A president of a major boxing promotion organization filed a lawsuit with the New York Supreme Court demanding $5 million from IBF Heavyweight World Champion Wladimir Klitschko as compensation for last year`s cancelled bout, according to RIA Novosti.
Cedric Kushner, the president of Gotham Boxing Inc., which promotes world-class professional boxers as well as produces and syndicates boxing programming for distribution worldwide, is claiming $5 million as compensation for the cancellation of November 11, 2006 IBF defending title bout between Ukraine`s Wladimir Klitschko and American Shannon Briggs at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Kushner said that Briggs was strung along by Klitschko`s camp for about two months and he himself relied on the word of Klitschko`s promoter Shelly Finkel, who told him that the bout would go ahead with "a 1,000% certainty."
While keeping in mind the bout with Briggs, Finkel continued to look for other possible opponents and set his eye on Russia`s Oleg Maskayev, the current WBC Heavyweight World Champion, but had to reconsider the option when Maskayev received an injury.
Finally, Finkel struck a deal to hold the November 11 bout with then undefeated American Calvin Brock, whom Klitschko defeated later in the seventh round retaining his IBF champion`s belt.
Besides Klitschko, the codefendants in the lawsuit are Shelly Finkel, his company Shelly Finkel Management, and two promotion companies K2 Promotions and Sport Five.
