According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Top Rank and Al Haymon have confidentially settled Top Rank’s $100 million lawsuit.
“The stipulation of dismissal was filed in federal court in Los Angeles, and it’s a matter of public record,” Top Rank’s Bob Arum told ESPN.com. “We settled, but the terms of the settlement are confidential, and I’m not going to talk about it. I’d be pissed if they said anything about it, and I am not going to.”
“If I was still working for the U.S. Attorney’s office, I might have seen this through to the end, but I’m a private citizen,” said Arum, who worked in Robert Kennedy’s Justice Department before becoming a boxing promoter 50 years ago.
The sides had been deep into the discovery process and had been exchanging documents when they stopped about two weeks ago. Then came the settlement.
“Plaintiff Top Rank, Inc. and Defendants Alan Haymon, Haymon Boxing LLC, Haymon Sports LLC, Haymon Holdings LLC, and Alan Haymon Development, Inc. hereby stipulate to the dismissal with prejudice of all claims between them in this action, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(ii), and subject to the terms of a confidential agreement,” the ruling said.
Arum said early in the case that he had a face-to-face meeting with Haymon, one of the rare times they have met in person since their relationship soured in 2006, when Haymon helped engineer Floyd Mayweather’s exit from Top Rank.
“It was very civil,” Arum said of the meeting with Haymon. “It was early on, and then it was carried on by our lawyers.”
“I can say categorically, absolutely, no,” Arum said. “[A potential rematch] had no part at all in any negotiations for the settlement or anything like that. It was not an issue and it was never raised.”
“As a legal basis, there is no impediment,” Arum said. “As a practical basis, it’s certainly a big possibility, but then again, it will depend on the ability of the two of us to work together to bring that about. It would make sense for both us.
“I’m optimistic that everybody is going to work together and make big fights. I think there’s a realization on everybody’s part that in order to get big fights, you’re gonna have to work together.”
