A Nevada judge refused a request Tuesday that she cancel a $1 million undercard bout on Saturday’s Pacquiao vs. Marquez fight card in Las Vegas.
The request came in an Oct. 20 lawsuit filed in Clark County District Court by Gary Shaw Productions LLC and Thompson Boxing Promotions Inc. against Top Rank Inc.
Shaw and Thompson sought a temporary restraining order to halt the undercard fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena to be carried by HBO pitting Timothy Bradley Jr. of Palm Springs, Calif., against Cuba’s Joel Casamayor in a 12-round fight for Bradley’s WBO junior welterweight title.
Shaw and Thompson charged in their lawsuit that the fight should be called off because Top Rank had interfered with their representation of Bradley.
“Plaintiffs have not consented to Bradley entering into a promotional agreement with Top Rank. Plaintiff’s have not consented to Bradley’s participation in the Casamayor bout,” said the suit filed by Las Vegas attorney Harry Paul Marquis.
Attorneys for Top Rank at the Las Vegas law firm Campbell & Williams, however, argued Bradley’s contract expired June 30, when they say Bradley became a free agent.
Gary Shaw Productions and Thompson Boxing Promotions, however, insist Bradley remains contracted to them under a two-fight deal in which he has fought only one fight.
It’s a contract, the companies say, that if fulfilled will result in a $2.2 million payday for Bradley if he goes through with their second planned fight.
Bradley, 28, won the WBO junior welterweight title in April 2009, and has made three successful defenses.
Attorneys for Top Rank, promoter Bob Arum’s company based in Las Vegas, complained that Gary Shaw Productions and Thompson Boxing had failed to disclose a key fact about the case to the Nevada court.
That fact is that Gary Shaw and Thompson Boxing had filed a similar lawsuit against Bradley in Florida in July alleging that, due to personal animosity, Bradley’s manager — not Top Rank — convinced Bradley to leave Gary Shaw and Thompson Boxing.
In arguing that Saturday’s fight shouldn’t be stopped, the Top Rank attorneys told the Nevada court that Bradley, with a 27-0 record and known as “The Desert Storm,” is “in the prime of his career.”
On Saturday, “he is poised to display his talents to tens of thousands of fans live and millions others watching on television at home,” they said.
“Were he to be prohibited from fighting, Bradley would lose not only the $1 million-plus purse he stands to earn but also the chance to become the next boxing superstar which, in turn, could cost him tens of millions of dollars going forward,” they said.
Clark County District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez, after a hearing Tuesday, refused to cancel the fight. She ruled it wouldn’t be right to do so because of a lack of evidence that Bradley had broken his contract with Gary Shaw and Thompson Boxing.
Marquis said additional court action is planned this week in Florida and Gonzalez said he’s welcome to submit a new motion to her to cancel Saturday’s fight, should Gary Shaw and Thompson Boxing make any progress in their Florida case in the next few days.
On Wednesday, attorneys for Bradley scored another victory when a judge in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., similarly refused to stop Saturday's fight.
Donald Campbell of the firm Campbell & Williams, an attorney for Top Rank in Las Vegas, said the ruling denying a request that the fight be called off was issued by Broward County Circuit Court Judge Eileen O'Connor.
The ruling came after a hearing on allegations — again denied by Bradley — that the fighter was still under contract with Gary Shaw Productions LLC and Thompson Boxing Promotions Inc.