By Mark Vester

Several days ago, Anthony Hanshaw's manager Bryan Justus, during a taped interview with a reporter for Black PR Wire , accused well-known promoter Gary Shaw of making a racist remark. Justus alleged that Shaw, during a phone argument, used the phrase “black freaking monkey” when making a reference to Hanshaw.

"There were a lot of things said by him [Shaw] but one of the biggest things said by him, which I thought was a racial slur, was that he would put me and my ‘Black freaking monkey’ out of business and that he runs the show and Tony [Hanshaw] belongs to him," Justus said.

Black PR Wire distributed the story to dozens of websites, and eventually the story got picked up by the official website of Black Entertainment Television .

John Russell, the former manager of Hanshaw, was disgusted when he made his daily visit to BoxingScene.com and saw the kind of allegations that were being made by Justus. Russell was Hanshaw's manager up until the June 14 bout with Roy Jones, Jr. in Biloxi, Mississippi. He's been around the sport of boxing for over forty-years and witnessed a lot during that tenure. A man respected by many in the business, Russell keeps himself away from the limelight and doesn't involve himself in disputes.

After reading the statements of Justus, he said a 'fire was lit under his ass' and he could no longer stay quiet. Russell told BoxingScene that Justus, a newcomer in the boxing business, is using any angle to make a name for himself.

"He's a joke making a statement like that. He should be ashamed of himself. Me and Gary have had heated talks before, and I never ever heard him make a racist statement. I'm the one that took Tony to him," Russell said. "Nobody wanted to touch Tony because of his past. He burned a bridge with Main Events and Shelly Finkel. Not Lou DiBella, not King, not even B and C-level promoters wanted to touch Tony because of what happened in the past. Gary Shaw was the only person that took him in. Justus is a nobody, while Gary is out there busting his ass trying to help fighters and this guy is trying to ruin his career. "

New to boxing, but no stranger to controversy, Justus signed Hanshaw while he was under a valid contract with Russell.

"He signed Hanshaw when he was still under contract with me. I just released him last Tuesday. I had a legitimate contract with him. He's lucky I don't sue him," Russell said. "I had a legit contract filed with the Ohio commission. Then I read this sh*t he said about Gary. I've had my differences with Gary, but Shaw is no damn racist. Russell don't know a left hook from a fish hook. He's telling people he's Hanshaw's manager when I still had a valid contract."

"Justus signed him while he was with me, and the lawyer that was supposed to be my friend, Paul Adamson, was double dipping and brought Hanshaw to him. He was the one who drew up my five year contract with Tony. I didn't want to deal with Tony anymore. They gave me an amount and I released him, but just because I released Hanshaw doesn't mean I released him or Adamson."

"He was going around making statements that he was this big time manager for Tony and I stood quiet. He's trying to ruin Gary Shaw's reputation and attack him and turn people against him. I'm not going to stand back and let them attack Gary. He's got me as a witness. Anytime I will appear for Gary as a witness. Gary was always fair with the money and the negotiations. Justus knows nothing about boxing."

Russell says that as soon as Hanshaw became involved with Justus, the fighter changed for the worse and his vast experience in the sport made him see that a loss to Jones was coming.

"The kid couldn't even make weight and he was fighting a weight class ahead of himself. He never did that when he fought for me. He was undefeated with me, one fight away and he lost.  If I thought he could beat Jones I would have kept him," Russell said. "I knew what the outcome was going to be."

Even before the fight with Jones went forward, Justus was battling with Shaw behind the scenes over money. Russell, who was close to the situation and knows the facts better than most, shed some light on what took place.

"They went at it before the fight. They didn't want to give Gary his money back. They act like Gary was taking their money. I was there for that, we borrowed it from Gary and that was his money coming back to him. The lawyer knew it was a loan for training and expenses. Gary lost money on this kid, he didn't make any money on that fight," Russell said. "If Gary Shaw don't sue him, I'm going to be mad at Gary. I'm sticking up for what's right."

"This guy Justus wants to make a name for himself, he wants to make a name for himself in boxing. Nobody ever heard of this guy before, He's trying to get press. He's got a fighter who just got beat by an old man. Hanshaw got beat, so to get some ink he makes up some story about Gary making racist comments. He's not going anywhere so he needs to make some noise. He's going about it the wrong way. I was talking with Buster Douglas about this and he said the same thing 'it's bullsh*t.'  They are grasping at straws right now and I don't like the straws they are grasping."

Russell admitted several times during his interview that he and Shaw did not always see eye to eye and some of their own arguments were heated, but never once did Shaw even come close to making a racist remark.

"Gary always stood up to his word. He always paid me what he said he was going to pay me. I was around him enough and dealt with him enough and I never heard him say anything about any race. At the end of the day we became buddies because we respected each other," Russell said.

Send News Tips and Comments To Mark Vester @ boxingscene@hotmail.com