Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2004 | 9:45 a.m.
South Carolina journeyman heavyweight Samson Cohen has not seen a lot of action in a Las Vegas boxing ring.
He barely broke a sweat when on Feb. 9, 1996, he went down for the count at 1:47 of the first round in a scheduled 10-rounder with Jeremy Williams at Caesars Palace on the undercard of a Top Rank Inc. promotion featuring Oscar de La Hoya and Julio Cesar Chavez in separate bouts.
Now Cohen's name has popped up again. This time it is in an FBI agent's affidavit in a federal court case in Las Vegas that will determine whether the August 2000 Don King-promoted fight at Paris Las Vegas between heavyweights Thomas Williams -- no relation to Jeremy -- and Richard Melito Jr. was fixed.
Cohen, whose undistinguished career features a loss and a no contest in bouts against former world heavyweight champion Oliver McCall, says in the affidavit he was paid to throw a fight against Melito in October 1998, in South Carolina.
Cohen is yet another interesting character to pop up in a federal investigation into alleged boxing improprieties -- a probe that gained national attention last month when the FBI raided the Las Vegas offices of Top Rank Inc.
While Cohen does not have the ties to Las Vegas or Joey Torres, a former Top Rank boxer who reportedly introduced into the local fight scene an undercover agent who called himself "Big Frankie Manzione," Cohen's comments in an FBI affidavit could play a role in the Thomas Williams case.
And the outcome of that court battle, which is scheduled for May, could have serious implications for the sport.
Cohen is one of seven fighters who told the FBI they agreed to throw fights for as little as $1,500 and as much as $10,000 to help improve the record -- and thus the marketability -- of Melito, who is 27-1 and in line for major pay-per-view fights. A fight manager also is named in the affidavit.
Cohen is the only fighter among those named in the FBI affidavit to have held a Nevada boxing license and to have fought a match in Las Vegas, said Marc Ratner, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the governing agency for boxing in the state.
The affidavit, filed by South Carolina-based FBI agent Scott Gillespie, says Cohen's manager, Billy Mitchum, got a call from promoter Bobby Mitchell a week before the Oct. 13, 1998, bout to arrange the fight between Melito and Cohen.
"Mitchell told Mitchum that Cohen had to lose the fight on purpose ... and that Cohen would be paid $5,000," the affidavit says.
Mitchum, who worked as a cornerman for Cohen during the fight, said in the affidavit that in "the first four rounds Cohen was beating Melito badly." Mitchell approached Mitchum and told him, "if Cohen continued to fight he would not be paid," the affidavit said.
When Mitchum told Cohen he was risking losing the money, "Cohen told Mitchum he wanted to be paid. Mitchum ... told the referee that Cohen was too tired to continue the fight. Melito was awarded the victory," the affidavit said.
Officially, Cohen lost by fifth-round technical knockout.
"Cohen advised he lost the fight on purpose to Melito because he wanted the money. Cohen advised he was paid $5,000 for the fight and Mitchum received $1,500 of that for his management fee," the affidavit says.
All of the other fighters named in the affidavit -- John Carlo of New York and Eddy Curry, Bobby Arthurs, Shelby Gross, Gerald Snyder and Benito Fernandez. all of South Carolina -- fought Melito. Each claimed he was offered money by Mitchell.
Mitchell, who last was issued a one-year license by the Nevada boxing commission in February 2000, also is prominent in the Williams case.
According to a federal grand jury indictment returned in August 2001, Williams was approached by promoter Mitchell and brought into a scheme to throw the Aug. 12, 2000, fight to help Melito's career.
The indictment states that Mitchell and others "arranged for at least some of Richard Melito Jr.'s opponents to accept bribes of money and other considerations to agree to intentionally lose to Richard Melito Jr."
The indictment alleges the conspiracy took place "in Nevada and elsewhere."
Mitchell and Williams are charged with sports bribery and conspiracy to commit sports bribery. Both have pleaded not guilty. Attempts to reach Mitchell's attorney, Thomas Naylor, were not successful. Attempts to reach Williams attorney, Federal Deputy Public Defender Kevin Tate, were not successful.
Melito has not been charged with any crimes.
Jim Knight, spokesman for the South Carolina State Athletic Commission, said all of the fighters from that state who were named in the affidavit have not renewed their annual boxing liceses for this year. However, none of them has a public record that would preclude him from being relicensed, he said.
Mitchum also is not currently licensed as a manager, but also has no public record that would deny him a manager's license, Knight said.
Mitchell is licensed as a promoter in good standing in South Carolina, Knight said, noting the presumption of innocence applies.
"If a licensee is found guilty in court or is disciplined by another state athletic commission, then we would consider the matter," Knight said.
Attempts to reach Cohen for comment were not successful. He has no phone listing in Hilton Head, S.C., which he claimed as his hometown in his fights.
Cohen and the other fighters and manager named in the affidavit have not been charged with any crimes.
Cohen's purported ring record through Sept. 1999, was 22 wins and 12 losses.
When Cohen was knocked out in the first round in Las Vegas in 1996, he was outweighed by about 15 pounds. Ratner said there were no problems with that fight and no matter regarding it was brought before the commission.
On Feb. 24, 1998, Cohen fought McCall in Nashville about a year after McCall lost by fifth-round technical knockout to Lennox Lewis for the vacant World Boxing Council heavyweight crown in Las Vegas.
McCall beat Cohen by first-round knockout.
McCall had a rematch with Cohen on Sept. 25, 1998, in Bassett, Va. In the second round, Cohen came out attacking and fell through the ring ropes, injuring a shoulder on a ringside table. He could not return in the allotted five minutes, forcing the bout to be declared a no contest.
There also have been no charges filed in connection with the Jan. 6 raid of the Top Rank offices. FBI agents served a search warrant at Top Rank, 3980 Howard Hughes Parkway, and seized computers, contracts and financial records from 2001 to the present.
The search warrant affidavit in that case remains sealed.
The case apparently was built in part by the work of the undercover New York police officer known as Manzione, who posed as a cousin of Torres. Torres had served 23 years in prison for murder and won a temporary release. He came to Las Vegas, boxed once for Top Rank and served as a fight scout for the company.
However, a California judge overturned the ruling that got Torres, 42, out of prison and ordered him back to court. Torres instead allegedly fled, was captured in Las Vegas in December and was returned to Los Angeles authorities.
Top Rank, which represents Floyd Mayweather, Erik Morales and De La Hoya, is owned by 72-year-old promoter Bob Arum, a former Justice Department attorney who became involved in boxing in 1962 and went on to become one of the world's top fight promoters.
Arum's last big promotion was for the 154-pound world title between De La Hoya and Shane Mosley last September. After De La Hoya lost a decision, Arum lashed out at the fight judges. Arum later apologized for his comments.
Arum has not been charged with any crimes in connection with the raid of his office.
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