Trainer Lamar Wright fighting to get his boxer's $4K purse from Matchroom Sport after July 15 bout in Detroit
Boxer Angelo Snow Sr. fought a scheduled six-round welterweight bout at the Masonic Temple in Detroit, Michigan, on July 15, getting stopped by Jemarco Holloway at 2:16 of the fourth round.
Snow, however, hasn’t been paid his $4,000 purse, trainer Lamar Wright told Yahoo Sports, and has filed a grievance with the Michigan Athletic Commission seeking his money. Yahoo Sports has spoken to several representatives of the Michigan commission but none have offered an on-the-record answer.
Matchroom Sport promoted the card, which was headlined by a bout for the undisputed women’s super featherweight title between Alycia Baumgardner and Christina Linardatou that was streamed on DAZN.
Snow agreed to a deal with local promoter Vic Green, who brought him to Matchroom. The deal included the same $4,000 purse but had wording about ticket sales, ticket commissions and purse deductions for returned/unsold tickets. Wright complained to Green about that and said it would be best if Snow not fight if the language about deductions for ticket sales remained in the contract.
Green then reached out to Matchroom and began a correspondence with its legal counsel, Jai Singh, requesting that Snow be paid in cash only and that the ticket wording be removed.
On July 14, the day before the bout, Singh sent an email to Green, having agreed to remove the phraseology to which Wright objected. Wright provided a copy of that email to Yahoo Sports.
In it, Singh wrote to Green, “Please see attached the amended bout agreed for Angelo with the ticket commission wording removed. Please sign and return as soon as possible. Please note that any commission monies not received by us midday will be deducted from the purse.”
Wright also provided a copy of the bout agreement to Yahoo Sports, which said that Snow would be paid $4,000 for the fight. Nowhere in the bout agreement is the word "tickets" ever mentioned, as Singh had said to Green in his email on July 14.
“In consideration of the Boxer participating in the Bout to a conclusion, Matchroom shall remit directly to the Boxer a purse in the amount of $4,000 (Four Thousand US Dollars) (“Purse”) less any applicable deductions including but not limited to any local taxes (if applicable), applicable Local Commission sanction fees and any other applicable sanctioning fees or deductions,” the contract read. “The Purse shall be payable by bank transfer by Matchroom to an account designated by the Boxer within five (5) days of the conclusion of the Bout, less any applicable deductions.”
Wright told Yahoo Sports that Matchroom was allegedly trying to pay Snow just $900. Wright said the face value of the tickets Matchroom had provided to Snow to sell — all of which were returned — was $4,680.
“If you think of it logically, in that scenario, we would owe them money for fighting,” Wright said.
Yahoo Sports reached out to Eddie Hearn, Matchroom Sport’s chairman, and he said it was because of returned tickets.
“We signed a contract for this prelim bout which, amongst other terms, confirmed that tickets taken on consignment are non-refundable,” Hearn told Yahoo Sports.
In a since-deleted Facebook post made on July 22, Wright complained that Snow had not been paid.
When asked about Wright's Facebook post, Hearn told Yahoo Sports that two days before the bout, the fighter returned “a substantial number of tickets in breach of the contract terms.” Hearn said Matchroom kept the fight on the card but wouldn’t give Snow a ticket commission given the large number of returns.
Hearn then said Saturday he’d been attempting to get wiring details to send Snow his pay but hadn’t been able to reach the booking agent. Wright said Matchroom wanted to pay Snow $900 and he didn’t want to take the money because it might be seen as a settlement.
Matchroom Sport released a statement to Yahoo Sports refuting Wright's allegations.
"We refute the statements made by Lamar Wright and Vick Green and consider such baseless allegations defamatory," the statement began. "We have engaged in good faith discussions with all parties concerned in an effort to resolve the issue, and were assured by Mr. Green — as the promoter who arranged the bout — that the issue was resolved. We were therefore shocked and disappointed by Mr. Wright’s statements. We categorically refute any allegation that we have failed to comply with our contractual obligations or not paid a fighter what they are owed. Matchroom has an impeccable reputation built over many years for treating fighters fairly and with integrity. The allegations against us are defamatory and we will be taking legal action against the relevant parties."
