Four days before Jai Opetaia and Noel Mikaelian are scheduled to share the ring in the co-feature of Ryan Garcia vs. Conor Benn at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Don King is trying to stop the fight entirely.
In a cease and desist letter obtained by BoxingInsider.com, attorney Alejandro Brito of Coral Gables firm Brito PLLC, writing on behalf of Don King Productions, demands that TKO Group Holdings and Zuffa Boxing immediately cancel the September 12 bout and “announce such cancellation in the media immediately.”
The letter was sent via email to Isabelle Mercer, TKO’s Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel in New York. Its subject line contains an unfortunate typo, identifying the sender as “Dong King Productions, Inc.” The signature block spells the attorney’s name “Alejuandro Brito” as well, suggesting the letter went out the door in a hurry.
Typos aside, the substance is serious. Brito asserts that DKP is the exclusive worldwide promoter of the WBC cruiserweight champion and holds a “legally binding and valid Promotional Agreement” granting it exclusive worldwide rights to engage Mikaelian’s services “for any and all professional boxing matches.”
The letter accuses TKO and Zuffa, referred to collectively as TKO/Zuffa, of engaging Mikaelian’s services for the Opetaia bout without DKP’s permission, consent, or authorization, calling the conduct “outrageous” and “a clear tortious interference” with the agreement. Later in the letter, Brito escalates the characterization, stating that TKO/Zuffa’s actions constitute a “knowing, intentional and unjustified” tortious interference.
Brito claims there is no question TKO knew about the King contract. He cites emails between Mercer herself and DKP legal counsel Carl Lewis as proof that “there is absolutely no doubt that TKO/Zuffa was and is aware that DKP is Noel’s promoter.”
The letter also acknowledges that the two sides negotiated directly. According to Brito, Mercer was personally involved in discussions with Lewis regarding a potential fight or multi-fight deal for Mikaelian that would have included the Opetaia bout. Beyond that, Brito states that TKO Chief Operating Officer Harrison Whitman and Zuffa Boxing head Dana White held at least one virtual conference with Don King and Lewis in an effort to secure a Provision of Services deal for Mikaelian, again including a fight with Opetaia. No agreement was consummated, and Brito calls it “indefensible” that TKO/Zuffa would then circumvent DKP and engage Mikaelian anyway.
Brito preempts TKO’s likely defense as well. He argues TKO/Zuffa cannot justify its actions by pointing to negotiations with Mikaelian’s manager, Anthony Girges, and his attorney, James Greeley, because only DKP can enter into an agreement with a third party for Mikaelian’s services. Under the DKP agreement, Brito writes, Mikaelian has the right to “discuss and explore” other fight opportunities, but only in consultation with DKP, and under no circumstance can he sign with another party without DKP’s expressed consent.
The demands go well beyond the September 12 fight. Brito declares that any contracts Mikaelian has entered into, or will enter into, for his professional services without DKP’s express written consent are void. He directs TKO/Zuffa to immediately cease and desist, to have no further communications or business dealings of any kind with Mikaelian, and states that any dealings for the fighter’s services must go through DKP. The letter asks Mercer to confirm receipt by return email and confirm that TKO/Zuffa will comply.
The letter closes by reserving DKP’s right to pursue “any and all remedies available at law or in equity,” followed by a signature line instruction that reads, “Please be governed accordingly.”
The distribution list is a message in itself. Copies went to Mikaelian, Don King, Turki Alalshaikh, the World Boxing Council, the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Girges, and Greeley. King is not just putting TKO’s lawyers on notice. He is putting the regulator that licenses the card and the most powerful financier in the sport on notice too.
The dispute has been building for weeks. Mikaelian passed on a Benavidez unification that King and Sampson Lewkowicz had reportedly agreed to for November, choosing instead to sign with Zuffa and face Opetaia. Reports in recent weeks indicated Zuffa had contacted matchmakers about a potential replacement opponent in case King’s legal threats materialized into an injunction. This letter is the clearest sign yet that those threats are real.
As of now, Opetaia vs. Mikaelian remains on the card. Whether it survives the week is another question.
