A Delayed Payday For Cleve

Adams, who was still manager of record on the contract filed with the Texas Boxing Commission, reentered the scene when the championship fight was announced. An Adams executive, John Collins, went to Benbow's lawyer to check the original contract. "But what interested me," said Collins, "was that besides the original there was a new agreement in there that I'd never seen before. Suddenly I got scared that Williams might not get what was supposed to come to him from this fight."

Collins discussed the situation with Adams, who filed to tie up the Williams-Benbow-Adams share of the live gate until the principals could agree on exactly where the money was going. They did that last week.

"My share of the live gate is only $2,316, and Benbow gets $4,632, plus $37,500 in expenses," says Adams. "It would have been pretty silly for me to cause this much trouble for that small a sum, except that I wanted to be certain in my own mind that Cleve was getting all he had coming."

Adams, however, had a dual purpose. He had $37,000 coming to him—$20,000 he says Williams owes for living expenses and $17,000 in medical bills. Williams, whose half of the live gate came to $44,449, will pay Adams $20,000 now and $6,500 owed to Benbow. Taxes will take $8,818, and the fight promoter $1,660. He will get more than his $7,471—and will pay Adams more—when the ancillary money is counted. With the money he got this week, Williams is making a down payment on a house. "He will never fight again," says Irene. "He may dig ditches, or maybe get a job sweeping out a building, but we are going to have a nice home and Cleve isn't going into that ring anymore."

Williams adds: "Mr. Adams and my wife are the cause we have what we have right now. I swear that on a stack of Bibles. Thank God Mr. Adams didn't turn me loose."