Promoter Nestor Tobias says that Julius Indongo still has a valid and exclusive promotional agreement with him, despite recent stories to the contrary.
DiBella Entertainment announced that they had signed Indongo, the former unified junior welterweight title, to a long term promotional contract only two days ago. But it appears the story doesn’t end there. So where did it begin?
The controversy erupted in December when, according to Tobias’ MTC Sunshine Promotions, Indongo secretly signed a managerial agreement with Michael Carter and trainer Larry Brown from LB Courage Change Boxing Club.
In a legal letter to Tobias, Carter and Brown said that they now represented Indongo and that Tobias had no legal or binding agreement or obligation with the fighter.
Tobias responded to the letter with refuting the claims. The letter also included Indongo’s exclusive promotional agreement with MTC. The contract was to expire in 2017 unless Indongo became world champion. Indongo ended up winning two world titles, kicking in a clause that extended the contract to 2019.
Indongo’s lawyers have not responded to the letter at the time of this writing.
“I was under the impression that in professional boxing that promoters would respect each other’s boxers,” Tobias said. Despite the fact that we informed Michael Carter and Larry Brown that Indongo is contracted to us, they continued to disrespect and disregard us by representing our boxer and allowing him to sign another promotional agreement, with DiBella Entertainment. If they think we will take this lying down, they obviously have no idea who they are dealing with and the law will deal with them.”
DiBella is one of the most powerful promoters in the United States. However, it’s unlikely that he was made aware of the controversy involving Indongo’s contractual status. MTC Sunshine are no slouches themselves, having produced three world champions, including Indongo.
Stay tuned to BoxingAfrica.com as this story continues to unfold.
