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.
