Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Goodman, Botha awaiting N.J. court verdict

Ten days after presenting their case to a two-judge appellate court in New Jersey, high-powered Las Vegas attorney Oscar Goodman and besieged IBF heavyweight champion Frans Botha are still awaiting a verdict. At issue: Botha's championship and whether a U.S. district court has the power to strip him of the title.

As of Wednesday, Goodman was taking a no-news-is-good-news approach.

"I see it as an excellent sign," he said, "because they could have decided that what we said was frivolous and thrown it down the toilet."

Goodman requested the appellate panel dismiss a March 27 district court verdict in New Jersey that stripped Botha of his IBF title and ordered contenders Michael Moorer and Axel Schulz to fight for the vacated championship. As part of his request, Goodman further called for the appellate court to reinstate the IBF hearing resolution, which called for Botha to be fined but not to lose his title for testing positive for steroids following his Dec. 9 win over Schulz in Germany.

If the appellate court denies the request, Goodman will file an expedited appeal to a three-judge panel that would hear the case in Philadelphia.

A court has never stripped a champion of his title.

"There's a rule of law that states courts can't interfere with the decisions of a private body, which is what the IBF is," Goodman said. "All we're asking is that the IBF be allowed to conduct its own business."

The IBF conducted a hearing on Botha Feb. 24 and, on the surface, the decisions reached that day seemed fair.

Botha was fined $50,000 and ordered to give Schulz a rematch, and that the winner of that fight had to agree to fight Moorer within 120 days. But Moorer's attorney then pulled out a pre-settlement agreement that mandated Moorer fight the winner of the Dec. 9 fight in Germany.

Complications set in as the courts became involved, with U.S. District Court judge Dickenson DeBevoise eventually ruling Botha should be stripped of his title and that Moorer and Schulz should fight as soon as possible for the vacant crown.

"You would have hoped everything could have gone smoothly (after the IBF hearing), but there was a carnival-like atmosphere at the IBF office that day," Goodman said. "The decision was announced and then the shouting started. We were celebrating but Moorer's people were crying in their beer. The f-word was more prevalent in that room that day than the n-word ever was in the O.J. Simpson trial."

While Goodman and Botha returned to Las Vegas, attorneys for Moorer (and later, Schulz) began the process of involving the courts in the dispute. To date, they've been successful and Botha -- who admitted taking a prescribed medicine for an elbow problem without knowing it included a steroid -- stands to lose his championship and the several million dollars it's worth, if DeBevoise's ruling is allowed to stand.

"All we're asking is for the court of appeals to put everything back to where the IBF had it on February 24th," Goodman said.

Around the ring

* CHAVEZ SHOOTING: A shaken Julio Cesar Chavez decided to leave his training camp in Toluca, Mexico, Wednesday after a shooting incident left one of his sparring partners dead. Chavez will take the rest of this week off and reconvene his training camp at Caesars Tahoe next Monday; he's preparing to face Oscar De La Hoya June 7 in Las Vegas. Tuesday night in Toluca, an unidentified gunman shot and killed Jesus Gallardo, a retired middleweight who had been utilized as a sparring partner for Chavez. Another man, described as an innocent bystander, was also killed in the gunfire. Toluca is a city at 8,300-feet elevation, 35 miles west of Mexico City.

* AUGIE RESTS: Suffering from a head cold, a bad ankle and a damaged left thumb, Las Vegan Augie Sanchez took the early part of the week off after winning the U.S. Olympic trials last weekend in Oakland. Sanchez, 18, a senior at Cheyenne High School, may resume training today at the Golden Gloves Gym. He needs only one win at the Olympic Box-Offs in Augusta, Ga., April 18-20 to qualify as the country's 125-pound representative on the U.S. Olympic team. Sanchez's opponent at the Box-Offs, Floyd Mayweather, would have to beat Sanchez twice to earn a spot on the Olympic team.

* QUICK HITS: Veteran Mike McCallum of Las Vegas dropped off Tuesday's nationally televised card in Indio, Calif., due to gout in a foot. He was to have fought Frank Tate to top a card televised by the USA cable network. ... Two-time former world champion Julian Jackson, who recently moved to Las Vegas, returned to the gym this week and began working out at Johnny Tocco's. Jackson is coming off shoulder surgery. He said promoter Don King promised him a title shot within the year, and he expects to fight at 154 pounds. ... The Sports Illustrated that comes out today has Christy Martin on the cover, plus a feature story on the 35-2-2 lightweight. That publicity will force King, her promoter, to pay her more than the $15,000 she received for her last fight in Las Vegas. ... ESPN2 will televise the National Collegiate Boxing Championships from Reno's Silver Legacy hotel Friday and Saturday. The U.S. Air Force Academy is the defending national champion. ... Friday on HBO: Pernell Whitaker vs. Wilfredo Rivera, and Ike Quartey vs. Vince Phillips in a pair of welterweight title fights. According to HBO publicity material, the fights will be on in Las Vegas at 6:30 p.m. Phillips, a 2-to-1 underdog, fights out of Las Vegas. ... Ex-heavyweight champ Larry Holmes said Wednesday he can't get a fight with George Foreman, so he will fight twice more and retire. "I'll get to an even 70 fights and quit," he said during a conference call. Holmes, 63-5, is scheduled to face Quin Navarre, 17-3-1, Tuesday in Bay St. Louis, Miss., on the USA network.

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