entered arrangement with MTK which he insisted was an infringement on his (unlicensed) managerial rights.

Diaz also alleges that Heredia used tickets provided by Golden Boy—intended for Diaz’s family and friends—for his own benefit. “Heredia stole the best seats for himself and his conspirators, and gave only a few, much worse, seats to Diaz’s family and friends.”

Heredia filed a Motion to Dismiss earlier this month, to which Diaz naturally filed an Opposition to Notice of Motion to Dismiss, with a hearing set for January 8, 2021. Both cases will remain under the review of the same court until such time.

[Nightmare Roy]

[Ruthless-RKO]

Press Release | Ralph Heredia suffers temporary legal setback vs. Joseph Diaz

Ralph Heredia, the former de fact manager of IBF 130-pound champion Joseph Diaz, Jr. suffered a temporary legal setback in his ongoing litigation against Diaz. In late 2020, Diaz signed with MTK Global to replace Ralph and Moses Heredia as his managers. He also sued Ralph Heredia, accusing him of taking extra fees from Diaz's boxing purses plus $25,000 in a transaction involving a Lexus. Moses Heredia filed a separate lawsuit against Diaz and MTK, but Ralph Heredia filed a motion to dismiss the first lawsuit. On Tuesday, a California federal judge temporarily denied Ralp's motion on a technicality. The judge wrote: "Currently pending before the Court is the motion of defendant Ralph Heredia to dismiss the complaint of plaintiff Joseph Diaz, Jr. This Court expects and requires strict compliance with the court's local rules of procedure. Here, Heredia’s counsel admittedly failed to engage in a [telephone] conference of counsel before filing the motion, as required by the local court rules. Accordingly, the Court declines to consider Heredia's motion, although he can re-file it if his attorney discusses the motion with Diaz's attorney before filing."

Heredia believes he is entitled to have the lawsuit dismissed because Diaz has not suffered any damage, arguing in the now-dismissed motion, “Diaz’s complaint is a textbook example of throwing lots of dirt [by] listing every conceivable cause of action, and hoping something takes root."

DEC. 30, 2020 STORY: Last week, Boxingtalk reported that California manager Moses Heredia and his company Heredia Boxing Management had sued MTK Global Sports Management in a dispute over the right to manage IBF 130-champion Joseph "JoJo" Diaz. Both Heredia Management and MTK claim contractual rights over Diaz, with Heredia Management being the manager of record and Diaz more recently signing an advisory deal with MTK. The Heredia Management lawsuit was filed in federal court in California but it turns out that was actually the second lawsuit filed, because Diaz had filed a previous lawsuit, claiming that Moses Heredia was really a front for his half-brother, Ralph Heredia, and that Ralph Heredia is a convicted felon who stole two percent of Diaz’s earning plus had a Lexus repossessed after Diaz paid Heredia $25,000 for use of the car. Diaz's earlier lawsuit was filed in California state court but removed to federal court by Ralph Heredia.

As laid out by Diaz in his compaint, Diaz met Ralph Heredia when Diaz was approximately 14 or 15 years old. Heredia maintained a cordial relationship with Diaz for several years, periodically buying him gifts such as boxing gear and equipment. In or around 2011, when Diaz began to win amateur boxing tournaments and gain more recognition, Heredia began taking greater interest in Diaz. In 2011, Diaz won the U.S. Mens National Tournament, then the US Olympic trials and he qualified for the 2012 Olympics. Around that time, Heredia approached Diaz and his father and asked whether he could sign Diaz as a boxing client.

Shortly after the 2012 Olympics, Diaz agreed to allow Heredia to be his manager and they signed a contract. BUT the contract was not directly signed by Heredia. Instead, Heredia had his half brother Moses Heredia's name on the contract as the manager of record. [According to Diaz] the reason Ralph Heredia inserted Moses' name on the contract was that Ralph was not a licensed manager, likely due to the fact that [according to Diaz,] Heredia has a documented criminal history and did not want to reveal his true identity to the Commission or to Diaz.

[Diaz alleges that] Ralph Heredia has gone by many aliases, including Rafael Tarango, Rafael Bustamante and Ralph Bustamante in order to conceal his criminal past. [Diaz says] the man he knew as Ralph Heredia was indicted in connection with an extortion and threatened murder plot against Los Angeles Rams player Darryl Henley over a 350,000 debt stemming from a drug deal involving over twenty five pounds of cocaine. He was ultimately convicted of a felony for conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine for which he was sentenced to nearly twenty years in prison.

Diaz says as his pro career played out, Moses Heredia was only a paper manager and that Ralph was the true manager, handling handled all of Diaz's financial affairs. Diaz says he's met Moses only once before signing. After signing, Diaz hardly interacted with Moses at all, while Ralph Heredia arranged all of Diaz's boxing and media affairs, negotiating with promoter Golden Boy, arranging interviews and sponsorship negotiations. Diaz complains Ralph Heredia caused Diaz to miss out on other opportunities.

Heredia is also accused of stealing money from Diaz in a dispute related to an automobile . In October 2019, Heredia purchased a 2016 Lexus RC350 and let Diaz have possession of it, with Diaz agreeing to pay Heredia for the car over time. These loan payments from Diaz to Heredia would be in addition to the contractual manager fees Diaz was paying Heredia per fight. Diaz says he paid Heredia $25,000 towards the Lexus, and put another $4000 into the car, in order to wrap the white Lexus with black vinyl. When Diaz signed with MTK in October, Heredia allegedly arranged for the car, in Diaz's possession, to be repossessed. Heredia did not return the $25,000 payment, so by Diaz's reckoning, Heredia stole $29,000 from him.

The bitterness between the parties runs deep, as Diaz's lawsuit also complains about Heredia taking comp tickets from Golden Boy and giving the best ones to his own family and friends while sticking Diaz's family and friends in the nosebleed sections. Diaz is also mad about $300 in personal effects he lost when the car was repo'd.

And what of the MTK deal? After Diaz became a champion, MTK reached out to him an offered him an advance of $100,000 on his next purse in exchange for signing an advisory agreement. Further deatils on the MTK-Diaz side of the dispute will emerge as the second lawsuit unfolds.

Back in the first lawsuit, Ralph Heredia has filed a motion to dismiss Diaz’s lawsuit. Ralph Heredia believes dismissal is proper because Diaz has not suffered any damage. Ralph Heredia’s motion to dismiss argues that “Diaz’s complaint is a textbook example of throwing lots of dirt [by] listing every conceivable cause of action, and hoping something takes root. The Supreme Court suggests a motion to dismiss was always intended to cull the weeds... Diaz suggests Heredia was under a legal duty to disclose a prior conviction even though no such legal duty exists. Moreover, Diaz’s complaint fails to offer even a hint as to how he (Diaz) would have been able to earn more money, or would have been better able to advance his career, had he been aware of Ralph Heredia’s prior conviction."

Diaz, of course, argues it would be wrong to dismiss the case because Heredia “actively stole” from him. The management agreement calls for an 18% manager’s fee (which, according to Diaz, was owed to Moses Heredia, not Ralph Heredia), but Ralph Heredia is accused of stealing an extra 2%. When Diaz confronted Ralph Heredia about the extra 2%, he allegedly responded that the money was used to pay for an attorney who had been retained on Diaz’s behalf. But Diaz says he never agreed to any lawyer, and alleges that the extra 2% was actually used to pay for Heredia’s lawyer, identified only as John Doe, Esq.

As for the dispute about the Lexus, Ralph Heredia says, "it is unclear on what grounds Mr. Heredia’s action in repossessing his own car constitutes breach [of contract], especially in light of the fact that repossession for failure to pay is permitted under California law."

DEC. 21, 2020 STORY: In an extremely ambitious (and dangerous if the allegations are true) lawsuit, California boxing manager Moses Heredia and his company Heredia Boxing Management have sued MTK Global Sports Management and Golden Boy Promotions in a dispute over IBF 130-champion Joseph "JoJo" Diaz. Heredia alleges he has a management contract with Diaz that runs through February 2022. According to Heredia's complaint, filed in federal court in California, MTK signed Diaz to a conflicting management contract in August and Golden Boy "negotiated with MTK as if MTK was the manager of Mr. Diaz in violation of the Ali Act for its own financial gain." While Golden Boy is a defendant, the main focus of the lawsuit is on MTK and its alleged principle, Daniel Kinahan. Diaz himself is not named as a party to the lawsuit. In addition to the expected causes of action for tortious interference with contract, Heredia accuses MTK, Kinahan and two related parties of being an organized crime enterprise in violation of a United States law known as the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations or RICO.

The complaint names Kinahan as a defendant, alleging that MTK, a management and promotional company, is part owned and operated by Kinahan, who is a member of a criminal organization known to law enforcement officials as the Kinahan Organized Crime Group or KOCG. According to Heredia's complaint, "MTK is flooding the U.S. marketplace with illegal funds, not respecting US law through their interference with contract, violating the Muhammad Ali Act, and not obtaining the required licenses [to act as a boxing manager promoter]. MTK has in the past few months signed over eight US boxers and several dozens across the globe. MTK [is] having boxers sign management agreements using the title 'advisory' in an unguarded attempt to avoid legal scrutiny [and licensing requirements]."

The Complaint goes on to describe the KOGC: "KOGC is allegedly responsible for several murders, drug trafficking, and money laundering. The KOCG is one of Europe’s biggest drug cartels. Law enforcement experts believe that Kinahan started MTK to launder ill-gotten gains from drug trafficking. Kinahan is wanted for question by several law enforcement agencies due to the murderous activities of the KOCG. On or about September 16, 2018, the United States Customs and Border Protection banned Mr. Kinahan and roughly 26 other members of the KOCG from entering America due to narco-terrorism concerns. In 2016, Kinahan fled [his homeland of] Ireland to Dubai after a boxing match he promoted ended in violence. During that boxing match, several masked gunmen fired AK-47s into the crowd, killed one person, and injured several more. This shooting is alleged to be a plot to kill Kinahan by a rival crime family."

The RICO violation, according to Heredia, comes in because MTK is reinvesting the profits of its drug dealing and money laundering activities into the boxing business. In doing so, MTK is becoming a large player in the boxing industry and destroying smaller family-run operations like Heredia's.

Also named as a defendant is a law firm, Vats Gupta & Co., or VGC, which Heredia alleges is acting as a front for MTK by representing Diaz and negotiating the just-announced IBF mandatory defense for Diaz against Shavratdzhon Rakhimov.

Specific to Diaz, Heredia charges that "After Diaz became a world champion, MTK reached out to him and offered, upon information and belief, an advance of $100,000 on his next purse in exchange for signing a 'marketing advisory' agreement... This advance essentially caused Mr. Diaz to mortgage his future away. [As a result,] the relationship has been disrupted and Diaz no longer communicates with Heredia." The complaint also sues MTK for signing undefeated junior welterweight Luis Feliciano (14-0). Like Diaz, Feliciano is not named as a defendant.

Boxingtalk will continue to follow this lawsuit as it develops.

[Counter-puncher]

this won't be the last I'm sure

[Jimmy2020]

Everyone knows what's going on, so there must be a significant ongoing investigation in multiple jurisdictions that is building enough evidence to all but guarantee convictions with lengthy sentences. How can there not be?

I wonder if fighters will get sent down? Might come down to what they've said on the phone and in interview (when they start happening). I don't think anyone can reasonably claim to be ignorant to what's happening.

[TheLeprechaun]

Everyone knows what's going on, so there must be a significant ongoing investigation in multiple jurisdictions that is building enough evidence to all but guarantee convictions with lengthy sentences. How can there not be?

I wonder if fighters will get sent down? Might come down to what they've said on the phone and in interview (when they start happening). I don't think anyone can reasonably claim to be ignorant to what's happening.

I definitely don't think history will be kind.

[Counter-puncher]

Everyone knows what's going on, so there must be a significant ongoing investigation in multiple jurisdictions that is building enough evidence to all but guarantee convictions with lengthy sentences. How can there not be?

I wonder if fighters will get sent down? Might come down to what they've said on the phone and in interview (when they start happening). I don't think anyone can reasonably claim to be ignorant to what's happening.

I definitely don't think history will be kind.

X3

[Counter-puncher]

Any court case would be a beauty. It would take WEEKS

[mickey1975]

Everyone knows what's going on, so there must be a significant ongoing investigation in multiple jurisdictions that is building enough evidence to all but guarantee convictions with lengthy sentences. How can there not be?

I wonder if fighters will get sent down? Might come down to what they've said on the phone and in interview (when they start happening). I don't think anyone can reasonably claim to be ignorant to what's happening.

Steve O’ Meara got 13. Marvin Herbert is described as a gangster boxer but I’ve only seen him on podcasts. He got shot.

[TheLeprechaun]

Everyone knows what's going on, so there must be a significant ongoing investigation in multiple jurisdictions that is building enough evidence to all but guarantee convictions with lengthy sentences. How can there not be?

I wonder if fighters will get sent down? Might come down to what they've said on the phone and in interview (when they start happening). I don't think anyone can reasonably claim to be ignorant to what's happening.

Steve O’ Meara got 13. Marvin Herbert is described as a gangster boxer but I’ve only seen him on podcasts. He got shot.

Seen him on a podcast. He definitely is an intimidating guy. I was scared watching the podcast.

[mickey1975]

Everyone knows what's going on, so there must be a significant ongoing investigation in multiple jurisdictions that is building enough evidence to all but guarantee convictions with lengthy sentences. How can there not be?

I wonder if fighters will get sent down? Might come down to what they've said on the phone and in interview (when they start happening). I don't think anyone can reasonably claim to be ignorant to what's happening.

Steve O’ Meara got 13. Marvin Herbert is described as a gangster boxer but I’ve only seen him on podcasts. He got shot.

Seen him on a podcast. He definitely is an intimidating guy. I was scared watching the podcast.

His podcast wars with Darren Gee have been better than the soaps! Both absolutely loopy.