Mahmoud Charr Lodges Multi-Million Dollar Lawsuit Against Don King

[Ruthless-RKO]

Mahmoud Charr Lodges Multi-Million Dollar Lawsuit Against Don King

Mahmoud Charr is ready for his next fight.

This one will take place in a courtroom, as the veteran heavyweight has filed a four-count complaint against Hall of Fame promoter Don King, both individually and against his Don King Productions (DKP) promotional company, as well as Epic Sports—Charr’s co-promoter through a partnership with DKP—and five yet-to-be-named defendants. Charr alleges tortious interference, civil conspiracy and two counts of breach of contract in his case filed with the United States District Court in the Southern District of Florida on Tuesday.

Charr demands judgement in excess of $4,575,000 of the four aforementioned charges, in addition to recovery of “attorney’s fees, costs, and interest, in addition to any other relief the Court deems proper” according to the complaint, a copy of which has been obtained by BS.com.

The matter from Charr’s canceled heavyweight fight with Trevor Bryan, to have taken place January 30 at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The bout never took place, with Charr having been stripped of his secondary version of the WBA heavyweight title as a result of the fallout. Charr was due to make $1,500,000 for the fight, per the terms of a purse bid won by Don King Productions and which he now seeks to recover “in addition to any other relief the court seems proper.”

Charr never defended his version of the heavyweight title due to a number of circumstances, the extent of which was the result of two years’ worth of delays surrounding his ordered fight with Bryan who held an interim title at the time. The most extreme incident took place in the weeks and days leading to his canceled January 30 fight with Bryan which Charr was denied due to a failure on the part of DKP to secure a travel visa (per WBA purse bid rules), prompting the WBA to declare the title vacant and which was made available for Bryan’s bout with late replacement Bermane Stiverne.

Bryan went on to win the fight by eleventh-round stoppage, upgrading from WBA interim titlist to its secondary titleholder. Anthony Joshua holds the WBA “Super” heavyweight title. Charr was downgraded to “Champion in Recess” and has yet to receive the opportunity to challenge Bryan for his old title.

Charr—a Syrian heavyweight born in Lebanon but who now fights out of Germany—initially won the belt in a twelve-round, unanimous decision win over Alexander Ustinov in November 2017. In more than three years that followed came at least two canceled bouts, including one with Fres Oquendo that was scheduled for September 29, 2018.

The fight was canceled after a drug testing sample provided by Charr came back positive for banned substances epitrenbolone and drostanolone. Charr—who was stripped of the title in November 2018—requested the testing of his “B” sample, which actually led to his reinstatement due to a fault in testing procedures. Charr and his team successfully argued that they were never notified of when the “B” sample would be opened and tested, a process for which the offending party holds the right to be present.

The matter led to the reinstatement of his title status in January 2019, with the order soon thereafter to face Bryan—thus the beginning stages of a mess still in need of resolution more than two-and-a-half years later.

As outlined in the two counts of Breach of Contract (“Promotional Agreement” and “Purse Bid Agreement”), a title consolidation bout was initially ordered on March 6, 2019, as noted in one of eleven supporting exhibits included in the complaint. The matter was scheduled for a purse bid hearing on May 28, 2019.

Days before the purse bid, Charr entered a promotional agreement with King and Epic Sports, with contract terms guaranteeing the Syrian heavyweight a minimum of $750,000 per fight. The contract also called also stated that “DKP would bid “at least $1,000,000 at the May 28, 2019 purse bid for the Charr/Bryan Bout,” with 75% of the purse going to Charr and with the purse bid amount satisfying his mandatory minimum.

The complaint alleges—with documented proof submitted as evidence—that an agreement between Charr, King and Epic prompted the cancellation of said purse bid. Charr insists that he never agreed to such a development, nor was he provided with a Bout Contract to sign and submit to the WBA. “Charr did not consent to the cancellation nor learn that DKP and Epic failed to submit the requisite paperwork, including the Bout Contract, until after the bid was cancelled,” notes Jared Lopez of Black Srebnick, P.A., co-counsel for Charr along with Patrick English of Dines and English LLC. “

King won the rescheduled purse bid hearing last March 2, submitting a whopping $2,000,000 to retain the rights to the fight. From that amount, Charr was entitled to 75% or $1,500,000, with the remaining 25% ($500,000) to go to Bryan. Per WBA purse bid terms, King was also on the hook to secure travel visas for all key parties in need, along with full travel accommodations for Charr and approved team members.

The complaint alleges that King sought a loophole by providing a standard DKP Bout Agreement in lieu of the required WBA Bout Contract for its sanctioned fights. The DKP Bout Agreement does not leave the promoter solely responsible for matters such as securing travel visas for boxers scheduled for said shows.

Charr—a practicing Muslim of Syrian heritage—was stuck in Germany due to Executive Order 13780, in which travel to the U.S. was banned to nationals of more than a dozen countries, including Syria. The modified Executive Order was loosely known as the “Trump Travel Ban”, first enforced by then-President Donald Trump in 2017. King is a longtime friend and supporter of Trump, and assured Charr and his team that he would use his influences to secure an exception that would allow the boxer to travel to the U.S. in time to proceed with the long overdue title defense.

That never took place, despite multiple inquiries placed by English as well as Erol Ceylan, Charr’s regional promoter and international manager. The last such effort for contact came on January 26, when Charr’s counsel informed Carl Lewis, head counsel for DKP that Charr was unable to travel from Germany and move forward with the fight due to DKP’s refusal to send a Bout Contract as proof of a fight taking place which would have allowed Charr to secure a P-1 travel visa.

It is further alleged in the complaint under the Tortious Interference count that King and DKP “intentionally and unjustifiably interfered with Charr’s business relationship with the WBA by coercing Charr into signing the noncompliant DKP Bout Contract, which violated WBA rules and contained terms prohibited by the Muhammad Ali Act, 15 U.S.C. 6307b(b. DKP and King further intentionally and unjustifiably interfered with Charr’s business relationship with the WBA by refusing to submit the executed DKP Bout Contract to the WBA and withholding a copy of the contract from Charr, despite his requests, to prevent Charr from obtaining his P-1 Visa and traveling to the United States to participate in the Charr/Bryan Bout.

“DKP and King intentionally and unjustifiably interfered with Charr’s business relationship with the WBA by exerting undue influence over the WBA after Charr was prevented from defending his title by causing the WBA to improperly strip Charr of his title as the reigning Regular Heavyweight Champion. As a result of King and DKP’s unlawful interference, the WBA cancelled the rescheduled Charr/Bryan Bout causing Charr to sustain damages including, but not limited to, $1.5 million in lost income that King and DKP were obliged to pay Charr for his purse in that title fight.”

The Civil Conspiracy count alleges that King and DKP operated with five yet-to-be-named parties (noted in the complaint as John Does 1-5, but to be identified through discovery should this go to trial) to “illegally exert undue influence over the WBA for the malicious purpose of persuading the WBA to strip Charr of his WBA Regular Heavyweight Champion title without cause and in violation of WBA rules.” It was through this action, the complaint alleges, that led to Charr being stripped of his title and to the benefit of DKP and Bryan, who was provided with the opportunity to fight for and win the belt.

Charr has since taken a stay-busy fight at home, scoring a second-round knockout of previously unbeaten Christopher Lovejoy this past May 15 in Hamburg, Germany. Fittingly, King tried to block that fight as well.

Lovejoy was previously under contract with DKP and also due to have fought on the January 30 show in Florida. Lovejoy contended that he never had a contract in place obligating him to the January date, and had since declared free agent status in the ensuing months. King’s office contended that Lovejoy was still under contract, to the point where event promoters in Germany had opponents on standby had the legal matter managed to go the distance.

The fight ultimately proceeded as scheduled, marking Charr’s first ring appearance since November 2017. The next in-ring appearance for Charr isn’t immediately known, though he has clear direction of his next fight, for which he is prepared to go the distance.

Charr has demanded a trial by jury for all four counts named in the aforementioned complaint.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Don is now 90!!

[H8Usernames]

Kinda sounds like Charr has an open and shut case. Don't think that Don King has much of an defence against this. Why on earth would King and his people expose themselves to this type of litigation?

[Enlightened-One]

Don is now 90!!

Yes, but he's fṹḉḳḯṅḡ ťŵăţ that still treats his fighters like șȟȉț, regardless of his age!

[margaret thatcher]

the wba, king, charr, and co circus continues

[Bard of Boxrec]

Mahmoud Charr Lodges Multi-Million Dollar Lawsuit Against Don King

Mahmoud Charr is ready for his next fight.

This one will take place in a courtroom, as the veteran heavyweight has filed a four-count complaint against Hall of Fame promoter Don King, both individually and against his Don King Productions (DKP) promotional company, as well as Epic Sports—Charr’s co-promoter through a partnership with DKP—and five yet-to-be-named defendants. Charr alleges tortious interference, civil conspiracy and two counts of breach of contract in his case filed with the United States District Court in the Southern District of Florida on Tuesday.

Charr demands judgement in excess of $4,575,000 of the four aforementioned charges, in addition to recovery of “attorney’s fees, costs, and interest, in addition to any other relief the Court deems proper” according to the complaint, a copy of which has been obtained by BS.com.

The matter from Charr’s canceled heavyweight fight with Trevor Bryan, to have taken place January 30 at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The bout never took place, with Charr having been stripped of his secondary version of the WBA heavyweight title as a result of the fallout. Charr was due to make $1,500,000 for the fight, per the terms of a purse bid won by Don King Productions and which he now seeks to recover “in addition to any other relief the court seems proper.”

Charr never defended his version of the heavyweight title due to a number of circumstances, the extent of which was the result of two years’ worth of delays surrounding his ordered fight with Bryan who held an interim title at the time. The most extreme incident took place in the weeks and days leading to his canceled January 30 fight with Bryan which Charr was denied due to a failure on the part of DKP to secure a travel visa (per WBA purse bid rules), prompting the WBA to declare the title vacant and which was made available for Bryan’s bout with late replacement Bermane Stiverne.

Bryan went on to win the fight by eleventh-round stoppage, upgrading from WBA interim titlist to its secondary titleholder. Anthony Joshua holds the WBA “Super” heavyweight title. Charr was downgraded to “Champion in Recess” and has yet to receive the opportunity to challenge Bryan for his old title.

Charr—a Syrian heavyweight born in Lebanon but who now fights out of Germany—initially won the belt in a twelve-round, unanimous decision win over Alexander Ustinov in November 2017. In more than three years that followed came at least two canceled bouts, including one with Fres Oquendo that was scheduled for September 29, 2018.

The fight was canceled after a drug testing sample provided by Charr came back positive for banned substances epitrenbolone and drostanolone. Charr—who was stripped of the title in November 2018—requested the testing of his “B” sample, which actually led to his reinstatement due to a fault in testing procedures. Charr and his team successfully argued that they were never notified of when the “B” sample would be opened and tested, a process for which the offending party holds the right to be present.

The matter led to the reinstatement of his title status in January 2019, with the order soon thereafter to face Bryan—thus the beginning stages of a mess still in need of resolution more than two-and-a-half years later.

As outlined in the two counts of Breach of Contract (“Promotional Agreement” and “Purse Bid Agreement”), a title consolidation bout was initially ordered on March 6, 2019, as noted in one of eleven supporting exhibits included in the complaint. The matter was scheduled for a purse bid hearing on May 28, 2019.

Days before the purse bid, Charr entered a promotional agreement with King and Epic Sports, with contract terms guaranteeing the Syrian heavyweight a minimum of $750,000 per fight. The contract also called also stated that “DKP would bid “at least $1,000,000 at the May 28, 2019 purse bid for the Charr/Bryan Bout,” with 75% of the purse going to Charr and with the purse bid amount satisfying his mandatory minimum.

The complaint alleges—with documented proof submitted as evidence—that an agreement between Charr, King and Epic prompted the cancellation of said purse bid. Charr insists that he never agreed to such a development, nor was he provided with a Bout Contract to sign and submit to the WBA. “Charr did not consent to the cancellation nor learn that DKP and Epic failed to submit the requisite paperwork, including the Bout Contract, until after the bid was cancelled,” notes Jared Lopez of Black Srebnick, P.A., co-counsel for Charr along with Patrick English of Dines and English LLC. “

King won the rescheduled purse bid hearing last March 2, submitting a whopping $2,000,000 to retain the rights to the fight. From that amount, Charr was entitled to 75% or $1,500,000, with the remaining 25% ($500,000) to go to Bryan. Per WBA purse bid terms, King was also on the hook to secure travel visas for all key parties in need, along with full travel accommodations for Charr and approved team members.

The complaint alleges that King sought a loophole by providing a standard DKP Bout Agreement in lieu of the required WBA Bout Contract for its sanctioned fights. The DKP Bout Agreement does not leave the promoter solely responsible for matters such as securing travel visas for boxers scheduled for said shows.

Charr—a practicing Muslim of Syrian heritage—was stuck in Germany due to Executive Order 13780, in which travel to the U.S. was banned to nationals of more than a dozen countries, including Syria. The modified Executive Order was loosely known as the “Trump Travel Ban”, first enforced by then-President Donald Trump in 2017. King is a longtime friend and supporter of Trump, and assured Charr and his team that he would use his influences to secure an exception that would allow the boxer to travel to the U.S. in time to proceed with the long overdue title defense.

That never took place, despite multiple inquiries placed by English as well as Erol Ceylan, Charr’s regional promoter and international manager. The last such effort for contact came on January 26, when Charr’s counsel informed Carl Lewis, head counsel for DKP that Charr was unable to travel from Germany and move forward with the fight due to DKP’s refusal to send a Bout Contract as proof of a fight taking place which would have allowed Charr to secure a P-1 travel visa.

It is further alleged in the complaint under the Tortious Interference count that King and DKP “intentionally and unjustifiably interfered with Charr’s business relationship with the WBA by coercing Charr into signing the noncompliant DKP Bout Contract, which violated WBA rules and contained terms prohibited by the Muhammad Ali Act, 15 U.S.C. 6307b(b. DKP and King further intentionally and unjustifiably interfered with Charr’s business relationship with the WBA by refusing to submit the executed DKP Bout Contract to the WBA and withholding a copy of the contract from Charr, despite his requests, to prevent Charr from obtaining his P-1 Visa and traveling to the United States to participate in the Charr/Bryan Bout.

“DKP and King intentionally and unjustifiably interfered with Charr’s business relationship with the WBA by exerting undue influence over the WBA after Charr was prevented from defending his title by causing the WBA to improperly strip Charr of his title as the reigning Regular Heavyweight Champion. As a result of King and DKP’s unlawful interference, the WBA cancelled the rescheduled Charr/Bryan Bout causing Charr to sustain damages including, but not limited to, $1.5 million in lost income that King and DKP were obliged to pay Charr for his purse in that title fight.”

The Civil Conspiracy count alleges that King and DKP operated with five yet-to-be-named parties (noted in the complaint as John Does 1-5, but to be identified through discovery should this go to trial) to “illegally exert undue influence over the WBA for the malicious purpose of persuading the WBA to strip Charr of his WBA Regular Heavyweight Champion title without cause and in violation of WBA rules.” It was through this action, the complaint alleges, that led to Charr being stripped of his title and to the benefit of DKP and Bryan, who was provided with the opportunity to fight for and win the belt.

Charr has since taken a stay-busy fight at home, scoring a second-round knockout of previously unbeaten Christopher Lovejoy this past May 15 in Hamburg, Germany. Fittingly, King tried to block that fight as well.

Lovejoy was previously under contract with DKP and also due to have fought on the January 30 show in Florida. Lovejoy contended that he never had a contract in place obligating him to the January date, and had since declared free agent status in the ensuing months. King’s office contended that Lovejoy was still under contract, to the point where event promoters in Germany had opponents on standby had the legal matter managed to go the distance.

The fight ultimately proceeded as scheduled, marking Charr’s first ring appearance since November 2017. The next in-ring appearance for Charr isn’t immediately known, though he has clear direction of his next fight, for which he is prepared to go the distance.

Charr has demanded a trial by jury for all four counts named in the aforementioned complaint.

Lol

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Ruthless-RKO]

WBA, Mendoza Named As Defendants In Charr's Amended Lawsuit Against Don King

Mahmoud Charr continues to press forward with his multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Don King.

In fact, he’s gone out of his way to name co-conspirators in his latest filing.

A Motion to Amend Complaint filed by Charr and his legal team has named the World Boxing Association as a whole and its president Gilberto Mendoza Jr. as parties to an existing seven-count civil lawsuit initially filed last August. The amendment was filed on Monday with the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida in Fort Lauderdale, alleging that Mendoza and the WBA have assisted Don King Productions and Epic Sports—Charr’s co-promoter through a partnership with DKP—in his claims of breach of contract, tortious interference, and civil conspiracy.

The role played by the WBA and Mendoza—as it is alleged by Charr and his attorneys—is a quid pro quo with King ensuring that Charr would be removed from an ordered title fight with Trevor Bryan and his secondary WBA heavyweight title reign.

“The WBA is one of four ratings associations in professional boxing. It is generally considered a corrupt organization,” alleges Charr’s attorneys Jared Lopez and Patrick English in a 91-page complaint, a copy of which was obtained by Boxing Scene. “This is in large part due to the WBA’s practice of accepting payments and/or gifts from promoters and “fixers” in exchange for fraudulently improving the rankings of fighters. This pay-to-play scheme enables less talented or unqualified fighters to participate in more profitable bouts (including, in some cases, title bouts), which in turn increases the profits collected by their promoters and/or “fixers” who engage in these illicit back-door dealings with WBA officials.

“These illicit deals are executed in many forms: In some cases, promoters and “fixers” make payments (or provide things of value) directly to WBA officials. In other instances, promoters and “fixers” will disguise such economic incentives as “donations” or “gifts” to third-parties, which in turn launder these incentives to WBA officials. Although Mendoza purports to take no salary or emoluments as president of the WBA, this is false: Mendoza is among the WBA officials who have and continue to receive economic incentives through illicit back-door deals with promoters and “fixers” participating in this scheme—this includes King and DKP.”

Charr seeks judgments in excess of $12,500,000 from the seven counts filed:

- Violation of the Muhammad Ali Act (Charr vs. King, DKP, Epic, WBA and Mendoza);

- Violation of the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act (Charr vs. King, DKP, Epic, WBA and Mendoza);

- Breach of Contract—Promoter Agreement (Charr vs. DKP and Epic);

- Breach of Contract—Purse Bid Agreement (Charr vs. DKP);

- Tortious Interference With Business Relationship (Charr vs. DKP and King);

- Breach of Contract—WBA Rules and Decrees (Charr vs. WBA)

- Civil Conspiracy (Charr vs. King, DKP, WBA and Mendoza)

“Upon information and belief, King and DKP have engaged in these deals with Mendoza since at least 2015 by making payments and/or providing gifts to Mendoza through at least one third-party: Sports Consulting Services, LLC (“SCS”),” alleges the complaint. “Mendoza’s son and at least one other WBA employee are believed to have been employed by and/or maintained an ownership interest in SCS since August 2018. In other words, it is believed that all payments and/or gifts provided to SCS by King and DKP from August 2018 to the present have been passed along to Mendoza and other WBA officials in exchange for Mendoza and the WBA fraudulently improving the ranking of King’s and DKP’s fighters during this period.

“Additionally, King and DKP have participated in this ongoing pay-to-play scheme by providing economic incentives directly to Mendoza under false pretenses: For example, in one instance, King and DKP disguised payments (or other economic incentives) to Mendoza as “wedding gifts” that were given by King and DKP to Mendoza in or about February of 2020 in exchange for Mendoza and the WBA continuing to improve the rankings of King’s and DKP’s fighter, Bryan. Furthermore, King and DKP have executed these illicit back-door deals by allowing the WBA to retain money “deposited” by King and DKP for scheduled bouts, which should otherwise have been returned by the WBA to King and DKP under league rules. Additionally, other “fixers” have also admittedly supplied female companionship to WBA officials to “sweeten” these deals.”

The breach of contract counts involving the promotional and purse bid agreements along with tortious interference and civil conspiracy were filed in the original complaint. The civil conspiracy claim was amended to include the WBA and Mendoza, along with new charges on the Muhammad Ali Act and RICO Act Violations and WBA Rules and Decrees breach of contract.

On the claim of Civil Conspiracy, Charr’s legal team alleges to have learned that “King, DKP, Mendoza, and WBA officials entered an agreement to illegally exert undue influence over the WBA for the malicious purpose of causing the WBA to strip Charr of his WBA Regular Heavyweight Champion title without cause and in violation of WBA rules.

“At all times material hereto, King, DKP, Mendoza, and WBA officials worked in concert to perpetrate the illegal and overt act of exerting undue influence on the WBA for the malicious purpose of persuading the WBA to strip Charr of his Heavyweight Championship title without cause and in violation of WBA rules. In major part, this was because Charr declined to give future promotion rights to King and DKP, something which he was not obliged to do under 15 U.S.C. § 6307b(b).”

The heart of the lawsuit stems from Charr’s claim that King prevented the Germany-based heavyweight from proceeding with an ordered title consolidation bout with Trevor Bryan. The two were due to fight last January 30 in Hollywood, Florida and again in a rescheduled bout for this past January 30 in Warren, Ohio.

Both attempts fell through, with Charr having been stripped of his secondary version of the WBA heavyweight title as a result of the fallout. Charr was due to make $1,500,000 for the fight, per the terms of a purse bid won by Don King Productions and which he now seeks to recover “in addition to any other relief the court seems proper.”

Charr never defended his version of the heavyweight title due to a number of circumstances, the extent of which was the result of two years’ worth of delays surrounding his ordered fight with Bryan who held an interim title at the time. The most extreme incident took place in the weeks and days leading to his canceled January 30 fight with Bryan which Charr was denied due to a failure to secure a travel visa, prompting the WBA to declare the title vacant and which was made available for Bryan’s bout with late replacement Bermane Stiverne.

Bryan went on to win the fight by eleventh-round stoppage, upgrading from WBA interim titlist to its secondary titleholder. He was due to face Charr earlier this year, only for history to repeat itself and Charr ultimately removed from the mix. Bryan instead faced unbeaten Jonathan Guidry, whom he outpointed in a strangely scored split decision this past January before losing the title to England’s Daniel Dubois via fourth-round knockout on June 11 in Miami.

Charr initially won the belt in a twelve-round, unanimous decision win over Alexander Ustinov in November 2017. Just two fights have followed—a second-round knockout over unbeaten Christopher Lovejoy last May in Cologne, Germany, and a third-round knockout of Nikola Milacic this past May 28 in Hamburg. Both bouts came after he was downgraded to WBA Champion In Recess and then removed from the equation altogether, which he and his team believed to have directly affected his brand and earning potential.

“As a result of the illegal and overt acts committed by King, DKP, Mendoza, and WBA officials in furtherance of this conspiracy, Charr sustained damages including, but not limited to, the loss of his title as the rightful WBA Heavyweight Champion.”

As was the case from the initial filing, Charr demands a jury trial for all seven counts.

[joshj909]

Hope he wins. Will be an expensive case to lose. Look how the WBA have ended up with Fres 2.0.

[chinarich]

Well, Don King effectively stole the belt from Charr, possibly his last 'great' act as a promoter! Surely all the WBA has to do to make this go away is install Charr as mandatory, I don't think Dubois would have any problem fighting him in a first defence.

[H8Usernames]

Everyone sues Don King all the time. Maybe I will file a lawsuit against the fellow just to join the club.

[joshj909]

Well, Don King effectively stole the belt from Charr, possibly his last 'great' act as a promoter! Surely all the WBA has to do to make this go away is install Charr as mandatory, I don't think Dubois would have any problem fighting him in a first defence.

Yeah that seems like the easy option. Maybe give him a larger % of the purse than your normal mandatory. He's probably the type of opponent Dubois is looking for anyway.

[Ruthless-RKO]

WBA Granted Motion To Dismiss, No Longer Named In Ongoing Charr Lawsuit Versus Don King, et al.

Mahmoud Charr was dealt a blow in his ongoing lawsuit against Don King and other parties.

A Motion to Dismiss filed by the World Boxing Association was ruled in the sanctioning body’s favor. The matter was finalized in a Broward County court Wednesday afternoon, thus removing the WBA from four separate counts in which the organization was previously named by Charr as an alleged co-conspirator.

An amended complaint filed by Charr last July named both the WBA and Gilberto Jesus Mendoza, WBA president, personally as parties to four of the seven counts originally filed by the boxer against Don King Productions and Epic Sports. An ongoing lawsuit originally filed by Charr in August 2021 sought judgments in excess of $12,500,000 from the seven counts filed:

- Violation of the Muhammad Ali Act (Charr vs. King, DKP, Epic, WBA and Mendoza);

- Violation of the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act (Charr vs. King, DKP, Epic, WBA and Mendoza);

- Breach of Contract—Promoter Agreement (Charr vs. DKP and Epic);

- Breach of Contract—Purse Bid Agreement (Charr vs. DKP);

- Tortious Interference with Business Relationship (Charr vs. DKP and King);

- Breach of Contract—WBA Rules and Decrees (Charr vs. WBA);

- Civil Conspiracy (Charr vs. King, DKP, WBA and Mendoza)

The WBA argued that Charr did not successfully exhaust all avenues to remedy the problem.

“Defendant WBA argues in its Motion to Dismiss that Plaintiff Charr had an obligation to pursue administrative remedies in a timely fashion before bringing this suit,” U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas stated in his official ruling, according to court records obtained by Boxing Scene. “Chapter F of the WBA Rules sets forth a multi-tiered administrative procedure for challenging a rating decision.

“After receiving the answer of the [WBA] in response to the request [for reconsideration], the boxer making the requests or on whose behalf the request was made may then file an appeal of the decision. The appeal “may not be considered unless all applicable administrative procedures have been met and all administrative reviews have been exhausted.”

The heart of the lawsuit stems from Charr’s claim that King prevented the Germany-based heavyweight from proceeding with an ordered title consolidation bout with Trevor Bryan, who was the interim titlist at the time of their first attempted title consolidation bout. The two were due to fight on January 30, 2021 in Hollywood, Florida and again in a rescheduled bout for last January 30 in Warren, Ohio.

Both attempts fell through, with Charr stripped of his secondary version of the WBA heavyweight title as a result of the fallout. Charr was due to make $1,500,000 for the fight in 2021, per the terms of a purse bid won by Don King Productions and which he now seeks to recover “in addition to any other relief the court seems proper.”

Charr never defended his version of the heavyweight title due to a number of circumstances, the extent of which was the result of two years’ worth of delays surrounding his ordered fight with Bryan who held an interim title at the time. The most extreme incident took place in the weeks and days leading to his canceled January 2021 fight with Bryan. Charr was denied due to a failure to secure a travel visa, prompting the WBA to declare the title vacant and demote the Syrian heavyweight to ‘Champion in Recess.’

The vacant belt was made available for Bryan’s bout with late replacement Bermane Stiverne. Bryan went on to win the January 2021 fight by eleventh-round stoppage, upgrading his WBA interim title to the ‘Regular’ belt. He was due to face Charr earlier last year, only for history to repeat itself and Charr ultimately removed from the mix.

Bryan instead faced unbeaten Jonathan Guidry, whom he outpointed in a strangely scored split decision this past January before losing the title to England’s Daniel Dubois via fourth-round knockout on June 11 in Miami.

By that point, Charr already filed his multimillion-dollar lawsuit against DKP and Epic Sports.

Charr (34-4, 20KOs) initially won the belt in a twelve-round, unanimous decision win over Alexander Ustinov in November 2017. Just three fights have followed—a second-round knockout over unbeaten Christopher Lovejoy last May in Cologne, Germany; a third-round knockout of Nikola Milacic this past May 28 in Hamburg; and a second-round knockout of Nuri Seferi last December 21, also in Hamburg.

All three bouts came after Char was downgraded to WBA Champion In Recess and then removed from the equation altogether, which he and his team believed to have directly affected his brand and earning potential.

“As a result of the illegal and overt acts committed by King, DKP, Mendoza, and WBA officials in furtherance of this conspiracy, Charr sustained damages including, but not limited to, the loss of his title as the rightful WBA Heavyweight Champion,” Charr’s legal team—Jared Lopez and Patrick English—argued in a 91-page amended complaint adding the WBA and Mendoza to its original filing.

Based on its policy requiring exhaustion of all means required to appeal a decision, the WBA successfully argued that the four counts in which the organization was named as co-conspirators were not applicable.

“Defendant WBA contends that Charr’s claims against WBA must be dismissed for failure to state a claim under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) because he has made no effort to comply with the contractually required remedies contained in the WBA Rules,” noted judge Dimitrouleas. “The Court agrees. The Amended Complaint fails to adequately allege that this condition precedent to suit has been satisfied, which is fatal to these claims. Charr’s response of futility is unavailing. This argument is impermissibly raised in the response brief, as it was not pled in the Amended Complaint.

“Moreover, “[t]he futility exception, however, requires more than that the grievance procedures be unpromising. [Charr] must ordinarily at least have attempted to use the administrative remedies as set forth in the WBA Rules and have been denied meaningful relief. Accordingly, the Court will dismiss Plaintiff’s claims against Defendant WBA. The Court need not address the remainder of Defendant WBA’s arguments asserted in support of dismissal.”

While the WBA is no longer on the hook, Mendoza is still named as a party along with DKP and Epic. Boxing Scene has learned that Mendoza will similarly seek a dismissal, though the long-reigning WBA president was unavailable for comment due to legal reasons.

DKP and Epic previously filed a Motion to Dismiss, which resulted in the dismissal of two counts in the originally supplied complaint. Charr’s team was granted a Motion to Amend Complaint, at which time the filing last summer included the WBA as a whole and Mendoza personally as co-conspirators to sabotage his title reign and impact his earning potential.

[Nightmare Roy]

Adrian Broner has just signed a deal with Don King, guessing he doesn't or can't read news.

[tiny_acres]

Adrian Broner has just signed a deal with Don King, guessing he doesn't or can't read news.

How do you know your career is over?
Sign with Don King

[funso banjo baby]

I'd like to see Charr v Breidis ii