Don King Wins: Judge Tosses Some Of Lawsuit From Boxer That Said The Promoter Helped Strip Him Of Title
Dec. 1 2021, Published 12:58 p.m. ET
Don King wins again.
A judge dismissed parts of a federal lawsuit against the legendary boxing promoter by a former champion who said King screwed him out of a bout and his title. This week, a federal judge in Florida issued a ruling in the case brought by Mahmoud Charr against King, Don King Promotions, and others. The case was filed in August. While some parts of the lawsuit were dismissed, Charr can move forward with the main allegations.
Charr was the World Boxing Association Heavyweight Champion and was set to fight Trevor Bryan, who King represented. There were discussions for a bout dating back to 2019, according to court records obtained by RadarOnline.com.
But Charr alleged there were problems every time the potential bout came up and disagreements over the purse, according to the records. At one point, Charr was to receive $750,000 for participating in the fight, but that did not happen. Then, in a later agreement, he was supposed to receive $1.5 million from King’s promotion company. Again, Charr claimed, he was never paid.
The champion also argued that King tried to force him to sign a contract with the promotion company instead of the standard boxing association deal.
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Charr and his lawyer removed the language from the promotion contact — as instructed by an official with the boxing association — and signed it, according to the filing. But King and his company never countersigned the deal. King took other steps to avoid paying the $1.5 million Charr as part of the pot, the suit contended.
Charr lived in Germany and the contract required King to help him get a visa to travel to the U.S. for the fight. King told Charr, who is Muslim, that he would use his connections with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to help him get a visa, the suit alleged. Charr’s hope to get to the U.S. was at the same time Trump had signed the so-called “Muslim ban,” which made it difficult for someone like Charr to enter the U.S.
When King failed to help, Charr tried to get a visa once President Joe Biden came to office and lifted the so-called ban, the suit alleged. However, without a contract signed by both sides, Charr could not obtain a visa and participate in the fight. That countersigned contract was never provided.
As a result, Charr never participated in the fight. King and others used the influence with the boxing association to strip Charr of his title, according to the suit. Bryan then won an “easy fight” that allowed him to become champion. The suit made several allegations, including breach of contract, breach of contract for the purse agreement, interference with a business relationship, and civil conspiracy. King and the promotion company sought to dismiss the entire case.
The federal judge agreed only to dismiss the breach of contract for the purse agreement and the conspiracy counts, allowing the rest of the lawsuit to move forward.
