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Legal fight Rocchigiani seeking to reclaim WBC moneyPosted: Wednesday April 23, 2003 11:22 AMUpdated: Wednesday April 23, 2003 11:22 AM
BERLIN (Reuters) -- Former world champion boxer Graciano "Rocky" Rocchigiani aims to secure over US$30 million in damages from the World Boxing Council despite the boxing organization's filing for bankruptcy last week. Rocchiagiani thought he had become light-heavyweight champion in March 1998 when he beat Michael Nunn in what appeared to be a title fight after American Roy Jones seemed to have relinquished the title. When Jones changed his mind, the WBC reinstated him as champion in June 1998. Rocchiagiani said he had been stripped of his title and took the WBC to court. A New York court ordered the WBC on April 9 to pay US$30.6 million damages and declared Rocchigiani light-heavyweight champion from 1988 to 2000. A week later the WBC, one of four major world boxing bodies, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at a U.S. court in Puerto Rico. "The WBC says it cannot pay the amount. It's now up to the bankruptcy court to formulate a plan," said Rocchigiani's Berlin-based lawyer Bjoern Ziegler. "If it had not filed, then we would have begun collecting the money... We're not looking for it to go bankrupt and end up with nothing, but we are looking for a substantial part of the sum awarded. It must be a reasonable amount," Ziegler said. Ziegler insisted that resolution of the case, which only came to court last September, would not be allowed to drag on. Berlin-born Rocchigiani, whose father was from Sardinia, Italy, beat Nunn in the WBC-sanctioned fight in March 1998. He lost in his bid to become WBO champion against Poland's Dariusz Michalczewiski in April 2000. The Mexico-based WBC said its references in promotions and contracts to the March 1998 fight as a championship bout, and to Rocchigiani as the champion, had been typographical errors. The chapter 11 filing allows the WBC to continue operating while protecting it from the claims of its creditors, such as Rocchigiani. The WBC, established in 1963, contends that Jones did not relinquish his title and remained its light-heavyweight champion from 1997 to 2003, giving up his belt only this month. Its Web site features a letter dated April 15, 2003, from Jones in which the boxer, now the WBA heavyweight champion, says he is relinquishing his title for the first time after being champion for six continuous years. In the meantime, the now 39-year-old Rocchigiani is returning to boxing after a two year break, taking on fellow German and former European champion Thomas Ulrich on May 10. "If I had the US$31 million in my bank account, I wouldn't be getting back into the ring," he said earlier this month.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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