A recent lawsuit has been filed against Todd duBoef, the president of Top Rank Boxing, claiming that he has withheld millions of dollars in owed fees from a former employee. The lawsuit also alleges that Top Rank used connections with an alleged drug gang to help secure popular boxing matches for their contract with ESPN.
William Keane, a boxing manager who joined Top Rank in 2018, is the one bringing the lawsuit. He claims that he has experienced significant financial losses exceeding $25 million due to the actions of duBoef. Keane was described in the lawsuit as someone who had the right connections to attract top fighters, including Tyson Fury, to the company.
The lawsuit was filed in a California federal court on February 27. It accuses duBoef, whose stepfather is Bob Arum, the founder of Top Rank, of breach of contract and fraud.
According to the lawsuit, Bob Arum had initially asked Keane for help in convincing ESPN that Top Rank could attract big-name fighters, promising to pay him 10% of the fighters’ earnings, similar to his manager’s pay.
Recently, ESPN mentioned that it would not be renewing its rights deal with Top Rank, which started in 2017 and is set to end in August. Keane’s complaint states that duBoef stopped paying him for securing fighters and allegedly lacked the funds to cover the purse for the Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder fight. Furthermore, it claims that duBoef hid from ESPN that the funding was backed by an organized crime figure, Daniel Kinahan, who has ties to Fury.
In 2018, duBoef reportedly allowed Keane to collaborate with Kinahan to promote Tyson Fury’s bouts but insisted that ESPN should not learn about Kinahan’s involvement. Concerns were raised that if Kinahan’s connection became public, it might jeopardize the deal with ESPN.
The lawsuit contends that duBoef has acknowledged that Keane is owed millions and suggests that he decided to tighten the company’s finances following ESPN’s announcement about the termination of their contract.
It is noted in the filing that the boxing community has doubts about duBoef’s ability to fill Bob Arum’s significant role as president of Top Rank. The lawsuit claims that Arum has questioned whether ESPN values duBoef, contributing to the stress within the organization.
Representatives for Top Rank Boxing, duBoef, and Keane have been contacted for comments but have not yet responded.
