Boxing Promoter

Super-welterweight champion Shane Mosley is suing boxing promoter Cedric Kushner for more than $600,000 he said he's owed from a 2002 title fight. Mosley's lawyer, Judd Burstein, said Mosley is owed the money from his July 2002 rematch with welterweight champion Vernon Forrest. The suit was filed Tuesday in Manhattan's state Supreme Court, and Burstein said his client received a money judgment against Kushner in California last year after the promoter "admitted he owes the money."

LAS VEGAS - Manny Pacquiao released a statement the morning after being brutally knocked unconscious by Juan Manuel Marquez at the close of the sixth round: "I am fine. I am looking forward to a nice rest and then I will be back to fight. " Marquez, at 39, might never have an opportunity to walk away from fighting on such a high after his dramatic moment of vindication that followed three bitter decisions against Pacquiao: two losses and a draw. Yet veteran promoter Bob Arum said he expects Marquez to return for a fight Arum believes is now the most wanted bout on the landscape: Marquez-Pacquiao V. "It depends on how much money Marquez wants to make," Arum said Sunday, assuring the Mexican fighter's $6 million guaranteed purse from Saturday will be amplified because of his stunning performance.

Flamboyant boxing promoter Don King was acquitted of insurance fraud Thursday in a New York court after 11 hours of jury deliberation. "This is so great. I'm so thrilled," King said. "The most important thing to me now is freedom." The federal jury also was unable to reach a verdict on charges against Don King Productions Inc., which were added to the case after a jury in 1995 failed to reach a verdict on the same nine wire-fraud charges against King. U.S.

Eric Lowen Singer-songwriter Eric Lowen, 60, a singer, songwriter, guitarist and half of the Lowen and Navarro folk group who with his songwriting partner Dan Navarro penned "We Belong" for Pat Benatar, died Friday at Kaiser Permanente Panorama City Hospital, the band announced. Lowen had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, in 2004. The degenerative disease affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord and eventually weakens muscles throughout the body.

Federal prosecutors vowed Friday to retry boxing promoter Don King on insurance- fraud charges after jurors were dismissed in his first trial. A mistrial was declared in the case Thursday, when the jury deadlocked on a verdict. Prosecutors appealed to a higher court to force further deliberations but gave up on that approach Friday. When the mistrial was made official Friday, King walked smiling from the courtroom, saying, "I am going to church." Jurors said the panel was divided.

From Las Vegas Bob Arum sits alone. He's gregarious by nature, a man who truly loves his work as boxing promoter, but right now no one knows what to say. He's left to his own thoughts. Across the hall in a Beverly Hills hotel two months ago, the noise speaks of anticipation. In a few minutes the boxers and their entourages are going to arrive and Arum will orchestrate the circus, his specialty. Lee Samuels knows someone has to say something to Arum. He's worked for Arum for decades, been witness to all the staged hype and hoopla that keeps Arum going at age 78. But he has to ask. "Bob, are you sure you can do this?"

Amid continuing reports that former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson is feuding with promoter Don King, Tyson met in Los Angeles with former promoter Harold Smith, adviser to light-heavyweight champion Thomas Hearns. Smith was a flamboyant boxing promoter in the 1970s until he was convicted in a major bank-fraud case.

Convicted embezzler Harold Rossfields Smith has applied for a Nevada boxing manager's license, officials said. Smith was released from prison in October after serving five years of a sentence for embezzling $21.3 million from Wells Fargo Bank in California during his days as a boxing promoter.

The carnival barkers brought the show to a place where they buy ink by the barrel. It was Don King and Bob Arum, together again. Stop the presses. Sentimentality may dictate that we wipe away a tear. If you know boxing, you know that these two didn't merely define the art of promoting fights, they all but invented it. Keep a hand on your wallet. If you've got a used car to sell, give them five minutes. Speaking of cars, their visit Monday to The Times was to sing the praises of two fighters who are 50,000 miles past their warranty.

From Las Vegas Bob Arum sits alone. He's gregarious by nature, a man who truly loves his work as boxing promoter, but right now no one knows what to say. He's left to his own thoughts. Across the hall in a Beverly Hills hotel two months ago, the noise speaks of anticipation. In a few minutes the boxers and their entourages are going to arrive and Arum will orchestrate the circus, his specialty. Lee Samuels knows someone has to say something to Arum. He's worked for Arum for decades, been witness to all the staged hype and hoopla that keeps Arum going at age 78. But he has to ask. "Bob, are you sure you can do this?"

One of the funnier moments of the year in sports occurred last week. Presiding was that master of high comedy, Bob Arum. His day job is that of boxing promoter, but he may be missing his true calling. Jay Leno, beware. Arum scheduled a conference call for the media at midnight PDT Friday. It was the old news-at-midnight drama. He said this was the end of a so-called "exclusivity period" in which he had refrained from negotiating with any other fighter on behalf of his client Manny Pacquiao, so that an HBO representative could work with Floyd Mayweather Jr., who was given first shot to fight Pacquiao on the date of Nov. 13. Then Arum went on to sound like a diplomat at a United Nations committee meeting, dealing delicately with complicated issues and choosing words carefully to make sure nobody's feelings got hurt.

Shirley Mills Hanson Child actress in 'Grapes of Wrath' Shirley Mills Hanson, 83, a former child actress who played young Ruthie Joad in "The Grapes of Wrath," director John Ford's classic 1940 film based on the John Steinbeck novel, died March 31 of complications of pneumonia at a convalescent hospital in Arcadia, said stepdaughter Deniece Zwick. Born April 8, 1926, in Tacoma, Wash., Hanson moved with her family to Southern California in 1937 to break into the movies.

Bob Arum , Manny Pacquiao's promoter, on Sunday unveiled what he said was his "final counteroffer" to get an agreement between his boxer and tentative opponent Floyd Mayweather Jr. for a March 13 bout that could be the most lucrative in the sport's history. Arum said he wants an agreement with Mayweather and his promoter, Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions, by today or he'll "finish negotiations" for a Pacquiao replacement fight against Paulie Malignaggi . Arum's offer is for each fighter to submit to unlimited random urinalysis, and to let the Nevada State Athletic Commission determine at its Jan. 19 meeting whether additional blood testing is required beyond Pacquiao's current agreement to allow his blood to be tested 30 days before the bout and immediately after its conclusion.

Mike LeBell Wrestling promoter Mike LeBell, 79, a longtime and highly successful promoter of wrestling at the Olympic Auditorium, died Nov. 24 at his Los Angeles home. He had cancer, said Jeff Walton, a former wrestling publicist. In 1971, LeBell became one of the first North American wrestling promoters to use closed-circuit television to broadcast sold-out matches when he aired a live faceoff at the Olympic between Don Carson and John Tolos at two downtown theaters.

Sarasota police said they would not charge an amateur boxing promoter in the death of a 30-year-old woman who was beaten into a coma during a Toughman competition. Promoter Art Dore violated no state laws and cannot be charged in the June 17 death of Stacy Young, who entered the June 14 bout on an impulse, Chief Peter Abbott said.

A second member of the commission that regulates boxing and mixed martial arts has resigned within a week. Howard Rose, a Beverly Hills talent agent who also has worked as a boxing promoter, notified state Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) in a letter Tuesday that he is stepping down from the California State Athletic Commission immediately. Last week, the commission's chairman, Timothy Noonan, submitted his resignation to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The resignations follow articles in The Times that detailed how commissioners obtained free admission for themselves, relatives, friends and associates to events they regulate.

A second member of the commission that regulates boxing and mixed martial arts has resigned within a week. Howard Rose, a Beverly Hills talent agent who also has worked as a boxing promoter, notified state Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) in a letter Tuesday that he is stepping down from the California State Athletic Commission immediately. Last week, the commission's chairman, Timothy Noonan, submitted his resignation to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The resignations follow articles in The Times that detailed how commissioners obtained free admission for themselves, relatives, friends and associates to events they regulate.

State authorities have called foul on a Spanish-language reality show featuring Latino boxers, alleging that two of the fights broadcast last month on the Azteca America network were not sanctioned. The California State Athletic Commission served a cease-and-desist order on the producers of "Retador Azteca" (Aztec Challenger) on Feb. 8, trying to halt production of allegedly unsanctioned bouts in East Los Angeles.