The Deontay Wilder-Alexander Povetkin case may not be over despite an 2nd Circuit Appellate Court ruling which affirmed the trial court’s decision that Wilder’s claims for breach of contract should be dismissed.
However, the deposit World of Boxing put in escrow for the fight remains up in the air. A letter filed with the Court last month indicates that Wilder is not giving up the fight as it contemplates an appeal to the full panel of Appellate Court judges on the 2nd Circuit (known as “en banc”) or even filing a request for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the appeal.
In a letter to the Escrow Agent on June 18th, they informed escrow, “…to make clear that the referenced decision [the Appellate Court opinion] is not a ‘final non-appealable order’ what would entitle a party to distribution of the funds held in escrow…” As a result, on June 19th the Escrow Agent informed World of Boxing that it would not release the funds due to Wilder’s objection.
Letter From WOB to Court Ad… by Jason Cruz on Scribd
World of Boxing now argues that this delay has triggered a ‘liquidated damages provision’ in the escrow agreement which states that any objection by a party ‘not made in good faith’ is subject to a $2.5 million disbursement to the other party. World of Boxing and Povetkin’s lawyers argued that Wilder’s request that it may seek another review would be ‘frivolous.’
Payout Perspective:
So here we are again with Wilder, Povetkin and World of Boxing still in a heated legal battle despite a jury trial, a summary judgment motion, a motion for reconsideration of the summary judgment and an appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. As stated by Wilder’s attorneys, the last two efforts on this issue lie with having the 2nd Circuit judges hear the appeal (only one of the judges participated previously) or a request for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. Both of these options are very remote. In most cases, those requests only occur where there are issues of unsettled federal law. Arguably, that is not the case here. But, what this could spawn is another lawsuit for the breach of the Escrow Agreement and its $2.5 million damage clause. This would be almost 1/3 of the amount that is still being held in escrow. MMA Payout will continue to monitor.
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