As the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) Convention, being held at the Seneca Resort and Casino in Niagra Falls, New York was coming to a close, John and Marina Sheppard of Boxrec, and Mike Mazzulli of the ABC, were reportedly served with a summons and complaint in a federal civil lawsuit. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are promoter Edward Mendy of Lion Heart Boxing Productions, Ltd., boxers Brendon Denes and Ivana Habazin, and Habazin's manager Charles Muniz. A copy of the complaint can be viewed here. The lawsuit was filed in the Middle District of Pennsylvania in April. Muniz explains that the goal of the lawsuit is to hold the defendants accountable for BoxRec’s failure to recognize certain boxing matches as official bouts on the boxers' records. In 2005, the ABC appointed Boxrec as the official recordkeeper of the sport (replacing FightFax). The lawsuit accuses the ABC in being complicit with Boxrec and the Sheppards in denying boxers credit for some of their victories.

 

According to Muniz, John Sheppard has in the past stated that “BoxRec receives thousands of threats from fighters and their managers threatening to initiate a court action against them, but no one ever carries through on such threats.” With the complaint filed and the defendants now allegedly served (no affidavit of aervice has yet been filed with the court), Boxrec must defend against the allegations which Plaintiffs claim have caused Denes, Habazin and hundreds of other boxers irreparable harm ever since the ABC contracted for BoxRec to become the official boxing fight registry. Plaintiffs are seeking damages against defendants in excess of one million dollars ($1,000,000). 

 

The lawsuit also accuses Daniel Kinahan and his now-defunct company MTK Global of ordering BoxRec to suppress the results of a April 10, 2021 event that took place in Dubai. Kinahan is fugitive believed to be in Dubai. Last April, the United States Treasury issued a $5,000,000 bounty for information leading to the arrests and or conviction of Kinahan, and placed sanctions against that essentialy caused MTK to go out of business. Kinahan has been accused of murder, narcotics trafficking, weapons trafficking, and money laundering.

 

Muniz said that, "the plaintiffs intend to hold BoxRec accountable for their years of abuse to fighters as well as the ABC, which has done nothing to protect fighters from abuse even though they claim to protect and advocate for fighters."