Arum: King's $100 mil. lawsuit won't halt Chavez's two fights

He said it was no big deal and he was absolutely casual about it.

The $100 million lawsuit filed against him the previous day? "Frivolous," boxing promoter Bob Arum said Wednesday, dismissing rival promoter Don King's suit as a mere nuisance.

"It won't affect me," he said.

King filed the suit in federal court in Florida, claiming Arum's Top Rank Boxing "willfully and maliciously interfered with a long-standing business and contractual relationship" between King and fighter Julio Cesar Chavez.

Arum has Chavez scheduled to fight June 25 in Connecticut against Ken Sigurani and also Sept. 18 in Las Vegas vs. Oscar De La Hoya. He said King's suit will not interrupt those plans.

"First off, I don't think King has a valid contract with Chavez," Arum said. "More importantly, Chavez filed suit against him in state court (in Florida) two months ago and that's where this case will end up.

"Certainly there won't be any injunction granted by the federal judge and I'm sure the federal judge will wait for the state court to decide the matter."

He said the case was not yet on the Florida state court's docket and that it likely wouldn't be heard until later this year.

"The Chavez fights will go on," Arum said. "If King prevails in state court it will only affect (Chavez's) dollar numbers, because King will end up with a chunk of money from Julio's fight with Oscar."

Chavez and King have had a strained relationship at various intervals during their lengthy association. Arum said "I tried to sit down with King to straighten this out but it was impossible. However, it's clear to me, legally, he doesn't have a valid contract with Chavez."

Arum is all but preoccupied with contractual issues this week, as he is also attempting to line up future fights for De La Hoya with Ike Quartey and Felix Trinidad and in each case there are contractual roadblocks.

Backing off earlier plans for a De La Hoya vs. Yory Boy Campas fight for De La Hoya's WBC welterweight title Nov. 21 in Las Vegas, Arum said he would put Quartey in that spot if it can be arranged. He's also looking to sign Trinidad, the IBF champion at 147 pounds, for a May fight in Las Vegas.

Yet the status of both Quartey and Trinidad is uncertain due to each man signing contracts with multiple promoters.

"If I can get the Quartey situation resolved, we'd use him Nov. 21," Arum said. "Quartey, I really believe, wants to fight Oscar because it's the best thing he can do from financial and prestige points of view."

The stumbling block, however, is that Quartey signed a contract that splits his promotional rights between Louis and Michael Acaries of France as well as two separate U.S.-based firms, Square Ring and Main Events. Further complicating matters is the fact Quartey later signed another contract, but only with Square Ring and Main Events.

"I've got a solution," Arum said. "I already told all of them, 'Don't be stupid. Let's have everyone get a piece of the pie and let's get Quartey in the ring with Oscar.' If they weren't pigs, it would already be done."

Quartey's pending fight, a mandatory defense with Andre Pestriaev, is being delayed as his contract situation is sorted out. The Quartey-Pestriaev fight went to purse bid and the WBA announced last week that the bout has to be held by Aug. 11.

Arum has offered Quartey $3.5 million to fight De La Hoya.

He has also offered Trinidad "at least $7 million" for a fight with De La Hoya.

"The offer is firm," he said.

The holdup is Trinidad's contract with King.

"Felix and his father say they don't have a valid contract with King, but I've seen it and it seems to me it is a valid contract," Arum said. "Either way, I have no objections to sitting down with King and coming up with an equitable arrangement."

Despite the obstacles, Arum believes the Quartey fight could happen and that the one with Trinidad is likely. He also said Campas, originally pencilled in for Nov. 21 with De La Hoya, would, instead, fight WBC junior middleweight champion Keith Mullings if Quartey can be signed to fight De La Hoya.

In a related note, Arum and De La Hoya will host a political fund-raiser for U.S. Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.) Friday at the clubhouse at Spanish Trail.

archive