Promoters Spar, Goossen Suing Arum
By Michael Woods February 14th, 2007Dan Goossen sues Top Rank over Margarito/Williams
It’s time for the lawyers to get ready to rumble.
Dan Goossen, President of Goossen Tutor Promotions, announced today that his company has filed a lawsuit in Puerto Rico against Bob Arum’s Top Rank, Inc. for “tortiously interfering” with Goossen Tutor’s promotion of WBO welterweight champion Antonio Margarito’s mandatory title defense against No. 1 contender Paul Williams, a Goossen client.
Goossen Tutor earned the right to promote the championship bout by winning the purse bid held in Puerto Rico on January 30, 2007.
As the successful bidder and upon receiving the signed bout agreement from Margarito, Goossen Tutor requested that the WBO sanction the Margarito vs. Williams championship bout.
The WBO postponed the sanction pending resolution of the legal controversies, after Top Rank threatened them with a suit, Goossen maintains.
Goossen Tutor has also included the WBO as a defendant in the pending suit, and they are demanding the sanctioning of the championship bout be consistent with the rules and regulations of the WBO.
The lawsuit filed by Goossen Tutor requests an injunction, which will enable Goossen to proceed with the staging of the Margarito/Williams title bout as soon as Margarito is given medical clearance to return to the ring. His right hand has been ailing him.
“Bob Arum is operating in a very disingenuous manner in failing to comply with the same WBO rules that he specifically requested be applied to this same WBO champion in December of last year,â€? Goossen explained. “The Top Rank-WBO agreement enabled Margarito to defend his title against a lower-ranked Joshua Clottey instead of the WBO’s #1 mandatory contender, Paul Williams, provided the winner next defended the title against Williams.”
“The representation made by Top Rank stated that Margarito would next defend against Williams, and now Arum is attempting to circumvent this agreement and the WBO rules by disregarding the very rules he has abided by for many years as a WBO licensed promoter,� Goossen continued.
“We cannot—and will not—stand for Top Rank’s blatant disregard of Williams’ rights in this case,� Goossen declared. “We abided by the WBO rules and stepped aside so Margarito could face Clottey. Then we outbid all eligible promoters for the right to promote the mandatory bout. Paul Williams has earned the right to fight for Margarito’s title, and Margarito signed for the bout confirming his belief the boxing public deserves to see this exciting and intriguing matchup between undoubtedly the two biggest and strongest welterweights in the world.
“We hope to have a swift and definitive decision in our favor so that we may proceed in promoting what shapes up to be one of the most compelling fights in this or any other year.�
Margarito, it has been said, isn’t overly enamored of his promoter, Top Rank, and his contract with them is almost up. The Margarito camp has maintained that Top Rank placed pressure on them to resign with the Las Vegas firm, but Team Margarito is more interested in playing the field promotionally. A fight with Miguel Cotto, which would be the preference of Arum, would have paid Margarito about $1.8 million and a fight with
Williams would pay him a shade less than that.
Stay tuned for more promotional on this promotional skirmish…
February 14th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
BOB ARUM…why, why, why? What grounds do you have to interfere? Margarito is the WBO champ! It’s that simple! Let the man defend it and get on with his life! All fighters pay such a high price by the greed demonstrated by low lifes like Arum.
I for one can not wait for this fight to happen. Viva Antonio Margarito!!
February 14th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
This is the kind of rubbish that pisses me off with professional boxing, too much meddling from the promoters. Fans want to see the best boxers face off against one another title or no title. Let it go Arum, you are not doing yourself any good publicity with this stunt.
February 14th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
I agree with with the Williams camp here, this is ridiculous. Margarito want’s a fight with Cotto, but I got news for ya, it’s not gonna happen until the end of the year, if ever. Cotto has what should be an easy night against Oktay Urkal in March, and incase none of you have been informed, last evening Cotto signed a contract for his June 9 date with none other than the oh-so-loveable Zab Judah. Margarito probably has the least to do with this chaos out of anyone. Margarito’s biggest goal, or at least it seems so, is to get Mayweather in the ring to show everyone he is the best in the world. I respect that, but personally think Mayweather would make Margarito look like a slow, sloppy, inexperienced amatuer. Even so, one must give credit to the will of Margarito. Margarito should do what’s best for his career, and since the Cotto fight is out of reach, take the Williams figh and see if you can add another victory over an undefeated, devastating puncher (i.e. Kermit Cintron). After that why not offer a shot at the title to Shane Mosley, Carlos Baldomir, Diego Corrales, or the winner of Hatton-Castillo. All of those names will bring him big money, and earn him the respect his so eagerly desires.
February 14th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
Arum promotes both Cotto and Margarito. So it should be easy to make a fight between the two in a perfect world. But,hey there’s nothing like milking the ole mighty dollar. It’s obvious that something is going on that make’s Arum hesitant to match Margarito with Williams. Some call it ducking. I don’t believe
fighters duck other fighters. I can’t imagine Margarito being afraid of Williams.
No Way. It sure sounds like Arum is afraid of Williams or else he would not hesitate making the fight.Goosen in this case is in the right.
February 15th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Look, when talking about a competitive fight one must analyze two things, well, as far as a promoter. In this case we got Arum who has a great competitive potential prospect fighter in his hands that could make him millions. None other than Margarito, Arum, who is pretty upset since Margarito is set off to fight mandatory chanllenger Paul Williams, by doing so, he, Arum is missing out on what could be the second mega fight of the year, which is Margarito vs Cotto. So what is Arum afraid of? Arum is afraid of Margarito losing to Williams, which would only diminish Margarito’s reputation as a solid welterweight champion. We all know Margarito’s performance against Clottey was criticized enough to question his boxing technique, and defense. No disrespect to Paul Williams, but he has yet to gain popularity. Margarito alone has yet to gain recognition, all would be lost if he lost to an unheard of Williams. In this case, these two can use each other as a stepping stone to gain recognition, which makes for a great fight. So hopefully, without anymore lawsuits taking place, we will get to see Margarito vs Williams, Cotto vs Judah, and possibly if all goes well… we will get to see Margarito vs Cotto later this year. Oh, and we all know it will be promoted as a culture fight, Mexico vs Puerto Rico. So Arum is just being a business man and following the money. Not to mention the number one mega fight of the year will be De La Hoya vs Mayweather, and does’nt help when the ex-promoter is falling behind.
February 15th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
Margarito, found out that being a Arum puppet, would make him lose money and face, for call out PBF and offering 8 million dollars for the fight. Then ducking Paul Williams. After the Clottey Fight. he could not sale it as a ppv. He dangle Cotto as possible fights. Know he makes millions on the Judah, Cotto fight.