03/24/2011
Roy Jones Jr.'s promotions
company has filed a lawsuit alleging that fighter Danny
Green used illegal hand wrappings in a 2009 fight that
saw Jones knocked out in the first round.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday also claims that Green, an
Australian, refused to allow Jones to invoke the rematch
clause in the contract and that Green's company owes
Jones an unspecified amount of money from the bout.
Green defeated Jones in the first round of the IBO world
cruiserweight title fight on Dec. 2 in Sydney,
Australia.
The referee stopped the bout and declared Green the
winner by technical knockout after 122 seconds.
It was Jones' sixth loss since 1989 but his fourth loss
in his previous nine fights. The Pensacola native has 54
wins, 40 by knockout. The 36-year-old Green retained his
title.
"We don't make excuses. It was a great performance by
Danny," Jones told reporters after the bout.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Pensacola by
Jones' Square Ring Inc. and names Green Machine Boxing,
Green v. Jones PTY LTD and Green himself as defendants.
The suit alleges that Green violated the International
Boxing Organization's guidelines and a New South Wales
Boxing Commission guideline for hand wrappings.
Green applied surgical tape directly to the skin of his
hands instead of using the tape to hold a soft gauze
bandage in place. He also used a 2-inch tape instead of
the allowed 1-inch tape, the lawsuit says.
"The combination of these materials and layering
techniques resulted in the creation of a 'soft cast'
substantially more rigid than if the IBO Rules had been
complied with," the lawsuit alleges.
Jones and his company also claim Green's promotion
company Green Machine Boxing still owes him money
generated from the fight, the suit says. The contract
says the companies would split the revenue 50-50. Jones
claims his company is owed an unspecified amount of
damages "believed to be in the millions of dollars."
The third prong of the lawsuit involves Green refusing
to allow Jones to have a rematch.
John Wirt, the chief executive of Jones' Square Ring
Promotions and the attorney for Jones' promotions
company said Friday that he did not wish to comment on
the lawsuit.
In the weeks after the fight, Jones' management team
asked the Australian boxing commission to disqualify
Green and to overturn the victory saying the wraps meant
Green's hands were a "very dangerous weapon," according
to a statement given to the Los Angeles Times.
Green's camp countered and Green himself wrote a
personal response to Jones saying the former Olympian's
complaints were an "endless series of excuses and false
allegations."
He said the hand wraps were personally inspected by
three independent inspectors who certified they were
legal and gave him no advantage in the bout.
"This is a low blow as you are saying that I cheated to
beat you," Green said.
As seen in
http://www.pnj.com/article/20100619/SPORTS/6190316/1006/NEWS01/Jones-files-suit-over-bout
