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What exactly went on between Dibella and Hopkins?
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Flash back to 2001.
DiBella had recently left HBO, after serving a phenomenally successful tenure as the network's chief boxing programmer, to strike out on his own as an adviser and promoter.
Hopkins, an ex-convict, was a maverick middleweight champion who spent years railing against a boxing industry he felt too heavily favored promoters financially, and felt that fighters were exploited. He had sued two previous promoters, Butch Lewis and Dan Goossen. Although DiBella was in the process of leaving HBO and signing several 2000 U.S. Olympians -- including Taylor -- under the terms of his exit package from the network, he made Hopkins his first high-profile signing.
They seemed perfect for each other, both intent on reforming the system.
DiBella seemed to be able to get through to the stubborn Hopkins, finally arranging for his entry into promoter Don King's middleweight championship unification series in 2001. The move guaranteed Hopkins seven-figure paydays after never having earned more than about $500,000 for a fight.
The three-fight tournament was designed as a platform for superstar Felix Trinidad to move up in weight and become the undisputed middleweight champ. Hopkins, along with other titleholders Keith Holmes and William Joppy, were the others involved.
Hopkins defeated Holmes and Trinidad knocked out Joppy in the spring semifinals to set the stage for the high-profile final in September 2001.
Two weeks after the 9/11 attacks on the United States, Hopkins shocked the Madison Square Garden crowd by knocking out Trinidad in the 12th round to become the first undisputed middleweight champ since Marvelous Marvin Hagler in the 1980s. DiBella cried tears of joy at ringside. A few days later, as a thank you for what DiBella had done for his career, Hopkins presented him with gloves he said he wore in the Trinidad fight. DiBella was deeply touched by the gesture.
It was their last happy moment together. Hopkins dumped DiBella as his adviser shortly thereafter. But he didn't just walk away from DiBella, he dropped bombs making the exit. Hopkins told several reporters that while DiBella was still an HBO executive, he had extorted $50,000 from him in exchange for giving him a slot on a boxing telecast. DiBella, with his golden reputation in doubt, sued Hopkins for libel and defamation in a nasty, highly emotionally-charged trial. During the trial, DiBella was stunned to learn during testimony from Hopkins that the gloves he had presented DiBella with were not the authentic fight-worn mitts. Hopkins had given him the backup pair. It was just one more dagger to DiBella's heart.
In late 2003, DiBella won a $610,000 judgment -- although not the $30 million he sought -- and later had an appeal upheld, although Hopkins has yet to pay.
DiBella is still hurt by an episode that turned his life upside down and put him through more than three years of misery. It cost him a piece of his reputation. It cost him money -- he had to take out a second mortgage on his Long Island home to bankroll the lawsuit. And it has left his marriage in tatters. "I negotiated his deal with Don King to get him the Tito Trinidad fight," DiBella said. "And what I got as a thank you was Bernard Hopkins libeling me, trying to ruin my life, spreading horrible lies; and the court, a jury of his peers, and an appeals court, has ruled that he is a malicious liar, and I've gotten my justice. He tried to put me out of business. He took his best shot. I'm still standing. I'm still standing, man, and my guy is about to knock him into another place."“ Lou didn't get $10 million from me, he didn't get $5 million from me, he didn't get a million from me. He got ($610,000), which is not small potatoes, and that's why Lou is furious today. He knows he didn't win like he wanted to win. ” — Bernard Hopkins on Lou DiBella
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Hmmm. Interesting. I might have to ask Bunce to fill me in on the details. From what you've posted, something mut have gone on between the time Hopkins beat Trinadad and the time he dumped Dibella. Time to resurrect an old thread to get more details.Last edited by truthseeker1; 01-24-2009, 04:06 PM.
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