When Boxingtalk last left off with its coverage of the lawsuit between Salita Promotions and junior welterweight contender Shohjahon Ergashev, Salita had obtained a temporary restraining order in United States court to stop a fight Ergashev had booked in Russia. Ergashev did not go through with the Spetember fight, but he has another one, a tune-up, scheduled for today (November 16th) in Moscow. So Salita Promotions returned to court, and on Sunday (!) the company's attorney, Charles E. Murphy, obtained a preliminary injunction forbidding Ergashev from participating in today's fight. The immediate question is whether Ergashev will heed the injunction or ignore it.
The key terms of the injunction, issued by United States District Judge Laurie J. Michelson are as follows: Ergashev is restrained from participating in the November 16th bout in Moscow, Russian Federation; he is restrained from directly or indirectly, whether alone or in concert with others, violating the terms of his promotional agreement with Salita Promotions; and he is restrained from participating in any bouts that fall outside the promotional agreement or signing any bout agreements without the written consent of Salita Promotions, or from signing any promotional agreements with other promoters. The preliminary injunction will remain in place until trial or further order of the Court.
Because Ergashev has failed to appear to contest the motion, the Court still only has Salita’s side of the story.
Ergashev is a top ranked junior welterweight boxer. In 2017, he entered into an exclusive promotional agreement with Salita Promotions. For years, Ergashev and Salita Promotions worked well together. The company helped Ergashev rise through the boxing ranks and increase his renown in the United States and worldwide. But now, Ergashev refuses to allow Salita to promote his fights. For instance, Salita learned in September 2020 that Ergashev had agreed to participate in a bout in Russia in breach of his promotional agreement. The Court granted a temporary restraining order enjoining that fight from taking place on September 21st. The September 21st bout was subsequently canceled, but Salita learned that it has beenrescheduled for November 16, 2020 in Moscow. And just a few weeks ago, Ergashev’s manager advised the IBF that Salita is not authorized to negotiate a mandatory contender bout for Ergashev. So now the gloves are really off. Salita asks the Court to issue a preliminary injunction enjoining Ergashev from further violating the promotional agreement. In refereeing the second round of this legal fight, the Court finds that Salita is likely to show that Ergashev is in breach of the parties’ agreement and that Salita will be irreparably injured if Ergashev continues to violate the agreement and schedule bouts without Salita’s involvement and approval. So the Court will grant Salita’s request for a preliminary injunction.
The Court issued a temporary restraining order enjoining Ergashev from participating in the September 21st bout. It seems that Ergashev got notice of the ruling and declined to participate in the September 21st bout. See Boxingtalk article written by Scott Shaffer, "Salita Promotions in legal battle with Shohjahon Ergashev" (Sept. 24, 2020). Ergashev even posted about this lawsuit and the TRO on his Instagram account. But Ergashev has still not responded to repeated requests from Salita to discuss and attempt to resolve this matter. Salita has attempted to contact Ergashev via phone, email, and Whatsapp message. Ergashev has also failed to respond to Salita’s offers of bout opportunities. Ergashev had previously agreed to participate in a bout to be televised during [Ring City] boxing event on November 19th. But Salita has been unable to finalize that bout agreement because of Ergashev’s failure to respond. Salita also offered Ergashev the opportunity to fight in a ten-round bout on December 12th on Showtime with a $50,000 purse. But Ergashev failed to respond to this offer too.
Recently, Ergashev began posting on Instagram about his participation in an upcoming bout on November 16th in Moscow that Salita did not arrange or approve. This event is apparently the rescheduled September 21st bout against Dzmitry Miliusha. See Asian Boxing article, "Ergashev to return to the ring in November!" (Oct. 29, 2020). Ergashev continues to post about the November 16th bout and it appears that it is still scheduled to go forward.
Meanwhile, on October 27th, Salita received a letter from the IBF offering Ergashev the opportunity to participate in a junior welterweight eliminator. This bout will determine the mandatory challenger for the IBF championshp. Salita immediately notified Ergashev’s manager Bogdanov of the opportunity via email. Bogdanov replied to Salita, copying IBF representatives on the email, writing that Ergashev would accept the bout, but that “all further negotiations regarding the fight will be conducted by Adam Morallee and me. Dmitry Salita is not authorized to conduct any negotiations with anyone regarding the organization of [Ergashev’s] fights.”
Despite this apparent repudiation, Salita remains in discussions with the IBF to schedule this bout.
The Court held a hearing on the motion via Zoom on November 13th. Both Salita and the Court provided notice of the hearing to Ergashev via email. Salita also personally served notice of the motion and hearing on Ergashev at his gym in Moscow on November 10th. Ergashev failed to file a response to the motion and neither he nor his representative appeared at the hearing. Counsel for Salita notified the Court that they had been in touch with Ergashev’s attorney, Adam Morallee, about the hearing, but that Morallee reported he did not plan to appear. At the hearing, the Court heard testimony from Dimitry Salita and David Berlin, counsel for Salita Promotions. The Court also finds that Ergashev clearly had notice of the Court’s TRO since he posted about it on Instagram. Additionally, Salita’s counsel stated they had communicated with Ergashev’s lawyer in London, who acknowledged the suit and the hearing, but declined to appear on Ergashev’s behalf. And a process server personally delivered a copy of the preliminary injunction motion to Ergashev in Russia. It is clear that Ergashev has actual notice of the motion and was given ample opportunity to oppose it. Given the difficulty of formal service in Russia and the time-sensitive nature of the requested relief, the Court finds that Ergashev has received sufficient notice.
Although the November Ring City bout is no longer happening, the same argument applies to Ergashev’s planned participation in the IBF eliminator bout. It is not clear that Salita and Ergashev are on the same page about the IBF bout, but Dmitry Salita, the President and CEO of Salita Promotions, is confident that Ergashev will participate in the bout and that with the injunction, it will be promoted by his company. During the November 13th hearing, Salita and Berlin both explained how important the IBF bout is to Ergashev’s career and Salita’s business. The opportunity to compete in a mandatory eliminator bout is a key milestone that a young boxer works towards And apparently a number of boxing experts believe Ergashev could win and become the next champion. If Salita gets to promote Ergashev in the eliminator bout, it will not only be a great opportunity for profit and self- promotion, Salita will also have the opportunity to fill additional (undercard) slots at the event with other boxers it represents. And of course, if Ergashev wins the eliminator bout, he will have the opportunity to become the next IBF champion in his division. This would greatly enhance the professional success and notoriety of both Ergashev and Salita Promotions. Indeed, Berlin testified that being able to secure this type of fight is how a small promoter becomes big, how it secures its reputation, and how it attracts other boxers to its team.
But Ergashev’s unauthorized November 16th bout could put all of this at risk. As the Court explained in its prior opinion and heard during the preliminary injunction hearing, Ergashev could lose the November 16th fight, or he could injure himself, or he could be physically unprepared or disadvantaged for the next closely scheduled bout. At the hearing, Salita and Berlin explained that either a loss or an injury would destroy Ergashev’s opportunity to compete in the IBF eliminator bout. Of course, an injury would make Ergashev physically unable to fight. And if Ergashev is unable to participate in the IBF eliminator bout, Salita would lose a lucrative deal and an important opportunity to promote the company and its other clients. Of course, either a loss or an injury would not only foreclose the IBF bout, it would also greatly harm Salita’s opportunity to promote Ergashev in other future fights.
The Court finds that a preliminary injunction would not cause substantial harm to others. It is likely that Ergashev will lose his purse and may burn some bridges with the [Russian] promoters of the November 16th fight if he does not participate. But when Ergashev signed the promotional agreement, he agreed that Salita alone would be his promotor. And Salita has offered Ergashev several other bout opportunities that are likely more prestigious and lucrative than the Moscow fight. So any prejudice to Ergashev from missing the November 16 bout, or any other bout he wishes to schedule without Salita’s agreement, is largely his own doing. The Court has also already ordered Salita to post a $10,000 bond, which will be used to offset damages to Ergashev if he ends up being successful in this suit.
