Tony Yoka TKO1 Johan Dahaupas... The two best heavyweights in France met, with 28 year-old Tony Yoka pummeling 39 year-old Johan Dauhaupas (38-6) in less than a minute and a half. Yoka is a 2016 Olympic gold medalist, 8-0 as a traditional pro but 15-8 including the World Series of Boxing. Dahaupas' time as a fring contender is clearly done. He's 38-6. Yoka's demolition of Dauhaupas comapres favorably to Dahaupas lasting a full ten rounds with Jarrell Miller and taking then-WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder into round eleven.

MMA star Conor McGregor (0-1 as a professional boxer) raised eyebrows by tweeting that he wil be boxing eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao (pictured). McGregor tweeted: "I’m boxing Manny Pacquiao next in the Middle East. It will be a true honour to have faced two of the greatest boxers of the modern era, afraid of a fight." McGregor famously lost to Floyd Mayweather in 2017, and it is unclear what he meant by "afraid of a fight." Pacquiao (62-7-2) is the WBA welterweight champion, having defeated Keith Thurman in July 2019 for his last fight. In February, Pacquiao signed with Paradigm Sports Management, the same company that manages McGregor.  Boxingtalk will continue to follow this developing story...

Salita Promotions is showing a willingness to go to court in order to enforce its contractual rights. The company not only filed a federal lawsuit last week, but in a span of just a few days obtained a temporary restraining order blocking junior welterweight Shohjahon Ergashev from taking another fight scheduled for last weekend. Salita was trying to set up a November fight for Ergashev (18-0) to be televised on NBC Sports as part of a new (and still not officially announced) organization known as Ring City, when Salita learned that Ergahsev had instead signed for a September 21st fight in Russia. Salita, who has an exclusive promotional contract with Ergashev, quickly filed a federal lawsuit in the Eastern District of Michigan against Ergashev and manager Oleg Bogdanov. Within a week, Salita had convinced the judge to issue a restraining order barring Ergashev from taking the fight in Russia. It appears that Ergashev obeyed the court order and the entire show was cancelled, although that is unconfirmed. The judge ordered Salita to post a $10,000 bond in case she later decides Ergashev is entitled to compensation. But so far, Ergashev does not have an attorney appearing on his behalf in the lawsuit. When Ergashev puts in a response, Boxingtalk will promptly update this article.

Dmitriy Salita himself had no comment for this article, likely because he is still interested in promoting Ergashev going forward. However, Salita Promotions was represented by attorney Charles E. Murphy, who, as part of the request for the restraining order, wrote: "Through Salita Promotions’ diligent work and financial investment in Ergashev, as well as through Ergashev’s own success in the ring, Ergashev has gained world-wide exposure, a loyal following, and is moving rapidly toward an opportunity to fight for the world title. Ergashev’s October 2019 fight video, uploaded to YouTube by Salita Promotions, has garnered over six hundred thousand views to date... Since the inception of the promotional agreement, Salita Promotions has fulfilled all of its obligations and in fact, gone above and beyond its contractual obligations by paying for Ergashev’s travel, rent, food, local transportation expenses, visa costs, previous fights in Russia and for his purses in his many wins during the life of the Agreement."

Here is the full decision from Judge Laurie J. Michelson, edited only slightly to remove certain legal citations or references:

Shohjahon Ergashev is a top-ranked boxer who [scheduled a bout for September 21st] in St. Petersburg, Russia. Salita Promotions is Ergashev’s promoter. Salita says that until recently, it had no idea that Ergashev was going to fight on September 21st. [The opponent was to be Dzmitry Miliusha (9-3-1)]. And, according to Salita, this is a problem because it has the exclusive right to arrange Ergashev’s bouts. And Salita has arranged for Ergashev to fight on November 17th, and have that fight broadcast on NBC Sports. Because of the potential for the September 21st bout to adversely affect the November 17th bout, and for other reasons, Salita asks this Court to stop Ergashev from stepping into the ring on September 21st.

In refereeing this fight, the Court finds that Salita is likely to show that Ergashev breached the parties’ agreement and that Salita will be irreparably injured if Ergashev boxes on September 21st. So the Court will grant in part Salita’s request for an ex parte temporary restraining order.

Because [Ergashev did not respond to Salita’s emergency filing], the Court has only one side of the story. Here is that story, according to Salita’s verified complaint:

In November 2017, Salita entered into an agreement with Ergashev to promote him. Under the agreement, Ergashev granted Salita “the sole and exclusive right to secure and arrange all bouts... requiring [Ergashev’s] services.” As the agreement was for five years, there are about two years left on the deal. Things went well for a time. Salita promoted Ergashev in eight fights; Ergashev won them all. Four of the eight fights were featured on “a popular boxing series broadcast on Showtime.” Before his agreement with Salita, Ergashev was unranked; now, depending on who you ask, he is number six, seven, or thirteen in the world in the junior welterweight division. According to Salita, Ergashev has “gained national exposure in the United States and is moving rapidly toward an opportunity to fight for the world title.” But then, Salita says, it got hit with a low blow: the promotion company learned that Ergashev was slated to fight in a bout that it did not arrange. In particular, Salita said it learned from Instagram that Ergashev was set to fight on September 21, 2020 in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Not to be outmaneuvered, Salita fought back. On September 7th and September 8th, Salita sent cease-and-desist letters to Ergashev and his manager, Oleg Bogdanov, who allegedly arranged the September 21st fight. In the letter to Ergashev, Salita indicated that it would consider fight opportunities that it did not arrange but that Ergashev needed to present those opportunities for its approval. In the case of the September 21st fight, Salita did not consent. Salita demanded that Ergashev cease and desist his breach of their agreement. In its letter to Bogdanov, Salita not only expressed displeasure about Bogdanov being involved in setting up the September 21st fight, but also that Bogdanov did the same thing with another Salita fighter. Salita demanded that Bogdanov cease and desist from any further interference with its contractual rights. Apparently, Salita never got a response to its two letters. With the September 21st fight scheduled to go forward, Salita brought the fight to federal court. And it seeks a first-round knockout; a [temporary restraining order] asking the Court to halt the September 21st fight.

Temporary restraining orders are not handed out readily. Even embracing Salita’s account of the facts (which is all the Court has to go on right now), one of the preliminary-injunction factors is still a close call: whether Salita will suffer immediate, irreparable injury if this Court does not stop the September 21st fight. Salita seeks to satisfy this preliminary injunction requirement in three ways.

For one, it relies on cases finding that when a contract is for “unique and extraordinary” services, the failure of the contracting party to provide those services is irreparable harm. If a contracting party’s services are truly unique, they, by definition, cannot be found elsewhere, and so the failure of the contracting party to provide them is, in all likelihood, irreparable.  Salita says that Ergashev is “an athlete of exceptional talent and skill and his services are unique and extraordinary to Salita Promotions.”

For two, Salita relies on cases finding that reputational injury is irreparable. That too makes sense, for a tarnished reputation is not readily restored, and, even if it is, the cost of restoration is hard to quantify.

For three, Salita says that when it promotes a fight, its name appears on all sorts of promotional material, and Dimitry Salita, the company’s principal, is often interviewed before, during, and after the fights. So Salita argues, if Ergashev were to fight on September 21st, it would lose self-promotion opportunities that are “not measurable in money damages.”

Setting aside for the moment the possibility that Ergashev might be drained from, or injured in, or lose the September 21st fight, the Court is hard pressed to see how Salita’s reputation would be damaged if that fight goes forward. Salita’s reputation is based on promoting boxers and fights. So the September 21st fight would make Salita look bad if the fight is (1) poorly run and (2) those in the boxing community thought that Salita had run it. But aside from the fact that Ergashev is a Salita fighter, Salita has put forth no evidence that anyone in the boxing community would be confused in that way. Indeed, it appears that the fight is being promoted by Yuka Promotions. Perhaps Salita thinks that if its fighters routinely take fights outside their agreement with Salita, it gives the impression to the boxing community that its fighters do not like the fights it arranges or that Salita fails to get enough action for its fighters. But one fighter’s breach is not a pattern. So without more explanation from Salita, it is far from clear how the September 21st fight would hurt its reputation as a promoter.

That said, the Court does narrowly find that Salita has shown immediate, irreparable injury if the September 21st fight takes place. Ergashev appears to be quite highly ranked, with two [sanctioning] organizations placing him in the top 10 in his division. He has no losses on his record, and so he has a chance to become the top contender. Arguably then, his services to Salita—a top-ten fighter in the junior welterweight division—are unique and thus difficult to replace. Of course, even if Ergashev fights on September 21st, that does not mean that Salita will need to replace his services. In theory at least, Ergashev could fight on September 21st and still fulfill his duties to Salita by fighting in every fight Salita wants him to. So this situation is not exactly one where a contracting party with unique talent takes his services elsewhere. But, with an additional fact and bit of foresight added to the mix, the situation gets close enough to that situation for present purposes. Salita has set up a fight for Ergashev on November 17th. The fight will be aired on NBC Sports. And while some do not think much of Ergashev’s opponent on September 21st [Dzmitry Miliusha] the history of boxing is littered with big upsets (just ask James “Buster” Douglas or Andy Ruiz, Jr.). Presumably the November 17th fight was set up based in part on Ergashev’s current rankings and his undefeated record, so a loss might make the November 17th fight a no-go. Or, because it would blemish Ergashev’s undefeated record, the November 17th fight might lose a lot of its luster. Also, boxing matches are often grueling, physical events that, at this level, do not occur less than 2 months apart. So even if Ergashev wins on September 21st, his opponent could catch him with a blow that injures Ergashev. Or Ergashev could injure himself (say, by sustaining a boxer’s fracture). Or he could just not be physically ready, especially where he will be traveling from Russia to the United States.

And if Ergashev loses or is injured on September 21st, that would result in irreparable—or at least very hard to quantify—injury to Salita. Salita would presumably have to break its contract with NBC Sports.

And Salita would lose the opportunity to engage in its usual self-promotion, which, the Court agrees would be challenging to measure in dollars. And Salita’s reputation for setting up fights would take a hit, which could damage Salita’s ability to make deals with, say, sports networks, as well as individual fighters. Presumably too, Ergashev’s November 17th opponent, his opponent’s manager, and his opponent’s promotional company will not be pleased with Salita. One other point favors a finding of irreparable harm. In signing his agreement with Salita, Ergashev acknowledged that his services were “special, unique, extraordinary, irreplaceable and of peculiar value, and that in the event of [his] breach or threatened breach of [his agreement with Salita], [Salita] would suffer irreparable damage.” While this admission is by no means dispositive, it may be treated as evidence that supports a finding of irreparable harm. In sum, the Court narrowly finds that absent an injunction, Salita will suffer irreparable harm.

The other factors for preliminary relief can be addressed without extended discussion. Start with likelihood of success on the merits. On the record before the Court, Ergashev is plainly in breach of the parties’ agreement. The agreement expressly states that Salita has “the sole and exclusive right to secure and arrange all bouts . . . requiring [Ergashev’s] services.”

As far as prejudice to Ergashev from being unable to fight on September 21st, the record is devoid of how skipping that fight will cause him harm. It is probably safe to presume that Ergashevwill lose his purse and that he may burn some bridges with the fight’s promoters. But, perhaps, the fight in Russia can be rescheduled after November 17th. Or, perhaps, the fight can still go forward if Ergashev negotiates for Salita’s approval. Moreover, when he signed the contract, Ergashev agreed that Salita, and Salita alone, would be his promoter. So any prejudice to Ergashev from missing the September 21st bout is partly his own doing. Finally, the Court will mitigate prejudice to Ergashev by requiring Salita to post a $10,000 bond; that money will be used to offset damages to Ergashev if it turns out that he should have been allowed to fight on September 21st. Finally, in terms of the public’s interest, it is not clear how it would benefit the public for Ergashev to breach his contract with Salita and, absent some showing of efficient breach or the like, there is a public interest in holding a contracting party to its promises. Further, the public probably has more of an interest in seeing Ergashev fight on November 21st than it does on September 21st.

There are two loose ends to tie up. Salita’s counsel must certify in writing any efforts made to give notice to Ergashev and Bogdanov and the reasons why it should not be required. Salita’s counsel says that on September 16th it emailed Ergashev and his manager a copy of the verified complaint and motion for temporary restraining order and attempted to call Ergashev and Bogdanov in Russia. As far as the reasons notice is not required before this order issues, the Court recognizes the difficulty of reaching Ergashev and Bogdanov in Russia and that the fight is only three days away.

The second loose end involves Ergashev’s manager, Bogdanov. Salita wants the Court to enjoin Bogdanov too. But the Court has not mentioned Bogdanov in its analysis for two reasons. For one, the Court is not entirely convinced that it may, consistent with the Due Process Clause, exercise personal jurisdiction over Salita’s claims against Bogdanov, who lives in Russia. And while Ergashev consented to this forum when he signed his agreement with Salita, it appears that Bogdanov did not sign the agreement. For two, the Court need only enjoin Ergashev to stop the September 21st fight, and that is the only thing in this case that requires the Court’s attention today.

For the reasons given, the Court will grant in part Salita Promotions’ motion for a temporary restraining order. Specifically, the Court ORDERS the following: (1) Shohjahon Ergashev is restrained from participating in the September 21, 2020 bout at the Azimat Hotel in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation; (2) Ergashev is restrained from destroying, erasing, or otherwise making unavailable, any documents or information in his possession or control which pertain in any way to Salita Promotions’ claims in this action (including all digital information, whether that information is on computer storage, in an email or social-media account, or on a cell phone); (3) Salita Promotions is to immediately post a $10,000 bond [Salita should either pay $10,000 to the Clerk of Court or obtain a surety bond in the amount of $10,000 and docket proof that the surety bond has been obtained]; (4) Salita Promotions is to immediately use every reasonably available means (phone, email, social-media direct messaging) to give notice of this injunction to Ergashev and Bogdanov, and shall continue, on a daily basis until this order expires, to attempt to provide Ergashev and Bogdanov a copy of this order; (5) all parties are to meet in a good-faith attempt to resolve this matter without further court intervention; a report of that meeting shall be docketed by September 25, 2020; (6) this temporary restraining order expires 14 days from entry without further order from the Court.

So Ordered on September 18, 2020 [by] Laurie J. Michelson, United States District Judge.

On Saturday's big pay-per-view show at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut, Brandon Figueroa (pictured) will defend his WBA regular title in the 122-pound division against Damien "Sugar" Vázquez. Figueroa is 20-0-1, while Vazquez is 15-1-1 with his lone loss coming against former WBA bantamweight champion Juan Carlos Payano. Here is what the two had to say at Wednesday's press conference:

“I’m excited to be back to doing what I do best and that’s getting in the ring and giving the fans a great show.

“It’s been a very unique circumstance training for this fight during the pandemic, but we made the most of it. I’m very fortunate that I have access to a private gym, so I was able to stay consistent with my training. Sparring was a little difficult, but I was able to venture out after a while and get some good sessions in. Even though this is the longest I’ve gone without a fight, I never took much time off.

“Vazquez is a good, tough opponent but I really don’t think he’ll be able to handle the pressure that I’m going to bring. I’m an action fighter but I can do it all. I can bang, but I can also box - and my dad wants me to box even more and tag him on the outside. I don’t think he’ll be able to handle my body shots.

“I feel like this fight won’t last too long, because I had such a good training camp. I keep getting better and stronger and I’m ready to showcase that Saturday night.”

DAMIEN VAZQUEZ

“If he says it won’t go past six rounds, then he’s going to have to work hard. I’m going to make sure it’ an all-out war. He’s going to have to earn everything.

“I’m ready to go. To be honest, this is the most excited I’ve ever been about a fight. He has two hands and his heart beats like mine. There’s nothing to be scared about in facing my opponent.

“No disrespect to the Charlos, but I want to be fight of the night and steal the show. May the best man win. I’m confident that will be me. Plain and simple.”

Former Olympian and #1 ranked IBF light heavyweight contender Meng Fanlong (16-0, 10 KOs) is now a promotional free agent after reaching a separation agreement with Roc Nation. Last summer, Meng earned the IBF’s #1 ranking with a 2019 victory over then-undefeated Adam Deines. As a result, Meng was set to fight unified champion Artur Beterbiev on March 28th, 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic KO’d the bout. In late 2018, Meng traveled to Monte Carlo and stopped British contender Frank Buglioni in five rounds, sending Buglioni into retirement. His most recent fight was a second-round stoppage of Gilberto Rubio that was not televised anywhere.

“I’m very happy to be a free agent,” said Meng. “I have the best team around me, my advisors Terry and Tommy Lane, my trainer Shaun George, my attorney Scott Shaffer and my Chinese representative Kurt Li. They are building a solid plan for my career and I am really looking forward to the future. I am still the mandatory challenger in the IBF. Let’s get it on!”

Despite his undefeated record and stellar amateur background highlighted by representing his native China at the 2012 Olympic games, Meng remains relatively unknown in the United States. His current team intends for that to change soon. “We can’t wait for people to see him fight;” said Meng’s advisor, Tommy Lane. “He is one of the best fighters in boxing today and is yet to fight on a major platform, and that’s a shame. We hope to change that very soon. We are currently feilding different opportunities for Fanlong.”

Texas super bantamweight Dimas De Leon has not been sitting on his hands as he waits for his next fight. DeLeon is scheduled to fight October 30th in Houston, Texas against David Alfaro (1-4). To get ready, the 21 year-old De Leon, who is managed by No Limit Mindset LLC, has been working with undefeated former WBO featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson.  

"It is truly a blessing to be working with top talent fighters like Shakur Stevenson," said De Leon. "Being only 21 years old with 10 pro fights, and being able to hold my own against someone like Shakur has given me a lot of confidence. I have confidence that my manager is moving me the right way and will get me the right opportunities to make me a world champion."

De Leon had three wins in 2019, which included a sixth-round stoppage of Manuel Gloria on December 5th in Mexico.

No Limit Mindset's Shane Shapiro has been taling up his client. "People are starting to take notice on Dimas, and in the same breath, there have been several of the big promoters reaching out to me.  Right now we are weighing our options, and going to get the right fit for Dimas.  He is a terrific young prospect, who at age 21, has a world of potential.  The work he is getting with Shakur is so valuable.  He is also working with Joshua Greer, so we will see even more improvement when he gets back in the ring," said Shapiro.

WBA and IBF 154-pound champion Jeison Rosario (pictured) stated his intention to go toe-to-toe with his WBC counterpart, Jermell Charlo, when they clash this Saturday, September 26th live on a Showtime pay-per-view (7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT) presented by Premier Boxing Champions. “Fight fans are going to get a war on September 26th,” said Rosario. “Charlo and I are two of the biggest punchers in the division. We both fight with a lot of pride. We’re two very aggressive fighters who want to fight in the middle of the ring, so we’re going to bring the action and make this an epic war.”

The 25 year-old Rosario has had a smooth training camp for the biggest fight of his career, despite the pandemic, while training in Miami, Fla. with his coach Luis “Chiro” Perez. “Even on a normal basis, we stay in a training camp house by ourselves, so this was just more of the same,” said Rosario. “There’s no family and no outsiders. It’s nothing but training. We know we’re facing a strong, explosive opponent, so we’ve done everything during this 16-week camp to prepare for him. We brought in great sparring partners with similar style to Charlo’s, so I’m as ready for him as I possibly can be.”

Rosario returns to the ring after a career-altering victory over Julian Williams in January, in which he stopped Williams to capture his WBA and IBF titles. Despite the sensational victory, Rosario knows that Charlo will present different challenges than he faced going up against Williams. “I think Williams was probably more skilled technically, and he was harder to hit because he changes up his angles a lot,” said Rosario. “Charlo is stronger, a bigger puncher, and I think he’s a more athletic fighter than Williams. We’re preparing for the best Charlo and we know that means we have to be at our very best too.”

Prior to the Williams fight, Rosario began working Perez for the first time, and he credits that work, the first “real training camp” of his career, to his career-best performance against Williams. “Training with Coach Perez has led to a lot of improvements and allowed me to reach my full potential,” said Rosario. “My camps for the Williams fight and the Charlo fight are the first real training camps of my career. After I fought Jorge Cota, I knew that I needed to make changes and be more dedicated. There are no distractions or excuses for me now. A better diet, better conditioning and more focused training has all played a part in the changes. For this fight, I’m going to be even stronger than I was against Williams. My body wasn’t really used to the training camp going into that fight. My body is responding even better after my second 16-week training camp.”

Hailing from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, a hotbed of baseball talent that has produced household names such as David Ortiz, Albert Pujols and Manny Ramirez, Rosario has quickly made himself the fighting pride of the island. His experience growing up living on the street as a child has motivated him to reach this point, even if he didn’t always see himself reaching this peak in the sport. “I fight with a lot of pride and emotion,” said Rosario. “I just try to be myself, but I also want to represent the Dominican Republic the best way I can. I fight for my kids and my country and I leave it all in the ring. One of my biggest motivations for me was my economic status as a child. Living in the street as a kid, we were very poor. I didn’t want my kids to go through that, so that fed my hunger to provide for my family and take care of them the best I can. I always knew that I could be good, but I never imagined being in this position. God’s timing is perfect. Everything came when it was supposed to. I’ve been very lucky and got the opportunities at the right time. I started training with Coach Perez at the right time. I got the Williams fight at the right time and took full advantage of the opportunity. Now, we’re here with a chance to unify the division, and I believe September 26th will be my time.”

According to the WBA, the European boxing qualifier for the Tokyo 2021 Olympics was suspended last week by the International Olympic Committee after two days of competition. The American qualifier, which was supposed to be rescheduled in May, has also been suspended, the IOC explained in a statement. The various measures taken around the world to reduce the spread of the coronavirus forced a halt to the competition. The IOC stated that the European tournament participants, from over 60 countries, should return home and carry out a quarantine. The plan is to evaluate the situation daily, aiming to complete the distribution of the remaining Tokyo spots in May and June.