Boxing manager Peter Kahn has filed a lawsuit against his former fighter George Kambosos for unpaid money due to him per an oral agreement between the two. The payouts dispute money earned from Kambosos two fights against Devin Haney.
Kahn filed the lawsuit on October 13th in Broward County, Florida. Khan is seeking actual damages of unpaid work he agreed to do for Kambosos. Specifically, the negotiation of the first fight with Devin Haney and the rematch which took place just two days after the lawsuit was filed.
In a letter attached to the lawsuit, Kambosos fired Kahn on October 3rd. Kahn responded with a request that he be paid the balance from both the first Haney fight and the rematch.
A text message from Kambosos to Kahn stated that the fighter wanted the second fight after losing to Haney.
Kahn is suing for Breach of Contract claiming that Kambosos did not provide him the proper managerial payout of the work he did to secure the Haney fights.
Kahn indicates in the lawsuit that he had an oral agreement with Kambosos in which the fighter would pay Kahn 10% of his earnings. However, Kahn states that Kambosos underpaid him for the first Haney fight. The lawsuit states that Kambosos paid Kahn $300,000 for the fight which was $88,000 less than the agreed upon ten percent.
Despite the discrepancy, Kahn continued to work as Kambosos manager. But, after the second fight was secured with Haney, Kambosos sent a letter firing Kahn just days short of his rematch. Kahn acknowledged the termination but also asked about the underpayment and his pay for the second fight.
Per the lawsuit, Kambosos received a purse of $4M USD as well as a percentage of the ticket revenue and share of the Australian PPV. For the second fight, he received a guarantee of $2M USD plus an upside of 37.5% of the Australian Revenue in excess of $2.5M USD. Both fights took place in Australia.
Kambosos has yet to respond to the lawsuit.
Payout Perspective:
Oral contracts are valid but it’s clear this one will be problematic considering it deals with percentages of a fighter’s purse. Also, one would believe that an oral contract between boxer and manager may be frowned upon by commissions and regulators. Certainly, Kahn should be paid for his work. But, one can surmise that Kambosos has a different story on the arrangement. MPO will continue to follow.
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