The longstanding fighter-trainer partnership between Errol Spence Jr and Derrick James seems to have been completely severed as documents from the Judicial District Court of Dallas County, Texas, confirm that the two have been battling against each other in court since April 17th. While James has filed a lawsuit demanding at least $5 million for fraud and breach of contract, Spence has filed a counter lawsuit in response. More sinisterly, however, the involvement of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) founder Al Haymon in allegedly influencing Spence puts this judicial situation beyond the confines of what had at first been a personal matter.
Court documents reveal that Derrick James launched a lawsuit for a “breach of contract” by Errol Spence Jr (28-1, 22 KO’s) on April 17th. The lawsuit specifically refers to the Spence Jr-Crawford July 29th, 2023, match for which James―as Spence’s trainer―was paid $350,000 from the apparent $2.5 million guaranteed purse Spence was set to earn for that fight.
The standard ten-percent commission each trainer gets resulted in Derrick James earning 10% of Spence’s guaranteed purses for all his fights, however, James’ lawsuit alleged that Errol Spence was paid more for his last five fights, entitling James to at least $2.5 million from Spence’s fight with Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KO’s) on July 29th, and $2.5 million from Spence’s other fights which led James to demand $5 million in total in damages.
In response, Spence’s own countersuit details that James accepted each payment―as well as bonuses―without complaint, and Spence is seeking a declaratory relief, a dismissal of James’ complaints and recompense for his attorney fees; amongst other fees he is entitled to. The declaratory judgement that Spence is seeking aims to re-establish what James was rightfully owed due to their oral agreement; the 10% earnings from Spence’s guaranteed fight purses rather than the total amount that Spence may have earned.
However, the mention of Al Haymon within James’ complaint and lawsuit potentially exposes the corruption that persists in boxing.
With Floyd Mayweather Jr having recently been suspected of influencing the April 20th match between Ryan Garcia (25-1, 20 KO’s) and Devin Haney (31-1, 15 KO’s), a close associate of Mayweather, Al Haymon―who is also the founder of PBC, may have similarly intruded into Errol Spence’s career through his official advisory/management role through PBC.
Within James’ lawsuit, details of a personal conversation he held with Errol Spence Jr on February 13th this year emerged. The two had a discussion over pay, resulting in Spence eventually maintaining he was not entitled to pay James 10% of his guaranteed purse, and that the $350,000 for James’ service in training Spence for his July 29th fight was considered “generous” according to Spence’s advisor Al Haymon, referred to in the lawsuit as Mr. “Al”.
James’ lawsuit alleges fraud and breach of contract due to James believing he did not receive the full amount he was entitled to, which included what Spence allegedly earned through PPV earnings. Al Haymon, who acted as Spence’s advisor, appears to have told Spence to not pay James more than $350,000 due to the standard principle of trainers getting 10% of guaranteed fight purses, but the original [oral] agreement between Spence and James appears to have dictated that James was entitled to more.
In fact, later text messages recovered between the two showed Errol Spence apologizing and admitting to owing Derrick James an amount of $2.5 million, suggesting that his total purse for his fight with Terence Crawford was indeed $25 million. Further research and investigation that James conducted found him to be owed an extra $2.5 million for Spence’s previous fights before his July 29th match.
The confusion that has reared pertains to the “backend” earnings that Errol Spence received, which entitles a fighter to earn a percentage off the pay-per-view (PPV) revenue, From what can be gathered from the legal case between the two fighters, it is still unclear what the oral agreement between James and Spence actually entailed, but from the correspondence displayed between the two it appears James was owed more than just 10% of the guaranteed fight purse.
The case will be handled by the Judicial Court of Dallas County in the coming months and reach a resolution in favor of one of the parties. The court proceedings seem to now confirm that Spence and James have indeed parted ways as was speculated, with The Ring also reporting that Spence has interviewed three new trainers thus far, virtually confirming Spence’s departure from James’ gym.
