LONDON, 9 December 2003 — World heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis won a multimillion-dollar legal bout at London’s Court of Appeal yesterday against his former promoters.
The court upheld a previous a High Court ruling ordering Lewis’ former promoters Panos Eliades, Panix Promotions Ltd and Panix of the US Inc to pay almost $6.0 million in damages awarded by a United States court for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract and racketeering.
The original award was made in March 2002 by Judge Bauer in New York under the provisions of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
World champion Lewis took action in the English courts to enforce the award after the defendants claimed the whole judgment was unenforceable because of errors in the way the New York award had been assessed.
They claimed that damages under one of the headings had been trebled, and that as a result the whole judgment could not be enforced in the UK courts.
But Lewis argued the judgment could be enforced if that aspect of the damages were corrected.
In London yesterday, judges Lord Justice Potter, Lord Justice Carnwath and Lord Justice Jacob backed Lewis and ordered his former promoters to pay up. “The robust and sensible approach is not to treat the multiple damages element of the judgment as definitive or “infecting” its character as a whole,” Lord Justice Potter said.
Klitschko Hopes Demolition of Johnson Catches Eye of Lewis
In New York, Vitali Klitschko hopes his heavyweight masterclass against Kirk Johnson will stir a dormant Lennox Lewis into one last battle as boxing’s flagship division prepares for an intriguing year in 2004.
The Ukrainian dispelled any lingering doubts over his title credentials with a second-round win over Canda’s Johnson (34-2-1, 25 KOs) in their World Boxing Council eliminator at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. The speed of the victory — achieved after two minutes, 54 seconds of the second —was such that one interested party missed the spectacle altogether.
