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He still won't let it go......
I won't post a link because I don't want to give the site any hits, here we go:
July 17, 2008
A COMPLETE DISSECTION OF ESPN.COM'S FAIRY TALE!
By G. Leon
While the headache-inducing search for a fall opponent for middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik continues, one guy who won't be challenging him is Allan Green, who apparently graduated magna cum laude from the Winky Wright school of deal making. That means he grossly priced himself out of the fight, just another poor decision by a fighter who seems to do nothing, but make poor decisions of late.
Leon's Comment: False. Allan never priced himself out of a fight. It's tough not to construe his poor decisions as of late remark as a cheap shot at me.
Mind you, Green, who would have moved down in weight, had done nothing whatsoever to deserve the shot other than be available. Even without earning the fight, it might have been interesting. I certainly would give him a chance to win if the right Green showed up.
Leon's Comment: Nothing whatsoever to deserve the shot, he's not earning the fight, but you give him a good chance of winning? Which one is it?
Guess we'll never know how he would have done because he turned down a whopping $450,000 (plus training expenses) for the opportunity. Who turns that kind of money down -- by far Green's biggest payday -- for a free shot at the title in a fight he can win? And who turns it down in this economy? Allan Green, who recently had to get help from Holden to pay his rent, does.
Leon's Comment: Considering the funds that were on the table for other fights, not sure whooping is the adjective I would have used. Who turns that money down is a good question because we didn't. Rafael writes that Allan Green turned this down as though it is fact when it is absolutely false.
When talks for Pavlik to face Paul Williams or Wright bogged down (they still are), Arum started talking to Holden, who has treated Green like family and done a masterful job guiding his career (even though Green doesn't seem very appreciative).
Leon's Comment: FACT: Arum and Holden didn't speak until after I spoke to Arum. With that being said, Allan Green would tell you that I was ready to give Holden all of the credit in the world for making the fight just to keep things on the level.
Like any negotiation, each side threw out numbers and they went from there. Holden said he asked for $750,000. Eventually, he and Arum settled on $450,000. Holden also said he got the fight without having to give Arum options on any of Green's future fights in the event he won (with the exception of a rematch). That's pretty impressive. It should be noted that Pavlik's last opponent, Gary Lockett, made just $250,000 for their fight last month.
Leon's Comment: Wonder how many other promoters would have asked how much more money they'd get if they co-promoted Allan's next three fights together? Anybody else think Arum would have anted up if he got some options? Could Arum and Top Rank have been helpful to Holden and Allan? Lockett made $250,000 but what was the package offer made to his promoter? Hmmm.
Next Holden told Arum he would take the offer to Green for his approval, which should have been a no-brainer. Pretty simple, right? Sure, until an inexperienced adviser gets involved, which is exactly what happened.
Leon's Comment: Nobody from Team Green notified Arum that we weren't taking the fight. One hour passed between getting hung up on, speaking with Tony Holden, then Allan and then Holden again to tell him we're taking the fight for $450,000. ONE HOUR and nobody ever turned it down. Indicating that I botched the deal is false.
Green had recently started working with neophyte Greg Leon, who convinced Green that they should have asked for more than $1 million, a number so preposterous for that fight that it would be funny if it wasn't true. That's when Arum, Holden and Leon got on a three-way telephone call, one Holden said he advised Leon against doing. During the call, Leon angered and disrespected Arum to such an extent that he hung up the phone.
Leon's Comment: FALSE. I never convinced Green what we should ask for. I discussed with Tony what we should ask for. And I told him that we should start at a million and work our way down to $750,000. One of the few truths to Rafael's column is that Holden asked for $750,000. How did we ask Arum for more than a million when Holden started at $750? Nobody on Team Green ever asked Arum for a million. Did Holden ask for $750k because he knew that's what everybody else was being offered? See my rebuttal for a full description of how I allegedly disrespected Arum.
"Bob and I have done millions of dollars worth of deals over the years. We respect each other and have worked well together, and we had a deal," Holden said. "The adviser got on the phone with me and Bob, and it was a disrespectful conversation, and Bob hung up."
Leon's Comment: When I first discussed the fight with Arum he and Holden hadn't spoken in a year. For our promoter to view the discussion as disrespectful with me calling Arum, Bobfather, it just goes to prove how ignorant he is to the extent Arum and I have spoken. We certainly don't go a year between phone calls.
Holden said that after the call Leon phoned him and said Green would take the offer. But it was too late. "I called Bob back, and the offer was off the table. Bob told me, 'I'll never be disrespected like that again,' " said Holden, who added that he had no hard feelings toward Arum.
Leon's Comment: One hour? What other fight did Bob nail down? Paul Williams? That Bobfather knows how to pull those strings, so it's no surprise Holden has no ill feelings towards Arum.
Arum, so incensed, said he instructed his receptionist not to take Leon's repeated calls.
Leon's Comment: For like an hour. This remark is misleading since Arum and I have spoken many times since then. Not too mention we usually speak on his cell phone.
"They got this genius adviser who doesn't know what the [f---] he's doing," Arum said. "They were pretty ******. What they asked for was ******, so the offer is off the table. You get a guy like Tony Holden, who knows the business, so what the hell does [Green] need that moron who doesn't know the business as a so-called adviser? That so-called adviser gave him bad advice."
Leon's Comment: Arum denied this to me and then said he couldn't view this story. Here's your quote Bob. It took Monte Barrett all of :57 seconds to prove I knew what I was doing when I accepted the Tye Fields fight, not bad for a neophyte so called adviser. What bad advice did I give him Bobfather? We accepted the fight nearly two weeks ago and have been waiting for you to realize the Paul Williams fight wasn't going to happen before you sent us our contract. Then it's suddenly off the table because HBO didn't approve it. We still want the fight for the same offer we're being accused of turning down. Arum doesn't think Al Haymon knows what he's doing either so I'll take that as a compliment, because it hasn't taken long for Haymon to son the Bobfather more than once.
Green, however, took it. It was another poor decision, one that cost him a lot of money and a shot at the middleweight championship.
Leon's Comment: FALSE AGAIN: My advice to Allan was to take the fight. I'm sure somebody will interview him soon and hear it for themselves. We took the fight one hour after Holden got Arum up to $450,000. Training expenses were never finalized either and didn't come into the discussion until a week after I allegedly disrespected Arum so badly that I became the reason the fight isn't happening. Don't know how many promoters start negotiating training expenses a week after the fight is off the table? Notice there's no dollar amount for training expenses. Why? Because by the time Arum was going give us that number, HBO turned the fight down.
Closing: It is clear to me that this story was penned with malicious intentions to damage my reputation as an advisor to professional boxers. The story is littered with lies that the author neglected to fact check, even with the network who was allegedly airing this fight. The involved parties will be held accountable for these remarks as I will seek every remedy to protect my reputation. Fortunately, none of the boxers I currently work with are taking this too seriously because I keep them well informed, however I can't be nuts for thinking a story like this could create reluctance amongst other boxers considering to sign with me, can I?
I won't post a link because I don't want to give the site any hits, here we go:
July 17, 2008
A COMPLETE DISSECTION OF ESPN.COM'S FAIRY TALE!
By G. Leon
While the headache-inducing search for a fall opponent for middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik continues, one guy who won't be challenging him is Allan Green, who apparently graduated magna cum laude from the Winky Wright school of deal making. That means he grossly priced himself out of the fight, just another poor decision by a fighter who seems to do nothing, but make poor decisions of late.
Leon's Comment: False. Allan never priced himself out of a fight. It's tough not to construe his poor decisions as of late remark as a cheap shot at me.
Mind you, Green, who would have moved down in weight, had done nothing whatsoever to deserve the shot other than be available. Even without earning the fight, it might have been interesting. I certainly would give him a chance to win if the right Green showed up.
Leon's Comment: Nothing whatsoever to deserve the shot, he's not earning the fight, but you give him a good chance of winning? Which one is it?
Guess we'll never know how he would have done because he turned down a whopping $450,000 (plus training expenses) for the opportunity. Who turns that kind of money down -- by far Green's biggest payday -- for a free shot at the title in a fight he can win? And who turns it down in this economy? Allan Green, who recently had to get help from Holden to pay his rent, does.
Leon's Comment: Considering the funds that were on the table for other fights, not sure whooping is the adjective I would have used. Who turns that money down is a good question because we didn't. Rafael writes that Allan Green turned this down as though it is fact when it is absolutely false.
When talks for Pavlik to face Paul Williams or Wright bogged down (they still are), Arum started talking to Holden, who has treated Green like family and done a masterful job guiding his career (even though Green doesn't seem very appreciative).
Leon's Comment: FACT: Arum and Holden didn't speak until after I spoke to Arum. With that being said, Allan Green would tell you that I was ready to give Holden all of the credit in the world for making the fight just to keep things on the level.
Like any negotiation, each side threw out numbers and they went from there. Holden said he asked for $750,000. Eventually, he and Arum settled on $450,000. Holden also said he got the fight without having to give Arum options on any of Green's future fights in the event he won (with the exception of a rematch). That's pretty impressive. It should be noted that Pavlik's last opponent, Gary Lockett, made just $250,000 for their fight last month.
Leon's Comment: Wonder how many other promoters would have asked how much more money they'd get if they co-promoted Allan's next three fights together? Anybody else think Arum would have anted up if he got some options? Could Arum and Top Rank have been helpful to Holden and Allan? Lockett made $250,000 but what was the package offer made to his promoter? Hmmm.
Next Holden told Arum he would take the offer to Green for his approval, which should have been a no-brainer. Pretty simple, right? Sure, until an inexperienced adviser gets involved, which is exactly what happened.
Leon's Comment: Nobody from Team Green notified Arum that we weren't taking the fight. One hour passed between getting hung up on, speaking with Tony Holden, then Allan and then Holden again to tell him we're taking the fight for $450,000. ONE HOUR and nobody ever turned it down. Indicating that I botched the deal is false.
Green had recently started working with neophyte Greg Leon, who convinced Green that they should have asked for more than $1 million, a number so preposterous for that fight that it would be funny if it wasn't true. That's when Arum, Holden and Leon got on a three-way telephone call, one Holden said he advised Leon against doing. During the call, Leon angered and disrespected Arum to such an extent that he hung up the phone.
Leon's Comment: FALSE. I never convinced Green what we should ask for. I discussed with Tony what we should ask for. And I told him that we should start at a million and work our way down to $750,000. One of the few truths to Rafael's column is that Holden asked for $750,000. How did we ask Arum for more than a million when Holden started at $750? Nobody on Team Green ever asked Arum for a million. Did Holden ask for $750k because he knew that's what everybody else was being offered? See my rebuttal for a full description of how I allegedly disrespected Arum.
"Bob and I have done millions of dollars worth of deals over the years. We respect each other and have worked well together, and we had a deal," Holden said. "The adviser got on the phone with me and Bob, and it was a disrespectful conversation, and Bob hung up."
Leon's Comment: When I first discussed the fight with Arum he and Holden hadn't spoken in a year. For our promoter to view the discussion as disrespectful with me calling Arum, Bobfather, it just goes to prove how ignorant he is to the extent Arum and I have spoken. We certainly don't go a year between phone calls.
Holden said that after the call Leon phoned him and said Green would take the offer. But it was too late. "I called Bob back, and the offer was off the table. Bob told me, 'I'll never be disrespected like that again,' " said Holden, who added that he had no hard feelings toward Arum.
Leon's Comment: One hour? What other fight did Bob nail down? Paul Williams? That Bobfather knows how to pull those strings, so it's no surprise Holden has no ill feelings towards Arum.
Arum, so incensed, said he instructed his receptionist not to take Leon's repeated calls.
Leon's Comment: For like an hour. This remark is misleading since Arum and I have spoken many times since then. Not too mention we usually speak on his cell phone.
"They got this genius adviser who doesn't know what the [f---] he's doing," Arum said. "They were pretty ******. What they asked for was ******, so the offer is off the table. You get a guy like Tony Holden, who knows the business, so what the hell does [Green] need that moron who doesn't know the business as a so-called adviser? That so-called adviser gave him bad advice."
Leon's Comment: Arum denied this to me and then said he couldn't view this story. Here's your quote Bob. It took Monte Barrett all of :57 seconds to prove I knew what I was doing when I accepted the Tye Fields fight, not bad for a neophyte so called adviser. What bad advice did I give him Bobfather? We accepted the fight nearly two weeks ago and have been waiting for you to realize the Paul Williams fight wasn't going to happen before you sent us our contract. Then it's suddenly off the table because HBO didn't approve it. We still want the fight for the same offer we're being accused of turning down. Arum doesn't think Al Haymon knows what he's doing either so I'll take that as a compliment, because it hasn't taken long for Haymon to son the Bobfather more than once.
Green, however, took it. It was another poor decision, one that cost him a lot of money and a shot at the middleweight championship.
Leon's Comment: FALSE AGAIN: My advice to Allan was to take the fight. I'm sure somebody will interview him soon and hear it for themselves. We took the fight one hour after Holden got Arum up to $450,000. Training expenses were never finalized either and didn't come into the discussion until a week after I allegedly disrespected Arum so badly that I became the reason the fight isn't happening. Don't know how many promoters start negotiating training expenses a week after the fight is off the table? Notice there's no dollar amount for training expenses. Why? Because by the time Arum was going give us that number, HBO turned the fight down.
Closing: It is clear to me that this story was penned with malicious intentions to damage my reputation as an advisor to professional boxers. The story is littered with lies that the author neglected to fact check, even with the network who was allegedly airing this fight. The involved parties will be held accountable for these remarks as I will seek every remedy to protect my reputation. Fortunately, none of the boxers I currently work with are taking this too seriously because I keep them well informed, however I can't be nuts for thinking a story like this could create reluctance amongst other boxers considering to sign with me, can I?
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