ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS IN BOXING? HARDLY

By Charles Jay

The 11th Round

This one is for those guys who don't know any better. The guys in boxing who think they
can bullshit their way through life; those who want to play the big shot, but who just
don't understand what it means to run a clean, reputable, efficient operation.

Maybe the message will get across, sooner rather than later.

Lately I have been contacted a couple of times, and with a sense of urgency, by a
"promoter" named Chris Webb, who just so happened to be the subject of Chapter
70 in the original "Operation Cleanup".

The story involved Webb writing a check to junior middleweight fighter Travis Simms - a
check that was denied because of "non-sufficient funds".

In his correspondence with me, Webb's contention was that I had posted "false
information" and "lies" in the story, and that he had
"documentation" that would contradict what had been written.

Would you like to know what his rebuttal of my "false information" was? That the
deal he had made with Simms for the NABA title fight against Anton Robinson (which was
contested on November 1), did not call for Simms to receive his payment in cash, as Simms
had claimed, but that no specific arrangement had been made. I'm imagining that can only
mean a check payment, unless a barter deal was made.

He also contended that Simms had never been "stiffed", as I had implied, but
that he had indeed been paid, and that I should be giving him credit for that.

At the end of his note, Webb identified himself as "ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS IN
BOXING...Chris A. Webb", but not before he had offered to sick his legal dream team
on me.

As I sit here trembling from such a threat, let me say that there was plenty of reason for
me to report exactly as I did. Simms had stipulated to me specifically that he was to walk
away with cash at the end of the evening. His wife echoed the same thing. So did Simms'
attorney, Kurt Emhoff. All of them stated that the specific deal was that business would
be done in the same way it is done on any respectable club show - that the fighter would
sit down, get a check, and endorse that check to the promoter in exchange for a cash
payment.

Obviously, business was not done that way, and to compound matters, according to Simms and
others, Webb made himself unavailable to answer any questions about it for days after the
fight show had concluded.

Think about it for a second. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that Travis Simms'
contract specified he paid by check. When Simms went to Webb's bank to cash it, the bank
teller told him it was no good. So what the hell is the difference whether it was cash,
check, or groceries? A stiff is a stiff is a stiff.

How Webb would think the terms of his contract, whatever those terms were, could possibly
offer him a way out, or some kind of validation for his actions, is something that simply
astounds me.

Yes, it's worth mentioning that Webb eventually deposited enough funds to allow Simms'
check to clear. And Webb was certainly very anxious for me to mention it.

But here was a guy who was actually asking me to PRAISE him for, at long last, finally
making those checks good so they could be deposited successfully - and doing it late at
that - as if this is the kind of professional standard we're supposed to be satisfied
with. Sure, what he did was better than leave all the fighters hung out to dry. But is it
the way ANY promoter should be allowed to conduct himself?

No. This is the way it works - when a promoter puts on a boxing show, he should have
enough funds on hand to make sure the fighters get paid WHEN THEY FIGHT, regardless of
whether the commission has that in their regulations.

What that means is that either the CASH is on hand for the fighter to collect after the
show is over, or the money is already in the bank so that if the fighter chooses to go to
the promoter's bank to cash it, he can. That's it - there are really no two ways about it.

Anybody who has to "float" a club show in order to pay the participants should
not be in business.

People like Chris Webb don't understand that.

The point is, if Webb ultimately decided NOT to put enough money in the bank, or, say, if
he had drawn only 100 paid admissions and didn't the money to deposit - something that has
happened in more than one place on more than one occasion through the years, I can assure
you - then Travis Simms, who had to return to his home in Connecticut the next day, would
have either had to come all the way back to Kentucky, or go on a search for a Kentucky
attorney, in order to avail himself of any kind of legal remedy whatsoever.

Why should a fighter have to be burdened with something like that?

No, Mr. Webb simply doesn't get it. Doesn't get it at all. And that's tragic, because he's
emblematic of a lot of would-be promoters who think they can do business that way - people
who hurt the business in everyone's eyes. And not enough commissions are stepping up to
prevent it.

Oh sure, the Kentucky Athletic Commission has suspended Webb until June of 2003. But
that's not really because Webb wrote a bad check to Travis Simms; that's just a secondary
reason. Rather, it's because the commission, which doesn't protect fighters' interests but
instead their own when it comes to getting paid, apparently did not get its taxes from
that show.

Anyway, here's the entry on the ABC's suspension list, at least as I was compiling this
story:

Webb, Chris (promoter) KY 11/19/02 until 6/30/03

Here's the funny thing about all this - Webb has gotten himself involved as a local site
promoter for a February 14 ESPN2 show featuring Laila Ali. In fact, one of the things he's
done is to secure the venue for the show - Louisville Gardens, the same place his November
1 show was held at.

That explains Webb's motivation in contacting me. Apparently he is under the impression
that if I were to retract my earlier story, and declare that it was all just a horrible
mistake, he could actually rehabilitate himself and get his suspension lifted.

I suggested Webb get his relief somewhere else.

Unless he was in a position to document that Simms' check was not refused at the bank for
insufficient funds, I'm not interested in hearing the story. Live and learn.

Here's the biggest laugh of all - while he's been acting in the capacity of a promoter in
connection with this Laila Ali show, Webb would almost undoubtedly be violating his
suspension. And if the Kentucky commission wants to do the right thing for a change, it'll
recognize that and extend Webb's suspension, far beyond next June.

Which is the way it ought to be, don't you think?

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