Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that the much anticipated rematch between WBC Lightweight champion Humberto Soto and Urbano Antillon scheduled for the May 7 Pacquiao – Mosley undercard will not happen sue to Soto’s unhappiness and impending exit from Top Rank
“We are no longer with Top Rank and he is not fighting Antillon for sure,” said Fight attorney Michael Miller. “We’ll go out and find out if any other promoter is interested in signing him. We’ll start on that next week and see if Gary [Shaw], Lou [DiBella], Golden Boy, and anyone else, might be interested in making a bid for the guy. And then we have to see if we will seek legal action against Top Rank for the lost purses, which we certainly will. I don’t know why we wouldn’t.”
Miller said Soto and co-manager Antonio Lozada have been unhappy with his promotional agreement for some time and hired him last week as a co-manager and as an attorney to look at his contract.
Miller said there were several issues, including that Soto had been told the contract expired in October, even though Miller said he believed the deal had expired in 2009.
Miller said another serious issue was that even though the promotional contract was with Bob Arum’s Top Rank, he was being paid — and shorted — by Zanfer Promotions’ Fernando Beltran, who works closely with Top Rank on numerous fighters.
“Soto’s contract was with Top Rank and he was getting checks from Beltran and they were 40, 50, 60 percent of what they should be,” Miller said.
Miller said Soto was due a minimum purse of $200,000 to fight for a world title and $300,000 to defend the title.
“He was never paid $300,000 and Top Rank rarely even showed up at his fights,” Miller said. “[Soto and Lozada] would complain to Beltran about the money and he would promise to make it up. He never did. Our quick and dirty numbers are that they are $1.285 million short to Humberto compared to the minimums they owed him for something like 10 or 11 fights. He would complain. He was pissed. He was told they would make it up. And because he was shorted, that means Lozada is owed about $425,000.”
Miller said Soto continued to fight because he needed the money he was getting and because he was hopeful that he would receive what he was owed.
“I wrote Top Rank a letter [Wednesday] advising that he has been grossly underpaid and we need some answers,” Miller said. “Why was Beltran involved since Soto never signed a contract with Beltran?”
Miller said besides being underpaid on his minimum purses, Beltran sometimes paid him in installments — sometimes using cash — on the money he did receive, and another time his check bounced.
“I’m trying to get as much information as possible,” said Top Rank President Todd DeBeouf. “I’m reaching out to them. All I hear is stuff from other people. Right now, our primary issue is is the Soto-Antillon rematch happening? There is a high probability that it is not. If that’s the case, we will make adjustments.”
“Obviously, the supporting cast is fantastic with the return of [former middleweight champ] Kelly Pavlik and with the Wilfredo Vazquez-[Jorge] Arce [junior featherweight] title fight. We’d like to add something sensational.”
DuBoef said that without a rematch against Soto, Antillon likely would challenge Brandon Rios, another of the lightweight titleholders whom Top Rank promotes, on July 9 on Showtime.
“I’d like to do that fight,” duBoef said.
