Don King files lawsuit against WBA seeking to have its titleholder fight in the U.S.

Don King Promotions has filed a lawsuit against the World Boxing Association in the U.S. District Court of New York for the Southern District.  The filing seeks to enforce the rule which requires the WBA to remove Mahmoud Charr as its Champion because he has not had a title defense in the applicable time period.

The lawsuit concerns WBA Heavyweight Champion Mahmoud Charr, a German citizen.  He won the promotion’s WBA World Heavyweight Championship on November 25, 2017.  Per the Rules and Regulations of the organization, he was to defend the title withing 180 days “from the date the title was obtained.”  Per the lawsuit, he did not comply due in part to his inability to obtain a travel visa. 

The lawsuit states that Charr was scheduled to defend the title in June 2018 against Fres Oquendo but a positive drug test caused the bout to be cancelled and the fighter suspended. 

An attempt to schedule a fight between Don King promoted Trevor Bryan and Charr were in talks but Charr “engaged in communications with a different promoter which adversely impacted the Bryan-Charr negotiations. 

According to the Complaint, Charr turned down fight with Bryan despite a guaranteed minimum payday of $1 million.  A purse bid took place which King won but due to the pandemic, the fight, scheduled for May 2020, did not occur.

On December 4, 2020, a bout agreement to Charr for the Bryan bout was given to the German’s representatives.  A requisite of the bout was that Charr obtain a P1 Visa which is a travel visa for athletes with scheduled events in the United States.  Charr indicated that he had a visa but it was discovered it was not the correct kind for him to take the fight in the United States.

King and Bryan file the lawsuit seeking a judge order that the WBA enforce its rule to strip Charr of his title and enjoin the organization from failing to enforce its rules.

Payout Perspective:

This past May, Charr fought Christopher Lovejoy in Germany and was victorious via KO.  The lawsuit seeks to make Charr take the Bryan fight in the United States.  Obtaining the wrong visa may be gamesmanship or just a poor reading of the U.S. immigration rules.  The purpose of Don King’s lawsuit is to force Charr to fight in the U.S. and give his fighter a chance to wrest the title away from the German whose last 4 fights have been in his country.  Its also interesting to note that Charr does not have a fight in the United States.  MPO will continue to follow.