Boxer Austin Trout has filed a lawsuit against the World Boxing Organization citing violations of the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act. It is the first lawsuit citing the Ali Act in several years.
The case originally was filed in the federal district court of New Mexico as that is where Trout resides. The original complaint, filed in February 2016, did not include a claim under the Ali Act, instead includes allegations of Unfair Trade Practices pursuant to the local rules in the state of New Mexico, Fraud and request for Injunctive Relief. Trout’s essential claim was that he was a highly ranked boxer that should have received a title shot but he was dropped in the rankings for what appears to be no apparent reason. A boxer that was previously ranked below him was given a title shot. According to Trout, it was because the promoter gave financial incentive to the WBO. He also claims that the WBO “solicited and accepted financial remuneration from promoters and/or managers to fix ratings.” Upon request of the reason why Trout fell in the rankings, he was not provided a response.
Attached to their original complaint was a “Show Cause” letter from the WBO to then Junior Middleweight Champion Demetrius Andrade, why the title should not be vacated due to lack of activity. Andrade vacated the title and Trout believed that he was due a shot at the vacant belt since he was highly ranked. However, he was not given the shot and, in fact, dropped from the rankings. Attached in the documents is correspondence inquiring the reasons for his disappearance in the rankings.
Original Complaint by JASONCRUZ206 on Scribd
The WBO moved the case to Puerto Rico and attempted to dismiss the lawsuit. The lawsuit was moved to the federal district of Puerto Rico where Trout’s lawyers amended the case to include the Ali Act violation, breach of contract and fraud. They claim the requisite statutory damages and attorney fees and costs which would total $40 million.
Amended Complaint by JASONCRUZ206 on Scribd
Payout Perspective:
This will be an interesting test of the Ali Act as there has not been a lawsuit in some time where this has been claimed. I took a look at this a couple years ago. For those that want to see MMA expand to the Ali Act, we shall see how this plays out. The claim relates to the lack of a rankings system to justify championship fights. Certainly, the UFC has not followed its own rankings and current fighters could make such a grievance against the company. It is likely that a Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint which was filed earlier this will transpire prior to the litigation of the lawsuit on the merits. MMA Payout will keep you posted
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