Comments Thread For: Top Rank vs. Gamboa: The Fine Points of The Lawsuit

[THE REED]

THIS! You hit the nail on the head by discriminating between the two issues. . . If this was just a "fight agreement", it's not a big deal. . Worst case scenario for Gamboa he gets popped with the fees, and has to pay TR and Arena back. . .

We need to worry about whether or not this contract extension is legit. . . Cause Gamboa won't be fighting unless they let him buy it out, or release him. Hopefully (if they won't let him buy his contract out), Gamboa will just do like Donaire and make amends with TR to continue his career.

Or Floyd will give him the money to buy it out... Seems like Floyd is trying or already did sign him.

[edgarg]

I just hope Yuri's lawyer is as on top of things as he seems. He must have given him the g ahead with this which would suggest it's not the ****** decision that some people are saying.

What we're gonna get from here on is Top Rank throwing all their weight into bad talking Gamboa, they know how to control the opinion of many through PR nonsense, as we've seen in the never ending Pacquiao-Mayweather saga.

What seems more likely to me is that Gamboa either by intent or inadvertently, mis-informed his lawyer as to the exact relationships between him and his promoters, and also about the upcoming fight. It's interesting that all this has erupted shartly after his domicile (temporary I expect) in the Mayweather gym.

[edgarg]

The main issue we should be worried about is not this litigaiton about Top Rank recovering their losses for staging the Rios fight, but whether or not Gamboa can get out from this "two-year extension" THAT is what could prevent him from fighting. . .

If it was just a case of "he said, she said" as you say, then nothing would be proven in court, unless someone lied convincingly. But I think you're wrong, all the emerging indications are that Top Rank has a solid case, and Gamboa's lawyer is only slowly absorbing the evidence, as shown by his changing the references of Gamboa's position, as he's finding what's what.

Gamboa, being only a boxer and no genius, may easily have misinformed him, and the possibility that (as Top Rank have actually put in their soecifics) some outside influence has "got at" him seems likely. Interesting that all this happened shortly after he landed in Mayweather's gym....

[crold1]

You do know it is not about the 1.1M? It is however the way is been divided and the whole contract... And if he can't sell a ballroom how come HBO cancel the whole card if he is not there?

Because HBO was paying for a particular fight and they'd rather now keep that money and buy something more attractive than Rios-Abril. HBO has purchased lots of fights from guys who can't sell out a laundromat. Nothing to note there.

[Eaner0919]

You do know it is not about the 1.1M? It is however the way is been divided and the whole contract... And if he can't sell a ballroom how come HBO cancel the whole card if he is not there?

1. if its not about the ~1.1 million then he shouldn't have told the main principals involved that amount was good to make the fight happen

2. because HBO was interested in the match up not necessarily the fighter. We've made complaints about HBO for years in focusing on one fighter and for them to move away from that model is good business. As big of a Rios fan as I am I know and agree that HBO not going forward with an Abril makes sense.

Since you love defending Gamboa so much you must know about him a little. Let me ask you this. What's been the biggest crowd he has pulled as the main event of a fight?

[UglyPug]

If it was just a case of "he said, she said" as you say, then nothing would be proven in court, unless someone lied convincingly. But I think you're wrong, all the emerging indications are that Top Rank has a solid case, and Gamboa's lawyer is only slowly absorbing the evidence, as shown by his changing the references of Gamboa's position, as he's finding what's what.

Gamboa, being only a boxer and no genius, may easily have misinformed him, and the possibility that (as Top Rank have actually put in their soecifics) some outside influence has "got at" him seems likely. Interesting that all this happened shortly after he landed in Mayweather's gym....

Lol Im not saying that at all - in fact, I agree that TR seems to have a very strong case. However, we have not heard Gamboa's side, so we don't know if he took any actions that would indicate he did not want to go forward with the bout. For example, maybe he had told people at TR that "he wasn't ready to proceed until 'x conditions' have been satisfied", or something along those lines. The court would have to take that into account as a revocation of the offer, whereby they would balance those against the actions proving he did indeed accept the offer. . . That really isn't the issue that would inhibit Gamboa from fighting for years, though. That lies with the issue of whether or not Top Rank (and maybe Arena Box, if he doesn't want to fight under them anymore either) has a binding contract extension with him.

Im definitely favoring TR to prevail as of now, but ultimately I DON'T CARE who "wins", as long as Gamboa can fight as soon as possible. . . No real boxing fan is a winner with a talent like Gamboa being sidelined for years. . .

[UglyPug]

Or Floyd will give him the money to buy it out... Seems like Floyd is trying or already did sign him.

I hope Top Rank isn't spiteful enough to let him sit, even if Mayweather or another benefactor would offer to put up however much to buy the contract out. . . The longer Gamboa sits, the more boxing fans suffer. . .

[crold1]

1. if its not about the ~1.1 million then he shouldn't have told the main principals involved that amount was good to make the fight happen

2. because HBO was interested in the match up not necessarily the fighter. We've made complaints about HBO for years in focusing on one fighter and for them to move away from that model is good business. As big of a Rios fan as I am I know and agree that HBO not going forward with an Abril makes sense.

Since you love defending Gamboa so much you must know about him a little. Let me ask you this. What's been the biggest crowd he has pulled as the main event of a fight?

Not to mention there is nothing particularly unusual about Gamboa's deal. It's pretty standard.

In general (not directed at Ean):

Aren't promoters supposed to get paid too? I mean, they actually perform a function, right? Not saying the cuts were sublime, but you'd think all fighters could do what Floyd does based on the thoughts expressed by some.

Here's the deal:

In the whole history of boxing, there have been a handful of guys with enough cache to essentially hire promoters one fight at a time. Leonard. Ali late in his career. Floyd for the moment. Mike Tyson came close to one of the great split deals ever but chose instead to go full tilt with King (he chose that). Others had great HBO subsidies based on their 'P4P' talent that did not reflect their market worth (and ultimately harmed the pay scale of the overall sport in the U.S.).

Everyone else NEEDS promotion and promoters take losses on most guys coming up in the hope to build them into someone they can make money off of later. Profiting off a long term investment is not stealing.

Top Rank has plenty of negatives. I don't see them so far in this particular instance.

[crold1]

I know someone who actually saw the correspondence from Gamboa, not his team the man himself, to Todd agreeing to the terms, agreeing to the dates of the press conference, TR agreeing to Gamboa's requests (travel advances hotel rooms etc) and to the money being fine

like people have stated just because nothing had been signed does not mean TR does not have a valid case.

When was the last time they lost on this sort of contract dispute?

[Roman Moreno]

When was the last time they lost on this sort of contract dispute?

Victor Ortiz? Or was that different since I think Ortiz filed bankruptcy to sign with Golden Boy?