Ray Austin Files Lawsuit To Prevent Valuev vs. Solis

By Rick Reeno

Ray Austin did what he promised to do. On April 22, Austin's attorney Gilbert E. Blomgren filed a lawsuit in an Ohio bankruptcy court against promoter Don King, manager Dale Edwards, the WBC and WBC president Jose Sulaiman. Austin wants to prevent the WBC-ordered final eliminator between heavyweights Nikolai Valuev and Odlanier Solis. A hearing has been scheduled for May 20.

Austin was the number one contender in the WBC's heavyweight rankings but lost his mandatory position after he filed for bankruptcy protection and attempted to break away from King and Edwards. In the legal papers, Austin claims that he instructed his attorneys to begin negotiations with Solis' promoter Ahmet Oner.

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Oner was looking to make Austin-Solis for the month of June in Germany. After some initial negotiations, Austin claims that Oner advised his attorney that the WBC forbid him to finalize the fight. Austin claims the WBC "sided with King" by replacing him with another King promoted fighter, Valuev.

Austin is seeking an injunction to immediately reclaim his mandatory status. He also wants an injunction for a cease and desist on King, Edwards and Sulaiman - directing all three to stay away from the fight negotiations. Austin wants an award of compensatory damages estimated in the amount of $3 million dollars, punitive damages to be determined by the court, and attorneys' fees.