Golden Boy Promotions portrayed Monday?s jury decision in the explosive civil trial against Felix ?Tuto? Zabala as a legal victory, even if Canelo Alvarez still owes his former promoter millions for enriching himself off their work.
The jury exonerated Golden Boy on the question of whether it committed tortious interference and poached Canelo Alvarez away from All-Star Boxing, according to a spokesperson for Golden Boy. In fact, there is a judgment against All-Star Boxing to pay Golden Boy?s legal fees for a case that has been going on since 2010, the spokesman said.
But the jury did award All-Star Boxing a separate claim for ?personal enrichment? against Alvarez in the amount of $8.5 million for the nine times he fought under All-Star Boxing, the spokesman, Stefan Friedman, told RingTV.com on Monday night. Golden Boy plans to appeal the decision, Friedman said. The amount of the legal fees has yet to be determined. An attempt to reach All-Star Boxing lead counsel Alejandro Brito wasn?t immediately successful on Monday night.
?We are extremely pleased that not only did the jury find that no contract ever existed between Canelo and All-Star Boxing, but issued a judgment against All-Star boxing and ordered them to pay Golden Boy?s substantial legal fees,? Golden Boy said in a statement. ?Over the last five-plus years, many questioned why we wouldn?t just settle the case before trial. The answer is simple: We would not be extorted. It was clear from the beginning that neither Canelo nor Golden Boy Promotions had acted inappropriately in any way.?
ASB and Zabala Jr. had been seeking millions of dollars in punitive damages from Alvarez, De La Hoya and Golden Boy, claiming that Alvarez had signed an exclusive promotional agreement with ASB in 2008 when Golden Boy started working with him. Golden Boy and Alvarez would have been on the hook for millions more than the $8.5 million judgement if they had been found guilty of Zabala?s charges. Golden Boy will now try to fight that judgment.
?It is absurd to think that All-Star Boxing provided anywhere near that amount of value that the jury awarded under a separate claim,? the statement went on. ?We will appeal this part of the decision, and are confident we will win, just as we did on the contract dispute.?
Alvarez is now free to resume his career and won?t have to pay a dime to All-Star Boxing on any of his future purses, Friedman told RingTV.com. There would seem to be no more impediments from keeping Golden Boy from negotiating with Gennady Golovkin promoter Tom Loeffler on a potential blockbuster middleweight unification fight in the fall, if Alvarez and Golden Boy want it.
?Outside of appealing the financial damages, we now look forward to putting this episode behind us,? the statement said, ?and working with Canelo to continue his meteoric rise though the boxing ranks.?
