Probe if fix was in
at De La Hoya fight
By MICHELE McPHEE
DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU CHIEF
A corruption probe of boxing is examining whether the disputed bout between Oscar De La Hoya and (Sugar) Shane Mosley was fixed, the Daily News has learned.
The investigation centers on allegations that Top Rank - one of the world's largest boxing promoters - and a number of its boxers were involved in schemes to throw fights.
Law enforcement sources told The News there also is evidence that scales may have been tampered with to allow boxers of different weight classes to fight each other, and that medical documents were forged.
During the ongoing, 20-month probe, evidence also has been uncovered suggesting that the fight between Mosley and De La Hoya, a Top Rank boxer, may have been rigged, the sources said. Mosley won the September bout by unanimous decision but De La Hoya cried foul, demanding an investigation into the three judges' scorecards.
A law enforcement source close to the probe would not elaborate on the findings, saying only, "We have information that the De La Hoya fight was fixed."
The latest development came Tuesday, when the FBI raided promoter Bob Arum's Top Rank headquarters in Las Vegas. Armed with search warrants, agents seized computers, financial documents, boxers' contracts, medical records and videotapes of professional fights.
A Top Rank executive, Lee Samuels, insisted that his company has turned over .everything the FBI requested. Arum was traveling out of the country, Samuels said.
"Neither the basis nor the purpose for the FBI request is known," Samuels said in a statement released yesterday. "We are fully cooperating with any requests made of us by the FBI and its agents in order to facilitate their job."
The probe was spearheaded by an NYPD detective posing as a wiseguy from New York trying to sell stolen booty in Vegas.
The FBI's Vegas office had asked the NYPD for assistance, and with the blessing of Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, the former New York State boxing commissioner, the detective packed his bags for Vegas.
The detective teamed with an FBI special agent pretending to be his enforcer/driver, and they began moving among Las Vegas underworld figures. They cemented their reputation as goodfellas from New York, accumulating evidence through wiretaps and their own observations.
"These guys were solid in Las Vegas, flashing cash and acting like tough guys. It was all smoke and mirrors, but it worked," said another source familiar with the operation.
The detective began ingratiating himself with sports figures at hot spots such as Charlie Palmer's steakhouse at the Four Seasons and the ultra-exclusive private Foundation Room nightclub atop Mandalay Bay. He became a regular at Nine at the Palms and A.J.'s in the Hard Rock.
"There are some guys whose fighting records are going to be tarnished, and there are some guys who are going to go to jail," said one law enforcement source with knowledge of the case. "This case is going to be a huge blow to the boxing industry and how it conducts its business."
Arum, 72, a Brooklyn native who worked as a tax attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice under Attorney General Robert Kennedy, has been a charismatic figure in the boxing industry for nearly four decades.
His career was blemished in 2000 when he admitted to making an improper $100,000 payment to International Boxing Federation founder Bob Lee to sanction the April 22, 1995, fight between George Foreman, then the heavyweight champion, and Axel Schulz in Atlantic City.
Arum could not be reached for comment, but some boxing insiders recalled one of his famous lines from the early 1980s: "Yesterday I was lying. Today I am telling the truth."
Published on January 9, 2004
http://www.nydailynews.com/01-09-2004/sports/story/153129p-134787c.html
at De La Hoya fight
By MICHELE McPHEE
DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU CHIEF
A corruption probe of boxing is examining whether the disputed bout between Oscar De La Hoya and (Sugar) Shane Mosley was fixed, the Daily News has learned.
The investigation centers on allegations that Top Rank - one of the world's largest boxing promoters - and a number of its boxers were involved in schemes to throw fights.
Law enforcement sources told The News there also is evidence that scales may have been tampered with to allow boxers of different weight classes to fight each other, and that medical documents were forged.
During the ongoing, 20-month probe, evidence also has been uncovered suggesting that the fight between Mosley and De La Hoya, a Top Rank boxer, may have been rigged, the sources said. Mosley won the September bout by unanimous decision but De La Hoya cried foul, demanding an investigation into the three judges' scorecards.
A law enforcement source close to the probe would not elaborate on the findings, saying only, "We have information that the De La Hoya fight was fixed."
The latest development came Tuesday, when the FBI raided promoter Bob Arum's Top Rank headquarters in Las Vegas. Armed with search warrants, agents seized computers, financial documents, boxers' contracts, medical records and videotapes of professional fights.
A Top Rank executive, Lee Samuels, insisted that his company has turned over .everything the FBI requested. Arum was traveling out of the country, Samuels said.
"Neither the basis nor the purpose for the FBI request is known," Samuels said in a statement released yesterday. "We are fully cooperating with any requests made of us by the FBI and its agents in order to facilitate their job."
The probe was spearheaded by an NYPD detective posing as a wiseguy from New York trying to sell stolen booty in Vegas.
The FBI's Vegas office had asked the NYPD for assistance, and with the blessing of Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, the former New York State boxing commissioner, the detective packed his bags for Vegas.
The detective teamed with an FBI special agent pretending to be his enforcer/driver, and they began moving among Las Vegas underworld figures. They cemented their reputation as goodfellas from New York, accumulating evidence through wiretaps and their own observations.
"These guys were solid in Las Vegas, flashing cash and acting like tough guys. It was all smoke and mirrors, but it worked," said another source familiar with the operation.
The detective began ingratiating himself with sports figures at hot spots such as Charlie Palmer's steakhouse at the Four Seasons and the ultra-exclusive private Foundation Room nightclub atop Mandalay Bay. He became a regular at Nine at the Palms and A.J.'s in the Hard Rock.
"There are some guys whose fighting records are going to be tarnished, and there are some guys who are going to go to jail," said one law enforcement source with knowledge of the case. "This case is going to be a huge blow to the boxing industry and how it conducts its business."
Arum, 72, a Brooklyn native who worked as a tax attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice under Attorney General Robert Kennedy, has been a charismatic figure in the boxing industry for nearly four decades.
His career was blemished in 2000 when he admitted to making an improper $100,000 payment to International Boxing Federation founder Bob Lee to sanction the April 22, 1995, fight between George Foreman, then the heavyweight champion, and Axel Schulz in Atlantic City.
Arum could not be reached for comment, but some boxing insiders recalled one of his famous lines from the early 1980s: "Yesterday I was lying. Today I am telling the truth."
Published on January 9, 2004
http://www.nydailynews.com/01-09-2004/sports/story/153129p-134787c.html
