On Friday, a federal court in the Southern District of Iowa ruled that undefeated Canadian heavyweight Mladen Miljas is free to pursue his boxing career without interference from promoter Greg Cohen and Cohen's namesake company. After a hearing in February and supplemental briefing, the court ruled that Miljas had a "fair chance" of prevailing on the issue that Cohen did not provide Miljas with the minimum number of four bouts under their promotional contract. Miljas is who is 12-0 but inactive since August 2019. While this is a big victory for him, it is not a final one. He can move ahead with his career for the time being, but the lawsuit will continue, with both sides continuing to press claims for a monetary award against each other. Cohen is still capable of prevailing on hos claim that the promotional contract with Miljas is still in effect. For Cohen's protection, the judge gave Miljas two weeks to post a $35,000 security bond in case Cohen ultimately prevails on his legal claims. Cohen will now have to decide whether to continue to pursue the lawsuit.
Miljas previously said that his current advisors had arranged a deal with "a top promotional company" but Cohen prevented the deal from concluding by repeatedly threatening both the advisors and the promoter with a lawsuit. Under this most recent ruling, Cohen can no longer do that.
The terms of the preliminary injunction granted in Miljas' favor state that Cohen and his company are "enjoined [forbidden by the court] from: (a) abusing, harassing, intimidating, molesting,
interfering with, or menacing Miljas, or otherwise having any contact whatsoever with Miljas without the presence of his attorney; (b) contacting any third parties with the intent to persuade them to terminate or cancel any existing business relationships or contracts with Miljas or to dissuade them from entering into such business relationships or contracts; (c) making false statements about Miljas including making any claim that Miljas remains subject to a [promotional agreement] with Cohen or that Miljas is restricted from engaging in other business relationships, or owes any duties to Greg Cohen Promotions in connection with [their promotional agreement]."
Cohen was successful in having Miljas' claims for defamation and fraud dismissed but other claims will continue towards a full trial on the merits.
PRIOR STORY FROM DECEMBER 23, 2020: Undefeated Canadian heavyweight Mladen Miljas has filed for a preliminary injunction against convicted fraudster Greg Cohen, and Cohen's promotional company (Greg Cohen Promotions, LLC), to prohibit Cohen from contacting other promoters and trying to dissuade them from doing business with Miljas. Inactive since August 2019, Miljas says that a preliminary injunction "is crucial to protecting Mladen from Cohen’s and Cohen Promotions’ unjust and incredibly harmful actions." According to the legal papers filed today in Iowa, the promotional agreement between Miljas and Cohen "has been terminated and Cohen has no right to behave as if it has not been." Cohen disputes this.
Miljas accuses Cohen of interfering with his business negotiations as follows: '[he has] sought to destroy Mladen’s career publicly. When Mladen sought promotional representation that would support his interests and advance his career, Cohen called this new promoter and threatened suit. Baseless though this threat was, the risk of defending even meritless litigation caused the promoter to decline to continue with Mladen... Mladen’s window to the world heavyweight title, like every fighters’, closes as he ages, but Cohen and Cohen Promotions cannot be permitted to slam it shut."
PRIOR STORY FROM DECEMBER 11, 2020: Canadian heavyweight Mladen Miljas is suing Greg Cohen Promotions and CEO Greg Cohen, who recently served federal prison time for fraud. Miljas accuses Cohen and his company of breach of contract, tortious interference, defamation, fraud, fraudulent inducement and violation of the Muhammad Ali Act. Miljas signed a promotional contract with Cohen in June of 2018. According to Miljas, the contract promised him four fights per year but Cohen delivered only four low-level fights over two and a half years. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Iowa due to a forum-selection clause inserted into the contract by Cohen.
Cohen and his company filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on Thursday. Cohen asks to be let out of the lawsuit in his individual capacity because, according to him, he has no connection to the state of Iowa-- even though the contract between his company and the boxer forces all lawsuits to be brought in Iowa. According to his motion to dismiss, "Cohen’s only connection to Iowa is his status as the CEO of an LLC that executed [a promotional contract] that contains an Iowa forum selection clause. This fact alone does not allow for the exercise of specific personal jurisdiction over Cohen." Miljas has not yet filed his opposition to that motion.
Here are Miljas' allegations, taken from his legal complaint filed in Iowa:
Unknown to Miljas when he signed Cohen's promotional agreement in June 2018, Cohen Promotions has a history of wronging their boxers and others in the industry. This history came to light in late 2019, when Cohen was sentenced to six months in prison for wire fraud. Even before Cohen’s incarceration, Cohen Promotions had failed to perform its duties under the promotional agreement. Cohen Promotions would arrange fictitious fights, fights with inappropriate opponents, or more often, no fights at all.
For example, the first fight Cohen represented to have secured was to take place in August 2018. The fight was not listed on BoxRec and the opponent had a fight scheduled for a week after the
alleged fight vs. Miljas. Cohen did not provide a written contract for the fight. The night before the fight was to occur, Cohen called and told Miljas the opponent had pulled out of the fight, with no injury or explanation, for which, Cohen said, the opponent would be suspended. The ostensible opponent was not suspended and fought someone else as scheduled just a week later.
Around the time of Miljas' last fight (August 2019), his immigration status was in jeopardy due to Cohen’s inaction. Cohen refused to cooperate to obtain a visa, failing to submit required information. In September 2019, due to the risk to his immigration status, Miljas was forced to drive from Las Vegas to Ontario with his belongings, fiancé, and dogs. While Mladen was in Canada, the news broke of Cohen’s federal conviction. In that case, Cohen solicited, obtained, and kept $200,000 from a victim for an alleged stock transaction that never existed. On November 20, 2019, Cohen’s guilty plea was entered and he was sentenced to six months in federal prison.
During his time with Cohen, Miljas' Canadian heavyweight championship was stripped away due to his inactivity. His ranking on Boxrec dropped from 41st to 101st. During the time Cohen had promised him four fights a year, including televised fights and a shot at the world heavyweight championship, Mladen had instead spent nearly two years of his prime professional life fighting opponents far below his skill level, or, more often, fighting no opponents at all.
In 2020, upon receipt of Miljas' notice of termination of the promotional agreement, Cohen, despite years of obvious breach of contract, refuses to acknowledge the valid termination of his contract. Instead, Cohen has threatened to destroy Miljas' career—to “notify every promoter, commission and sanctioning organization” of rights he does not have—if Miljas does not remain with Cohen Promotions. Unfortunately, Cohen has begun to follow through with these threats and is presently interfering with Miljas' attempts to obtain new representation. This lawsuit seeks to stop Cohen’s and Cohen Promotions’ actions immediately and permanently.
Miljas says his current advisors have arranged a deal with "a top promotional company" but Cohen has repeatedly threatened both the advisors and the promoter with a lawsuit. This has made securing the agreement more difficult and has caused the promotional company to delay fights planned for Miljas.
