From Boxing-Central:
The ongoing saga surrounding the now twice postponed heavyweight clash between Danny Williams and Rack Packheiser took another twist today when Packheiser’s management team sent a letter of complaint to the BBB of C. The letter contains an alleged comment made by Williams saying that he would never fight the German because, “Packheiser is taking steroids.”
Williams pulled out of his first fight with “Packe” in October (3 hours before the first bell) then cancelled their rescheduled meeting set for Saturday (on the Reid/Ottke undercard), late last week.
Here is a copy of the letter sent by European fight manager Olaf Schröder to Simon Block, General Secretary of the Board.
Dear Simon:
I trust this letter finds you well. Unfortunately, I have to get back to the Danny Williams vs. Ralf Packheiser situation, because as you will know by now (and was expected by me all along) Williams again pulled out of their re-scheduled contest in Nuremberg, Germany, Dec. 13.
As you know, when Williams pulled out in October just three hours before the first bell, claiming illness (however without proving it by any doctor’s statement!), we settled on a 1/3 (of the purse) payment and agreed to re-schedule the bout for above-mentioned show under the same conditions. According to that, I received attached contractual confirmation from UK Presents.
To fully understand what went on over the last few days, please allow me to recap the situation for you as follows:
Tuesday, Dec. 9:
In the late afternoon, Mr. Steve James of UK Presents called me to inform that Williams has pulled out – again! He also mentioned that Williams (re-) signed promotionally with Sports Network. In the evening I informed Packheiser and his trainer of the cancellation and we agreed that they immediately return from training camp in Halle/S. to their homes in Berlin.
Wednesday, Dec. 10:
In the morning I again spoke to Mr. James, who said it won’t be possible to arrange an alternative opponent for Packheiser for the Nuremberg show. Inquiring about a compensation for Packheiser, Mr. James said he would have to check whose responsibility it would be.
Around noon time, Williams manager Mr. Adam Booth phoned me to confirm his boxers withdrawal from the Nuremberg promotion, but asked whether Packheiser would be ready to box (under the same conditions) Williams on Sports Network’s show on the same day (Dec. 13) in Manchester. After quickly checking with my boxer and his trainer, I let Mr. Booth know we are ready to go ahead.
A few hours later, Mr. Booth got back to me to inform me that Williams under no circumstances would ever box against Packheiser, because he had heard from a person he declined to name (while he was in Germany early this year to fight Sinan Samil Sam for the European title) that Packheiser is taking steroids! With that, the fight was dead again.
Let me stress that I consider these unfounded accusations an absolute impudence on Williams’ part, especially considering that he claims to have known about this since many months – and still committed twice to box Packheiser! Obviously, Packheiser is ready to undergo a doping test anytime on request to prove these accusations wrong.
Thursday, Dec. 11:
First, I was phoned by Sports Network’s matchmaker Mr. Dean Powell, wanting to know if Packheiser could still box in Manchester. After a quick check with my boxer, I answered positively and Mr. Powell said he would let Williams know he can either fight Packheiser on Saturday or not at all.
Shortly after, Mr. Booth phoned me again and once more emphasized that Williams will definitely not box Packheiser, instead asking me whether I could find another opponent for Saturday. Thus, I had to tell my boxer again that the fight is not happening.
Nevertheless, in the evening Mr. Booth got back to me and asked me to immediately contact Mr. Powell to work out details, because Williams had – for reasons only known to himself, I suppose – another change of mind and now wanted to box Packheiser! No more words about doping accusations…
I immediately rang Mr. Powell, who within a short time agreed all provisions (the main one being an agreement that he personally guarantees full payment no matter whether the fight takes place or not in the end) and did his utmost to still make it happen.
However, when I spoke afterwards with Packheiser and his trainer, understandably he declined to bow again to Williams’ antics. He has been messed around so much over the last weeks and especially over the last days that I can understand that he “lost it”. Furthermore, he holds a very well-paid job and was very close to loosing it because of asking for free time all the time.
With this complaint, I’d like to achieve that Packheiser will at the very least get a fair compensation for his efforts. He has been in training since the initial withdrawal of Williams in late October, took time off of his job, we hired sparring partners and set up training camp in Halle/S, paying for travel costs, hotel and accommodation. I firmly believe that a refund of those costs is the minimum respect that should be paid to Packheiser after all that he has had to endure due to nothing else but Williams’ unprofessionalism and total disrespect for contracts.
I look forward to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Olaf
