By Jake Donovan

For those openly rooting against the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) movement, it appears the best chance at a failed venture is waiting for the money to run out.

While one lawsuit is still pending against adviser Al Haymon’s enterprise, a victory was claimed in a separate but related case over the weekend. A $100 million antitrust lawsuit filed by Top Rank Inc. was dismissed by the U.S. District Court in California on October 16, less than seven weeks after such a motion was filed by Haymon’s legal team on August 31, according to documents obtained by BoxingScene.com .

Top Rank filed a Motion for Opposition on September 18, which was followed by a File To Reply by Haymon’s side on September 25. Given the aforementioned filings, the Court ruled that in its possession existed enough proof for admission without either party having to appear in court on October 5, instead moving forward to its final ruling as mentioned earlier.

Top Rank has until October 30 – the final business day of the month – to amend and refile its original lawsuit against Haymon.

However, one major setback for the Las Vegas-based promotional company is that it cannot name investors Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc., Waddell & Reed Investment Management Company and Media Group Holdings, LLC as the collective defendants’ motion to dismiss was granted in its entirety.

The PBC series is funded by a war chest believed to have begun with $400-450 million from the aforementioned investors.

Top Rank founder and CEO Bob Arum plans to proceed with the lawsuit in amended form, even if it lacks some of the bit that came with its original filing during the summer.

A separate $300 million lawsuit filed by Golden Boy Promotions – who underwent a major internal reconstruction following a messy divorce from Haymon last year – still remains in the docket. A ruling in some form is expected in the near future.

In its first amended complaint in August, Top Rank alleged that Haymon’s organization “[w]ith the financial backing, complicity, strategic planning, and material assistance” of the Waddell Defendants, are seeking to monopolize and restrain trade in the markets for managing and promoting “Championship-Caliber Boxers” in the United States.

Additionally, Top Rank claimed in its lawsuit that the conduct of Haymon and its investors were in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act and other federal and state laws.

Hon. John F. Walter clearly didn’t share the same viewpoint in his October 16 ruling. In establishing the legal standard for a motion to dismiss brought pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), a dismissal “is proper only where there is either a ‘lack of a cognizable legal theory’ or ‘the absence of sufficient facts alleged under a cognizable legal theory.’

“While a complaint attacked by a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss does not need detailed factual allegations, a plaintiff’s obligation to provide the ‘grounds’ of his ‘entitlement to relief’ requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.”

The foundation for Top Rank’s lawsuit stemmed from the following areas:

- Unlawful “tie out” in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1;

- Conspiracy in restraint of trade in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1;

- Attempted monopolization in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2;

- Injunctive relief under Section 16 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 26;

- Violation of the California Unfair Practices Act, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17000 et seq.;

- Violation of the California Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17200 et seq.;

- Tortious interference with prospective economic advantage.

In order for Top Rank’s case to be heard in regards to Haymon allegedly violating the Sherman Antitrust Act, it must show proof of “antitrust injury” - injury of the type the antitrust laws were intended to prevent and that flows from that which makes defendants’ acts unlawful.

The Court ruled that Top Rank failed to adequately allege injury to itself. Furthermore, Haymon’s legal team successfully argued that Top Rank did not provide proof of injury in allegations of “tie out” contracts, the use of sham promoters, predatory “payola” practices (a borrowed term from the music industry, where radio stations are “bribed” to feature a song in a rotation without properly disclosing exchange of funds), and venue blocking.

Top Rank cited only a small handful of examples of each, none lending suggestion to the allegation of being injured by such conduct as ruled by the Court.

The suggestion of monopolization – with PBC appearing or due to appear via time-buy on upwards of 10 separate networks - was recognized by the Court as having “met the applicable pleading standard.” However, its cited examples of exclusivity commitments were deemed too vague and lacking “the requisite factual detail” to proceed with the motion in present form.

Since its inception in January, PBC has so far aired 35 events over seven separate networks:

- Four have appeared in primetime on Saturday evening editions of PBC on NBC, with the very first PBC event airing March 7 live from Las Vegas. The network has also aired four more shows in Saturday afternoon editions. Its most recent offering came on October 17, with none currently on the schedule although that could change in the coming days.

- CBS has aired five editions of weekend afternoon events – three on Saturdays, two on Sundays but none since September 6 as to avoid conflict with pro and college football. No shows will likely be added to the network until after football season, although PBC fighters have appeared on CBS sister network, premium cable outlet Showtime, whose events are separate from the PBC series even if involving many of the same fighters.

- NBC Sports Network aired three unique Saturday evening events, along with providing bonus coverage from the aforementioned PBC on NBC primetime showings. Its next installment is scheduled for November 7, featuring a pair of title elimination bouts live from Miami.

- Fox Sports 1 just finished a block of six consecutive Tuesday night telecasts (PBC on Fox: Toe-to-Toe Tuesdays). The next show is due to take place on November 10 in Austin, Texas.

- ESPN canceled its long-running Friday Night Fight series on sister network ESPN2 in late May to make room for its primetime series on the flagship station. Four such events have aired, with the next installment budgeted for November 25 – the eve of Thanksgiving – live from the Miami suburb of Hialeah, Florida.

- Bounce TV has aired two events to date. Its August 2 edition served as the highest-rated program in the history of the network. The next edition of PBC on Bounce: The Next Round due to air on the African-American themed cable station comes October 30 live from Orlando, Florida, with the region serving as the series home.

- Spike TV has launched seven shows, with its PBC on Spike: Fight Night series producing the most Fight of the Year contenders of the lot. Included among that run was its terrific October 16 doubleheader from UIC Pavilion in Chicago, as well as the August 14 show from Newark that saw unbeaten Krzysztof Glowacki climb off the deck to rally back and knock out long reigning cruiserweight champion Marco Huck.

- Five more installments are on the current docket, with a hectic 2016 run already in store, one that will include the debut of PBC on free-to-air ABC and Fox.

The biggest blow came in the Court’s outright dismissal without leave to amend in regards to the earlier mentioned financial investors being involved in Haymon’s alleged conspiracy to control the boxing market. Top Rank mentioned in its lawsuit that even if the Waddell defendants were not conspirators, their role in financing Haymon’s operation holds them liable as aiders and abettors.

Such claim was rejected by the Court, which ultimately led to Waddell Defendants being permanently removed from the case and any forthcoming amended filings by Top Rank.

Ironically, the October 16 ruling came hours before separate boxing events presented by Top Rank and PBC appeared in conflicting time slots. PBC aired a thrilling doubleheader on Spike TV, live from UIC Pavilion in Chicago, while Top Rank offered the latest installment of its Metro PCS Friday Night Knockout series on truTV.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com.
Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
Facebook Page: JakeBScene