US: $100 million antitrust lawsuit against Al Haymon filed

Top Rank filed a $100 million lawsuit Wednesday against boxing manager Al Haymon, alleging he and his partners, the investment firm of Waddell & Reed, broke federal antitrust laws and also violated the Muhammad Ali Boxing Act.

“It’s been something we’ve been working on for a while,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said after the suit was filed in U.S. District Court of Los Angeles. “It’s something that we’re taking very seriously.”

The suit claims Haymon has simultaneously managed boxers and promoted fights in direct violation of the Ali Act, which became a law in 2000 to protect fighters from such practices.

The suit also claims that Haymon paid boxers not to spar with fighters promoted by Top Rank and that Haymon forbade fighters under contract to him from being promoted by Top Rank and other promoters, preventing them from having access to major venues and blocking them from TV opportunities.

Full content: The Washington Post

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