Boxing
Contender O'Shaquie
Foster Answered Dibella
Lawsuit But No TRO, PI
Papers June 11
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
June 9 – Boxer O'Shaquie
Foster wants to drop promoter
Dibella Entertainment, which
has sued him and is stopping
his probably short career at a
key point.
On May 11, U.S. District Court
for the Southern District of
New York Judge John G. Koeltl
held a proceeding. Inner City
Press covered it.
Both sides
said they want this proceeding
to move quickly, given how
time bound a boxer's career
can be. But the best that
could be done was a discovery
schedule running through
October 29.
Will this
contender still have a shot by
then?
On June 9, Judge
Koeltl held another
proceeding, and Inner City
Press live tweeted it, here:
Judge Koeltl asks
why a Temporary Restraining
Order is being sought.
Response: No one
will give a fight with threat
of litigation hanging in the
air.
Judge
Koeltl: How could I decide
that on a TRO? With the
absence of an imminent
fight...
Judge
Koeltl: The ability to move
forward with a new promoters
sound more like a Preliminary
Injunction matter.
Answer: We could
have a one-off agreement, like
with Bash Boxing. In the 14 or
28 days, we can get more than
one offer for Mr. Foster to
box.
Judge
Koeltl: I don't do TROs ex
parte.
Dibella's lawyer:
We are ready to promote him.
He is refusing. Lou Dibella is
in the boxing Hall of Fame.
I've been in the business 30
years and I've never heard of
the promoter they're
promoting.
Dibella's
lawyer: We offered him a fight
next week on a major network,
he turned it down. Fighters
like Foster can't be allowed
to just run off.
Judge Koeltl: I
am unlikely to sign a TRO. The
papers for a Preliminary
Injunction should be filed on
Friday.
And afterward he
ordered: "ORDER: For reasons
stated on the record at the
conference today, the pending
requests for the temporary
restraining order and
preliminary injunction are
denied with leave to refile on
proper papers pursuant to
Local Civil Rule 7.1. The
defendant shall file the
appropriate papers by June 11,
2021, the plaintiff will
respond by June 18, 2021, and
the defendants will reply by
June 23, 2021. The plaintiff
may move on the counterclaims
without a pre-motion
conference. The parties shall
file a Rule 26(f) report by
June 24, 2021.
On the eve of a
pre-trial conference, Foster
has answered - sent to Inner
City Press by his counsel -
including this declaration:
"My name is O’Shaquie Foster.
I am over the age of eighteen
(18), of sound mind, and
duly authorized and competent
to make this declaration. The
facts stated in this
declaration are within my
personal knowledge and are
true and correct.
2. I have never
been personally served with
any document other than the
Original Complaint with
Jury Demand on April 8, 2021;
3. I never received an email
from Alex Dombroff on March
27, 2020;
4. Of the three
(3) fights that I have
participated in during the
period of the
Promotional Agreement, only
one took place in New York
City, New York; 5. On July 17,
2019, I stopped Jesus Bravo by
knockout to win the WBA’s
Fedecentro Super
Featherweight Title in San
Jose, Costa Rica;
6. On December 5,
2019, I won a unanimous
decision against Alberto
Mercado to retain the
WBC’s Silver Super
Featherweight Title in New
York City, New York;
7. I have never
signed an amendment to the
Promotional Agreement.
Specifically, I did not
agree to any extension of time
because of the COVID-19
pandemic; and
8. On December 8,
2020, my manager posted a
tweet to my twitter account
regarding my top ten
ranking by one of the four
main sanctioning bodies.”
Watch this site.
The case is
DiBella Entertainment, Inc. v.
Foster, 21-cv-2709 (Koeltl)
***
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