FEATURE: Sanity must prevail in Lartey v Cabic feud!
BY: Bernard Neequaye

As I read through a publication detailing the feud between heavyweight boxer Richard Harrison Lartey and managers Cabic Promotions, only one thing came to my mind.
I realised that the Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA) didn’t do well to ensure the matter comes to a close, despite having ample time to solve it amicably.
It’s been over a year and six months since Lartey petitioned the GBA for being cheated by Cabic Promotions but no verdict has been given.
The boxer had written to the regulatory body to order his managers to honour their financial agreement to him.
Lartey was due 67 per cent from a purse of £50,000 when he fought Daniel Dubois in the United Kingdom last April on Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions Ltd, but on his return to Ghana, he was given £10,000 by Cabic Promotions.
After seeing the figure, I asked myself whether contractual agreements are necessary if a manager can decide to offer his boxer any amount of his choice without honouring contracts.
Even if I’m to treat all the claims by Lartey as mere allegations, why must it take over a year to find a solution to a matter of this calibre.
I smell something fishy here. There is a saying that “there is always room for speculations wherever there is no transparency”.
It is this suspicion that is urging me to write this piece. I don’t think the GBA has been the “biting body” that I expect and I believe it is encouraging so many bad behaviour in the boxing fraternity.

Lartey v Gorman bout
Lartey landed a fight with British boxer Nathan Gorman to take place on October 10 in the United Kingdom, having been out of the ring for over a year.
Promoters of the bout, Queensberry Promotions Ltd, decided to deal directly with the boxer without Cabic Promotions’ involvement due to complaints from Lartey in their first bout.
This didn’t go down well with Cabic Promotions because they felt they still have a legitimate contract with Lartey as managers.
They petitioned the British and Irish Boxing Authority (BIBA) and British High Commission in Ghana to protest Queensberry’s move.
This is where I have a problem. Why must it take Lartey to land a fight with Gorman before the entire nation gets to know about the impasse?
Is that to say Cabic is only interested in getting their due from the fight? This is unacceptable and must not be condoned by the GBA.
Every manager is entitled to a percentage of his boxer’s purse but that is after you have fulfilled your obligations. What has Cabic done for Lartey since their fallout to merit their due as managers? Once again, it is up to the GBA to decide and I’m glad they have scheduled a meeting to addressthe issue.
When I last spoke to Cabic’s Chief Executive Officer, Ivan Bruce Cudjoe, he stressed that they still had a valid three-year contract with Lartey and denied knowledge of the Gorman fight.
He also decided not to go into details of his outfit’s feud with Lartey until the GBA gives its verdict on the matter.
Termination of contract
I also read in the BoxingAfrica.com report that Cabic wrote a letter to Lartey through the GBA demanding £5 million to terminate the contract. I don’t want to believe that because it’s absurd.
How on earth can they demand such an abnormal amount of money with all these allegations against them? The only reason why Cabic will demand such unreasonable amount is to stall and destroy Lartey’s career.
The spotlight will once again be on the GBA to see if they will allow this cruelty to be meted out to Lartey. If they allow it to happen, it will certainly put the name of the authority into disrepute.
All over the world, boxers opt out of contracts and I haven’t heard any of them coughing up this outrageous figure.
Legendary fighters Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather all parted ways with Top Rank Promotions at certain stages of their careers and never paid anything close to what Cabic is demanding.
These were boxers earning millions of dollars in bouts but they never paid anything close to £5 million. I have to pause here to wait on the GBA’s verdict when the Executive Members meet on Wednesday on the matter.
Until then, Lartey holds the view that his contract with Cabic ended the very day they breached it.
The GBA must decide who is right and I trust them to do a good job to allow sanity to prevail.