By Rick Reeno
James Prince, the manager of undefeated super middleweight contender Brandon Gonzales (18-0-1, 10 KOs), has advised BoxingScene.com that his fighter is now a free agent. Prince says Gonzales is no longer associated with promoter Dan Goossen, who handled the boxer with co-promoter Antonio Leonard.
"Brandon received money from Antonio Leonard and Dan Goossen, just like Andre Ward. At the end of the day, Dan decided that he didn't want Antonio Leonard as the partner. He got slippery. When it rains it pours right now. We are going to weigh our options and get together and make a decision [about Gonzales' promotional future]," Prince told BoxingScene.com.
Prince has another situation ongoing with Goossen. Andre Ward, also managed by Prince, recently filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles to break his promotional contract with Goossen. Antonio Leonard has an ongoing lawsuit against Goossen in Texas.
There was recently some confusion with the IBF, regarding a final title eliminator. The IBF ordered an eliminator between Gonzales and Russian fighter Maxim Vlasov (28-1, 14KOs) - but the sanctioning body sent their notification to promoter Dan Goossen, who Gonzales parted ways with.
When the sanctioning body received no communication from someone on behalf of Gonzales, the IBF moved on to the next contender, Mohammed Ali Ndiaye (23-1-1, 13 KOs), a 34-year old stylist from Pontedera, Toscana.
Prince has since been in contact with the IBF to straighten the situation out, and now the sanctioning body has ordered Vlasov and Gonzales to face each other in the final eliminator - but Gonzales has until 5PM EST on December 17th to inform the IBF that he will participate. Vlasov has already agreed to participate.