Pro Boxing Champion Ricardo Mayorga Sues Don King Productions and Monarch Sports Management

Miami, Florida, September 8, 2009 —Professional boxer Ricardo Mayorga is suing Don King Productions, owned by boxing promoter Don King, and Monarch Sports Management, owned by Don King's son, Carl, for violating the Muhammed Ali Boxing Reform Act, according to a lawsuit (Case # 09-22603) filed in U.S. District Court in Miami on September, 1, 2009.

Mayorga is a former World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council welterweight champion, and a former WBC junior middleweight champion. A Nicaraguan citizen, Mayorga won the Nicaraguan National Championship and was the Central American Golden Gloves champion as an amateur before turning pro in the 1990s.

Mayorga's victories against Diosbelys Hurtado (1999) and Marco Avendano (2000) earned him a spot in the world rankings. Soon thereafter, he hired promoter Don King, who then arranged for his son, Carl King to become Mayorga's manager.

According to Mayorga's Miami attorneys, Carlos Gonzalez and Chad Purdie of the Diaz Reus & Targ law firm, the suit seeks compensation for the Kings' oppressive business practices, which include an unenforceable promotional agreement. "Their actions have clearly violated the Ali Act, which is provides a system of safety precautions to protect the welfare of professional boxers," Gonzalez said. "Specifically, the act requires a firewall between promoters and managers, thereby prohibiting promoters from having a direct or indirect financial interest in the management of a boxer and vice versa."

The complaint states that the Kings' tactics have cost Mayorga significant monetary losses from several missed professional boxing opportunities. "Although Mr. Mayorga escaped a life of poverty in Nicaragua," said Gonzalez, "he has been left destitute in America by the gross breach of trust committed by the very people that were supposed to look after his interests."