Opinion ID: 3013922
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: irrespective of whether such [b]out

Text: actually takes place for any reason other Arthur Pelullo is the president and than Banner’s nonperformance.” owner of Banner Promotions, Inc. (“Banner”), a company engaged in the Section Six of the Agreement promotion of professional boxers and delineated Echols’s compensation for his professional boxing matches. Antwun appearance in the bouts secured by Echols is a professional boxer with a Banner: current record of twenty nine wins, five Your purse for all bouts losses and one draw. covered by this agreement In November 1999, Echols signed a shall be structured as P romotional Ag reem ent (“th e follows (a) non television, Agreement”) with Banner, receiving a not less than $7,500.00 $30,000 signing bonus. The Agreement (b) Univision, not less than granted Banner “the sole and exclusive $10,000.00 (c) Telemundo, right to secure all professional boxing not less that $10,000.00 bouts requiring [Echols’s] services as a (d) ESPN 2, Fox Sports or professional boxer and to promote all such small pay-per-view, not less bouts” for a term of at least four years, and t h a n $ 20,00 0.00 p lu s possibly longer, if certain conditions were $10,000.00 training met. In essence, the Agreement gave expenses. (e) HBO AFTER Banner the right to be Echols’s sole DARK as a challenger or in representative in negotiations with any a non title bout, not less than third parties that were interested in having $45,000.00 plus $10,000.00 Echols box on their television networks, in training expenses. (f) HBO their arenas, or against boxers they AFTER DARK as a World represented. Champion not less than $80,0000.00 plus Banner’s major obligation under the $10,000.00 training Agreement was to “secure, arrange and expenses. (g) HBO as a promote” not less than three bouts for challenger or in a non-title Echols during each year of the contract. b o u t , n o t l e ss t h a n Banner had sole discretion to determine $50,000.00 plus $10,000 the time and place of each bout. While training expenses. (h) HBO Echols had to approve each opponent, his as a World Champion, not approval could not be “unreasonably less than $125,000.00 plus withheld.” Under Section Five of the $15,000.00 training Agreement, Banner could satisfy its expenses. obligation to secure a bout “if it shall have made a bona fide offer in writing 2 Thus, Banner was to pay Echols not less any compensation at all. than a stated minimum amount for each Tension also arose between the two bout in which he appeared, with the parties over a “step-aside” fee that Banner amount of the minimum depending on negotiated on Echols’s behalf in where the bout was televised and whether connection with a fight in Germany.1 Echols appeared as a champion or not. E c h o l s b e l i ev e d t h a t B a n n e r However, these “minimum purses” could misrepresented the amount of the “step- be subject to renegotiation, or the entire aside” fee, telling him that it was less than Agreement cancelled, at Banner’s option, it actually was, so that Banner could by operation of Section Eight, which pocket the difference. provided that “[i]f during the course of this Agreement Boxer should lose any bout, Finally, in February 2003, Echols Banner shall [sic] the right but not the requested information about the purse for obligation to rescind this Agreement or the a fight on March 15 of that year. Banner purses set forth in paragraph (6) shall be offered $30,000. When Echols made a subject to renegotiation.” counter-offer, Banner responded by rescinding the offer and stating it would One month after entering the offer the March 15 fight to another boxer. Agreem ent, E chols lost a world Echols filed this suit shortly thereafter. championship bout to Bernard Hopkins, triggering Section Eight. Banner chose not to exercise its right to rescind the