Middleweight Rob Brant sued promoters Greg Cohen and Cory Rapacz in federal court in Nevada on Thursday, accusing them of fraud, violation of the Muhammad Ali Act and unjust enrichment among other things. Cohen was convicted of fraud, unrelated to boxing, and served a few months in prison last year. He is currently being sued by another boxer, Mladen Miljas as well as an investor in his promotional company. Brant, a former WBA regular champion, accused Cohen and Rapacz of lying about the details of a co-promotional deal with Top Rank and pocketing several hundreds of thousands of dollars without Brant's knowledge. The Muhammad Ali Act makes it illegal for a promoter to receive compensation without disclosing it to the boxer. More specifically, the lawsuit alleges that Brant was told by Cohen and Rapacz that they would receive no more than 11% of Brant's purses from Top Rank, but instead Top Rank paid them a $100,000 signing bonus and $400,000 per title defense that Brant only found out about later. Brant had two title defenses: Khasan Baysangurov and Ryota Murata, but the lawsuit is unclear as to whether there were one or two payments of $400,000. The lawsuit also alleges that Ryota Murata paid a $100,000 (or more) step-aside fee to avoid a third fight against Brant, but that money was, according to the lawsuit, kept from Brant. Patrick English, Brant's attorney, says Murata still owes Brant a fight. Top Rank was named as a nominal defendant in the lawsuit because it is the source of the money at issue, but Brant intends to continue working with the company and is not seeking damages from Top Rank.

 

A publicist for Cohen told Boxingtalk, "Cohen did a fantastic job with Rob Brant. Cohen and Rapacz brought that kid from nowhere to where he is. No one else was looking for Rob Brant before Greg Cohen came along." 

 

Here are Brant's allegations, taken directly from his lawsuit, with only light editing to remove some legal terms. Readers should note that these are only allegations from Brant, not yet proven, and in order to win the lawsuit, the burden of proof rests with Brant by a preponderance of the evidence: 

 

Brant began his professional boxing career in 2012 and currently has a pro record of 26-2. He held the WBA [regular] middleweight title from October 2018 through July 2019. In 2015, Brant entered into a promotional contract with Greg Cohen Promotions, LLC, a New Jersey limited liability company. That agreement was amended in April of 2018 when Rapacz Boxing LLC and Greg Cohen Boxing, LLC entered into an agreement to partner in promoting Brant. [The lawsuit alleges that] at the same time, Cohen knew he was under federal investigation for fraud but, failed to disclose that fact despite having a contractual obligation to “operate and negotiate in good faith at all times.” [Cohen was later convicted of fraud and served time in 2020].

 

Brant won the WBA [regular] middleweight championship, defeating Ryota Murata on October 20, 2018. That event was primarily promoted by Top Rank, Inc. and was held in Las Vegas. In November of 2018, Brant learned that Top Rank wished to sign him to a promotional contract. Cohen demanded that all negotiations flow through him. Brant desired to proceed with Top Rank as his promoter because Top Rank is a major promotional entity with a generally good reputation in the industry whereas [according to the lawsuit] Cohen, has a generally poor reputation.

 

Brant was out of the United States on his honeymoon while negotiations took place. Upon his return he was informed by Cohen that there was an immediate deadline to execute the paperwork with Top Rank or it would “walk away”, precluding adequate time for review of the contract. Brant signed two documents. One was a release of prior promotional agreements and the second was a co-promotional agreement. Greg Cohen Promotions, LLC was not a party to the co-promotional agreement; instead it was with Greg Cohen individually. [The lawsuit alleges] this was done to avoid creditors of Greg Cohen Promotions, LLC.

 

[The lawsuit alleges that Cohen and Rapacz] informed Brant’s manager that under the Top Rank deal, they would be receiving approximately 11% of the funds available for Brant’s purse. [The lawsuit alleges] that was a lie and in point of fact, Cohen and Rapacz entered into an agreement with Top Rank which entitled them to a fee of $400,000 for each title defense plus, for non-pay-per-view bouts, 30% of what would otherwise be available for Brant, plus compensation for any fighter in which Top Rank held an interest who might defeat Brant, plus a $100,000 signing bonus.[The lawsuit alleges that] Rapacz and Cohen failed to disclose these and other facts to Brant, and all were contrary to the representation that they would be receiving only 11% of the funds available for Brant’s purse.

 

Brant had a rematch against Murata on July 12, 2019. A third bout against Murata was promised to Brant and there was a rematch clause in the contract between Top Rank and Murata’s promoter. For the second bout in a row [according to the lawsuit], Cohen and  did not provide a Muhammad Ali Act statement to Brant as required by federal law. Brant lost the rematch to Murata. He sought to exercise the rematch clause for a third fight vs. Murata. [According to the lawsuit], numerous reasons were given by Cohen and Rapacz not to pursue the rematch at that time. As part of these discussions, Brant and his representatives asked very directly if “step aside” money was available. [According to the lawsuit], Cohen and Rapacz represented that it was not. [According to the lawsuit], this was untrue and Brant later learned that $100,000 or more was paid "to or on behalf of" Cohen and Rapacz, characterized by a Cohen employee as a “step aside fee.”