Only in Russia!
Boxing promoter Don King was slapped with a $2.4 million lawsuit Wednesday for allegedly failing to deliver a highly anticipated championship bout in Russia last month when one of his fighters, former WBA cruiserweight champ Guillermo Jones, had to pull out at the 11th hour after failing a drug test.
The breach-of-contract suit, filed in Manhattan federal court on behalf of current champ Denis Lebedev and his Russian-based promoter World of Boxing LLC, is seeking compensation for the “sizable sum” the promoter says it laid out for the rematch, including a $800,000 fee for delivering Jones that was allegedly deposited in King’s bank account.
The fight was cancelled after Jones tested for a banned weight-losing substance, and the WBA refused to sanction the fight.
Messages with Don King Productions were not returned, but King was reportedly livid about the cancellation. He has said he was not provided Jones’ test results and fumed because WBA honchos were not present during the testing.
Both fighters met in a title fight last May with Jones knocking out Lebedev in the eleventh round.
Nevertheless, Jones was later stripped of the title after failing a drug test by testing positive for the same banned substance.