Former WBA featherweight champ Derrick 'Smoke' Gainer told Boxingtalk.com, "I want to set the record straight with regards to the negotiations with Warrior's Boxing and trying to make this fight happen for December 3. First of all, I've been waiting patiently for months trying to get a good answer on when the fight was going to take place. There was so many dates that they offered and none of those ever came through for me. I agreed to go to Indonesia and fight Chris John in his home country. I didn't have any problem traveling and taking the 28 hour trip to fight him. There were just two things I asked for. I wanted neutral officials and I didn't want the fight to take place outside."

"Dealing with Warrior's, they haven't handled this in a professional matter at all. I signed on with them in March and I haven't received a fight from them since I signed with them. The contract was not a good contract for me, but I understood that after my last performance I would have to go for that so I signed this contract knowing the situation was positive for me.

"I've been promised dates, promised dates and promised dates and these dates never come about. For them to say I turned down fights, no one on my team or in my camp has ever turned down a fight. I've never turned down a fight in my entire career.

"They have never given me a real date or a real opponent. For all this time I've been patiently waiting for them, responding back and forth with them and nothing has taken place.

"Once the WBA made their decision to make me mandatory. Yes Peter made some phone calls to the WBA, but if you look at the ratings I was already sitting in the spot. Some people may say how can I get this coming off a bad loss to Marquez? But this happens all the time in boxing so it's nothing new. I'm not getting a special gift. I was willing to fight anybody in the top ten to do the box-off.

"Warrior's knows their contract is going to expire because they haven't put me in a fight so they try to get me to sign a contract that basically says all of the time that I've lost wasn't their fault. I refused to re-sign with them and that's when the problems came in.

"I would get bits and pieces of this or that, but I didn't receive a contract for this fight until Saturday.

"I received two contracts. One of the contracts that came didn't have the money in it. It didn't have where we were fighting at and they said it was an error. Then they faxed it to my attorney and it had the money in it. Warrior's acted differently when I wouldn't resign the contract with them.

"Now the purse. The purse is $75,000. At first they told me the purse was $65,000 and they were going to put in the other ten. I told them 'no, I know the purse was $75,000 all along. You guys aren't putting anything in.'

"They basically came to me with a take it or leave it. If I didn't re-sign they were going to take their 30% out of my purse plus an advance they gave me when I signed with them.

"I told them they could have all that, I'm not re-signing. The only thing I want is neutral officials and not fight this guy outside. The contract didn't come until Saturday and I didn't find out they were trying to put the fight outside until (Sunday)."

"A lot of promoters are playing games with the fighters. Take it or leave it? I'm leaving it! I'm not willing to go over there and fight this guy outside in the 100 degree heat. I agreed to fight him months ago but MONTHS AGO they knew I was not willing to fight him outside. They knew if they couldn't make the fight indoors, then we would go to purse-bid.

"For them, the WBA or anybody else to think that I don't want to take this fight is wrong. If anybody tries to play games with me there will be a lawsuit. I have been willing to fight anybody in the top ten for a long time to become mandatory. I'm not going to go over to Indonesia under these terms and conditions. The WBA needs to step up and protect their fighters. 

"Fighters should step up and not take these sort of tactics. I'm not taking this from Warrior's Boxing or any other promoter.

"Warrior's Boxing doesn't care about me because they know they breached the contract."

 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE

Send questions and comments to: gleon@boxingtalk.net