20% Of Williams' Purse To Be Withheld!

By Scott Shaffer and G. Leon

10/12/2004

20% Of Williams' Purse To Be Withheld!

Dwight Yarde, the estranged manager of Danny Williams, has obtained a writ of attachment requiring the Nevada Athletic Commission to withhold 20% of Williams’ purse for Williams’ bout against Vitali Klitschko in Las Vegas on Saturday night. For now, the amount that the Nevada Athletic Commission will be required to hold in escrow is $60,000, or 20% of the purse reported to the commission.  Boxingtalk has obtained information that Williams may be recieving as much as $1.9 million from his British promoter, Frank Warren’s Sports Network Ltd. According to Yarde’s attorney Bill Coulthard of the firm Harrison, Kemp & Jones, the action was filed in Nevada state court on December 7, 2004 and Williams was served with the complaint immediately following yesterday’s weigh-in. Top Rank, the bout’s co-promoter was also served with a courtesy copy of the suit through their attorney yesterday. Judge David Wall signed the writ of attachment today after an ex-parte hearing (meaning Danny Williams' interests were not represented in court). Yarde cannot collect the money yet, but the $60,000 will be held in escrow until it is determined whether the management contract Williams signed with him in August is still in effect.  Meanwhile, WBC president Jose Sulaiman, has informed Boxingtalk that it will be meeting tonight to consider whether, in light of his failure to pay sanctioning fees scaled to the full $1.9 million, Williams will be recognized as the WBC champion if he defeats Klitschko. This story is developing quickly, so hit refresh often and remember where you heard it first! (7:45 PM ET)