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More black eyes for boxing Promoter testifies he gave IBF money to set up rematch
Posted: Saturday June 24, 2000 10:24 AM
NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) -- A boxing promoter specializing in German fighters testified Friday he funneled $100,000 to the IBF on behalf of heavyweight Axel Schulz so the sanctioning body would mandate a lucrative rematch with champion George Foreman. The statement of German-born businessman Wilfrid Sauerland supports earlier testimny in the racketeering trial of IBF founder Robert W. Lee. Lee and other IBF officials are accused of taking $338,000 over more than a decade for favors and rigged rankings, but the bulk of that money stems from the machinations regarding Foreman and Schulz. Sauerland, who now lives in Switzerland, said Foreman probably was looking for an easy match when he picked his fighter, Schulz, for a title defense. The disputed Foreman victory in April 1995 showed the champion underestimated the German, he said. Sauerland said during a meeting he had with Lee a month after the fight, Lee was sympathetic. "He also felt the decision was wrong," Sauerland said. Later, knowing that IBF rules permit a rematch after controversial bouts, Sauerland said he was shocked when Schulz's U.S.-based co-promoter, Cedric Kushner, told him the IBF wanted $100,000 to sanction the rematch. Sauerland said he was reluctant to pay, but knew Germany was keen on Schulz becoming its first world heavyweight champion since Max Schmeling in the 1930s. "The whole nation was looking at it," Sauerland said. "I was under a lot of pressure. "When I paid the money, I was not aware there could be a conflict with U.S. law," said Sauerland, who was testifying with immunity. "I had no alternative but to pay because otherwise there was no chance of Axel getting the rematch." Sauerland said he withdrew $100,000 from one of his Swiss accounts and delivered the cash to Kushner in a Las Vegas hotel room in June 1995. The IBF ordered the rematch, but Foreman relinquished the IBF belt instead of complying. Sauerland said he did not get his money back, but did not complain because Schulz got a title shot in June 1996, losing to Michael Moorer. Under cross-examination by Lee's defense lawyer Gerald Krovatin, Sauerland acknowledged the IBF was shortchanged on Schulz's sanctioning fee from the Foreman fight. The fee, $10,500, was based on a reported purse of just $75,000 that Kushner negotiated with Lee, Sauerland said. Schulz's actual purse was either $350,000 or $500,000, Sauerland said, which would have generated a much larger fee. By comparison, Foreman - a huge draw as the oldest heavyweight champion - got a $10 million purse and paid the IBF $150,000 as a sanctioning fee. Sanctioning fees are charged by the IBF and the other two major governing bodies for the sport in return for conferring their titles. Boxing is a sideline for Sauerland, who said he operates Afrotech AG, a business that supplies bottling equipment to the soda and brewery industries in Africa. Kushner, who is expected to testify next week, has not been charged. Since the Foreman-Schulz allegations surfaced with Lee's indictment in November, he and his lawyer have declined to comment. Foreman's promoter Bob Arum, of Top Rank Inc. in Las Vegas, testified two weeks ago he used a middleman to get $100,000 to the IBF or sanction the initial Foreman-Schulz title fight. An exception was needed because Schulz was unranked. Sauerland's account squares with testimony from the prosecution's key informant, longtime IBF ratings chairman C. Douglas Beavers. Beavers testified in April that the rematch got the green light from the IBF because Lee had him squeeze Kushner for $100,000. Beavers said Kushner initially thought he was joking, even though Kushner had been making periodic payoffs averaging $5,000 twice a year. Beavers said he collected a manila envelope containing the money from Kushner in June 1995. He said the money was divided into four packets, for himself, Lee, Lee's son, and Bill Brennan, former IBF championship committee chairman. Lee, 66, of Fanwood, and his son, Robert Jr., 38, are the only defendants on trial. They face multiyear prison terms if convicted of conspiracy, racketeering, fraud and tax charges. Brennan, 86, past president of the U.S. Boxing Association, a group that became the IBF, was severed from the trial because of ill health. The IBF's South American representative, Francisco "Pacho" Fernandez of Colombia, remains at large. The Lee trial has finished its 11th week and is expected to last into August. Meantime, a court-appointed monitor is overseeing the IBF, and Lee is barred from participating in IBF affairs.
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