93-year old Don King has proved to have something left of his promotional acumen after railroading the September 13 card, set to be headlined by Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford, by managing to foil a potential heavyweight (200+lbs) fight between stable fighter Michael Hunter (24-1-2, 17 KO’s) and Jarrell Miller (26-1-2, 22 KO’s).
The two had been announced to compete on the September 13th show last week on August 10th, but roughly a week later on August 16, Don King would clarify Hunter was set to face WBA “regular” champion Kubrat Pulev (32-3, 14 KO’s) on October 11 after winning the purse bid to host the heavyweight title fight several months ago:
“The threat of lawsuits continues against the WBA and by Epic Sports and Entertainment,” Don King explained in a recent press release.
“It’s all corruption, fraud, bribery, rigged schemes and crooked scams by Epic Sports appealing to the WBA for reconsideration of the WBA purse bid, for Pulev vs. Hunter, which DKP [Don King Productions] won. Now, Epic Sports is trying to change and nullify the bout. This clouds the atmosphere with lies and the deception of truth, fake and false news.
“The WBA honorably stood up for their rules and regulations and declared the purse bid valid and legitimate. However, John Wirt never stops in trying to prevent the bout, for the No. 1 contender Michael Hunter, not to fight. Now Epic Sports’ John Wirt and Ivaylo Gotzev are filing a lawsuit for the arbitrations against the WBA’s decisions of justice and fair play against their Epic Sports and Entertainment Company.
“However, DKP will not wait for that decision to come about. DKP will stand up and support the WBA’s honor and credibility in their decision for fair play and justice regarding the WBA purse bid situation. The credibility of the WBA is at stake.“
Though the WBA has bred controversy with almost every move they make, the situation between Epic Sports and DKP (Don King Productions) seems rather clear-cut; a purse bid ordered by the WBA in May was held on May 27 to stage a fight between Kubrat Pulev and Michael Hunter ― a purse bid DKP won fairly according to King.
However the situation itself has grown far more complicated than a legal dispute with John Wirt, the head of Epic Sports, being a former longstanding attorney of Don King and currently representing both Pulev and Hunter in this dispute.
Known to be Pulev’s promoter, Epic Sports further holds a dubious role in representing Hunter as management and appears to have been aiming to stage a more lucrative fight between Michael Hunter and Jarrell Miller on the Alvarez-Crawford undercard.
However, with DKP being Hunter’s promoter and having won the WBA’s purse bid, Epic Sports has no actual leverage to prevent Hunter from fighting Pulev and is aiming to boycott the fight, which DKP announced to be planned for October, by dragging Don King and his promotion into legal proceedings.
No official announcement of the title bout between Pulev and Hunter has yet been announced officially, but the Miller vs. Hunter fight does appear to be out of the picture, preventing the September 13th Sela/Zuffa-organized show from adding an entertaining heavyweight contest to its event.
The Alvarez-Crawford event is currently still facing some relative issues filling up its undercard. Though super middleweight (168 lbs) contenders Christian M’billi [France] and Lester Martinez [Argentina] are set to compete on the September 13th card, the Dana White-organized show has failed to produce any further significant names.
Rumors of the event becoming a multi-day show have not yet been confirmed, nor has White been prominently involved in promoting the fight as Zuffa Boxing’s head ― having thus far only sporadically appeared in press conferences and interviews related to the fight.
Instead, it appears Sela, who had already been pinpointed as the event’s official promoter by Turki Alalshikh, has appeared to be taken over the bulk of operations, contributing with arranging the logistics of the fight and helping the September 13 card in being set to be hosted at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
