Former heavyweight champion of the world Shannon Briggs has filed a lawsuit against his former promoter and alleged business partners, essentially claiming he was only paid $25,000 from a $750,000 purse he was to be paid for his fight with Vitali Klitschko on October 16, 2010.
In the complaint filed with the New York County Clerk’s Office yesterday, the allegations in the document paint a somewhat complicated picture of betrayal; a story common among boxers when dealing with the business side of matters in the sport.
The defendants in the action, The Empire Sports & Entertainment Holdings Company and its principals, which include famed boxing manager and concert promoter Shelly Finkel, are accused of “breach of fiduciary duty, for conversion, for unjust enrichment and for breach of contract.”
As the complaint states, Shannon Briggs and one of the defendants, Gregory D. Cohen, formed an interest called Golden Empire, LLC, on November 30, 2009. Briggs claimed he acquired a 50% stake in the company and was to be paid a salary or compensation in exchange for using his expertise and contacts to persuade boxers to sign promotional agreements with the company. He also claims his services included introducing Cohen and Finkel to “major players” in the world of entertainment.
In January 2010, it is alleged defendant Barry Honig became an investor in Golden Empire and assured Briggs his investment would be used to further develop the company as well as continuing to pay the boxer his salary.
Shortly thereafter, the complaint states Cohen and Honig incorporated The Empire Sports & Entertainment Company as a successor to the business of Golden Empire. At the time in February 2010, Shannon Briggs claims he was assured by Gregory Cohen that his ownership interest had not been compromised and that there had simply been a name change to the company.
To the contrary, Briggs’ complaint states the formation of the new business was in fact to dilute his “ownership interest in the business that had theretofore been conducted by Golden Empire.” It is important to note all of Golden Empire’s assets and liabilities as well as Shannon Briggs’ promotional contract are said to have transferred over to the new entity, The Empire Sports & Entertainment Company.
The story further complicates when a holding company was formed in September 2010, of which The Sports and Entertainment Company became a wholly owned subsidiary. Briggs claims this was done to even further dilute his ownership interest.
So in summary, we have two companies that were successors to Golden Empire, a company which Briggs claims to have had a 50% ownership stake.
Briggs further claims defendant Gregory Cohen forged his signature on documents related to the Klitschko fight.
In the end, Shannon Briggs sustained a vicious twelve-round beating at the hands of heavyweight titleholder Vitali Klitschko, and as a result, he spent twelve days hospitalized in Germany.
Adding insult to injury, Briggs claims when it came time to be paid his $750,000 purse for the fight, he was told the “compensation” he had been paid by the companies since the formation of Golden Empire actually represented advances.
The complaint states the defendants told Briggs they were entitled to recoup the advances from his purse as well as the bills associated with his hospitalization resulting from injuries sustained during the fight.
And that is the synopsis of how he allegedly received only $25,000 from a $750,000 purse.
Obviously, everyone is innocent of these or any other allegations until proven guilty in a court of law, and the above is solely Shannon Briggs’ side of the story.
When confronted yesterday about the allegations, Shelly Finkel reportedly said he had not seen the complaint and referred to the allegations as being “ridiculous.”
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