Wynn-Stuckey-Newman: The COMPLETE Story!

One of the great things about this blog is not being limited to a certain story from a certain source. This gives me the ability to give credit to other writers who work with other boxing websites and media outlets and who travel the same road that I do.

Recently, I put up a story from Fightnews.com about the situation concerning promoters Marty Wynn and Darryl Stuckey. It was a good piece. I declined to follow up because I quite frankly don't truly have the legal background to deal with such matters. These matters often end up with verbal name calling that I don't want to be a part of.

Now, thanks to a tremendous column written by my Beltway Boxing writing colleague Mike Swann of 15rounds.com, I don't have to. Mike did an outstanding job of pulling all the information together and showing all sides of the issue. Mike has given me permission to reprint his column in its entirety. It is lengthy, but it is well worth reading.


DC DUPLICITY: DRAMA OR DOUBLE DEALING?

by Mike Swann

Marty Wynn and Raging Productions, co-promoter of the June 11th Mike Tyson-Kevin McBride fight in Washington D.C., has filed a $19.8 million lawsuit against co-promoter Darryl Stuckey, [individually], The Stuckey Group LLC, Sun Trust Bank, and Showtime Networks Inc. for breach of contract, tortious interference with contract, fraud and conspiracy. Wynn is seeking $4.8 million in compensatory damages and $15 million in punitive damages.

This development sadly blemishes what had been a successful promotion for the Washington D.C. area, one that will leave some of the participants figuratively bruised and bloodied by the process. Ultimately, the courts will have to disentangle this state of confusion to determine the culpability of the parties.

In an effort to shed light on the affair, we will review the case from the point of view put forth by the parties involved, all of whom were given an opportunity to speak on the record. In addition, we have obtained copies of legal documents connected with the case, along with internal memos from some of the involved parties.

The supporting information includes:

1] A copy of the lawsuit
2] A November 17 fax to Showtime with instructions on how to handle the $553,429 of the remaining net proceeds, addressed by The Stuckey Group and Raging Productions.
3] The original Teaming Agreement between Stuckey and Wynn from March 8.
4] An amendment to the Teaming Agreement, effective May 18, 2005.
5] A copy of a cashed check to Mike Tyson from Raging Productions, dated 4-11-2005, for $100,000 as a purse advance.
6] Demand Confessed Judgment Promissory Note for $4,245,570 from Sun Trust Bank to Darryl Stuckey, dated June 23, 2005.
7] A June 22, 2005 letter from the law offices of Mikes and Stockridge on behalf of Sun Trust Bank, requesting a meeting with Wynn and his attorney, Gregory Powell. The purpose of this meeting was to assign rights from Showtime to Sun Trust so that the bank would be repaid on behalf of the Stuckey Group for 21 checks paid by Sun Trust for $4,245,570. The letter states that both Raging Productions and The Stuckey Group have agreed to assign their rights to the promotion contract with Showtime to Sun Trust. Attached is a list of the checks paid, and an “Unconditional Guaranty” to be signed by Wynn to become “Guarantor” to the “Borrower,” Darryl Stuckey. Also included is an Assignment and Security Agreement to secure fight proceeds as collateral. Lastly, the packet contained a Notice and Acknowledgement Letter from Showtime Networks to authorize future payments up to $4,245,570.
8] A letter dated May 13, 2005 from The Stuckey Group and Raging Productions To David Touhey of the MCI Center with instruction to remit to Stephen Tennant, [an outside investor], the amount of $1,650,000 on June 13, 2005 from the live gate proceeds.
9] A Memorandum of Understanding from Darryl Stuckey on May 11, 2005, that the Stuckey Group and C.M O’Neal P.C. is holding $5 million in escrow, and that Stephen Tennant will wire $1.5 million into said escrow account. The memo promises that $5,000,000 will be wired to the MCI Center by May 20, including $1.5 million from Tennant and $3.5 million from Stuckey.
10] A memo from Wynn dated 6-20-2005, listing the outstanding payments still to be made to fighters and other participants. Wynn’s memo mentions the name of a prominent boxing figure who had threatened to go to the press if not paid his fee of $15,000 by the next day. 16 people were listed as not having been paid.
11] An October 30, 2005 email from Rock Newman to Stuckey and Wynn, castigating both men for not reaching an agreement after five months. Rock listed remaining payments to be made to individuals and strongly urges both men to take action by allowing Showtime to disburse the funds.

Further in the communication, Newman lambastes Wynn in graphic terms, calling his behavior “an absolute violation of what it means to be a real black man.” Newman does not mince words, referring to Wynn as “being a Lying, Snitching, Backstabbing, Two-faced BITCH,” and worse. After leaving no doubt as to his personal feeling of Wynn, Newman goes on to say that Wynn did not have a clue about how to handle the Tyson fight, and noted that Stuckey served Wynn’s interests in putting up the money, “however he came up with it,” as Wynn was the licensed promoter and ultimately would have been responsible for any unpaid bills. Rock said that, “You owe everyone involved a HUGE apology as a start and an attempt to redeem your reputation.”

THE STORIES

SUNTRUST BANK AND SHOWTIME: Both companies declined to comment on a pending legal matter.

MARTY WYNN:
On Showtime: “Anyone knows that a promoter has to sign off on a contract, basically saying that when the money comes in, the money will be released to these individuals. In order to release money you have to have instructions of where that money goes and Showtime never had those instructions with my signature, and what they ended up doing was releasing it to Sun Trust without my signature.”

On Darryl Stuckey: “Stuckey was going to provide $5 million for the Tyson event and all other expenses as far as the undercard. My deal was that I was to provide $180,000 and that was it. It was supposed to be a 50/50 split from the net proceeds. Of course a 50/50 split to me was a good deal because he was taking more of a risk than I was. I was pretty much putting up the license and the money that I provided.

He never really had the money, which I found out later on. People say ‘Why didn’t you verify the money?’ Once Shelly Finkel and Stephen Espinoza, who is Tyson’s lawyer, who are real guys in boxing, once they verified the money, there was no need for me to verify the money. I found out later that the money wasn’t real because Tyson’s check bounced.”

On Sun Trust: “They turned the money that Stuckey defrauded them out of into a loan. Stuckey negotiated a 12% interest rate. I know that because when they sent me the paperwork, they crossed out the 12% and wrote in 9%. They did that because they confirmed that the pay per view money would be able to reimburse them. What they did not know was that they needed my signature in order to get that money. How Sun Trust did that was they indemnified Showtime in order to get that money.”

The ADDENDUM: “All through the negotiations of the contract we had a 50/50 split. Stuckey and Rock Newman came to me and said ‘hey man can you drop you percentages?’ I’m a young promoter; I want to get my company branded, so I said, ‘Sure, I’ll drop my percentages.’ So he would take 90% and I’d take 10%. Rock told me not to put any more money in the promotion.

When he presented that to Sun Trust Bank, they said you own 90% of the promotion and went ahead… My argument has always been that if he owned 90% of the promotion, it was only because he was supposed to put up the rest of the money. I ended up paying some of the undercard; I paid the travel, hotels, and the per diem. I would never have dropped my percentages if I thought that I would have to put up another dollar besides my $180,000.”

RETURN ON INVESTMENT: Wynn says that he ended up losing $616,000 on the promotion. “I have never been paid a dime. Now we have found out that there was never any $5 million in escrow. The only reason I accepted it was because of a letter from Sun Trust saying the money was there and it was confirmed by the escrow attorney. The problem came when Stephen Espinoza said take the money and put it in the Stephen Espinoza account so we can feel more secure. That’s when it hit the fan because the money was never there.

So what Stuckey did was have Sun Trust cut cashier checks back in May, and sent it to the MCI Center attorney, and held in the vault there. Everyone felt comfortable because they were talking cashier checks held by a neutral party. But they didn’t know the checks were bogus.

Certainly the person, [a branch manager], who cut the checks knew that, unless he pulled the wool over her eyes. She told me later that Stuckey manipulated her and she didn’t want to lose such a big account.

I don’t think that Rock knew it. The $5 million never existed. One thing that should have drawn a red flag was when Stuckey said that Tyson wanted a $250,000 advance so he said, ‘why don’t you give him $100,000 and I’ll give it back to you on Thursday?’ So I wrote the check. I asked why not get it out of escrow as part of his purse and he said the instructions wouldn’t allow him to do that. I never got my money back on Thursday. Then it got to the point where I needed money for hotels, flights, and I was out another $100,000.

At the weigh-in I told Stuckey that in D.C. we have to show the money up front. Stuckey told me to write the check from Raging Productions, show the commission the check, and he’d cash the checks for the fighters. Well, he never did that, so some of the fighters got paid with Raging Productions checks. When we presented those checks to some of the fighters that night, I said to Stuckey as well as Rock Newman that some of that money has to get to my account. These checks need to get covered.”

Eight checks for Tyson bounced, six for $500,000, one for $450,000, and one for $100,000 that cleared on the second deposit. Purse checks of $17,500 for Chris Smith and $13,000 for Erin Toughill also bounced.

“Some checks cleared. How I don’t know,” Wynn said.

Rock Newman received $160,000 as an advance and contributed $50,000 toward Tyson’s advance, according to Wynn. Newman attached the proceeds of the gate so that he would get paid.

“I’m paying him [Stuckey] 90% of the promotion yet I’m paying a guy $450,000 out of my gate. That’s supposed to be coming out of Stuckey’s pocket.”

Later as the relationship with the partners grew more acrimonious, Wynn began talking about taking legal action. Rock advised Wynn to seek out noted boxing attorney Judd Burnstein.

Wynn says that he told Rock that, “I did things your way so far and I’m out $600,000...Because it came from Rock I couldn’t trust it.”

According to Wynn, Rock told him that, “If you go any further with this, some heads are going to roll.”

Marty Wynn claims that he had to take out an equity loan on a home to cover his American Express bill that was due within 30 days, used to cover hotels and flights on the promotion. He feels that the residual effect of the Tyson promotion has tarnished the name of his company, and essentially shut down his business.

As recently as late November, Wynn received a call from a law firm representing Showtime, he says. According to Wynn and supported by document #2 listed above, Showtime had funds available for distribution from the pay-per-view distribution. $294,000 would have gone to Raging Productions, $106,000 to the Stuckey Group, and the remaining balance of $153,429 would be used to represent payment for services in the promotion. All remaining future net proceeds would be remitted to Raging Productions.

Wynn said that he preferred to settle it in court, and claimed that the $106,000 for Stuckey was to cover his attorney fees.

“We did enough that no one should have lost money,” Wynn says.

Marty Wynn has been involved in previous controversy over payments. In the September 2004 Maryland State Athletic Commission meeting, Executive Director Pat Pannella reported that he had placed several calls to Marty requesting that he make arrangements with the Commission to settle the ticket manifest for Wynn’s July 2004 boxing show in Bowie Md. Pannella stated that he was at a loss to explain why Mr. Wynn was not returning his calls on the matter.

Wynn’s response is that the matter involves a 10% tax on the gross sales. Wynn says that the commission wants taxes on $86,000 worth of comp tickets. The state is asking for $33,000 in taxes. Wynn claims that it should be $19,000, $5,000 of which he has already paid. At this point the lines of communication have been closed and the matter is still unresolved.

STUCKEY’S STORY: Darryl Stuckey was reluctant to go on record on a pending case, and said that he had nothing to say, “except that it [the lawsuit] is bogus.”

“I’m the one taken advantage of on this,” he said. “I was not the promoter, just the investor.”

Stuckey said that originally Wynn was supposed to pay everything in excess of Tyson’s purse. He claims that Wynn “Had a lack of money and a lack of means to raise money. The deal became 90-10 because he couldn’t come up with the money.”

Stuckey says he is, “More like the victim in this case.”

Stuckey, like Wynn, has a skeleton hanging in his closet. In 2000, he was fined $3500 and forced to take a 3 hour ethics course by the Maryland State Real Estate Commission.

The violations cited were:

1] Directly or through another person willfully makes a misrepresentation or knowingly makes a false promise.

2] Engages in conduct that demonstrate bad faith, incompetency, or untrustworthiness, or that constitutes dishonest, fraudulent, or improper dealings.

He was also found in violation of a COMAR regulation:

1] The licensee shall protect the public against fraud, misrepresentation, or unethical practices …

Stuckey responds that the case has nothing to do with the Wynn lawsuit, but explains: “I did a friend a favor and didn’t know a house was in foreclosure. I didn’t know that the settlement papers were never signed until six months later.”

The house had been rented by then and according to Stuckey, it was easier to settle.

ROCK NEWMAN’S STORY:

After receiving my call, Rock said that he would not answer questions until he could confirm my identity. I sent him a copy of my work and my BWAA card. Hours later he replied with this email response:

It is my recollection that Mr. Wynn needed an investor because he did not have the financial capabilities to underwrite the June 11th Tyson fight.

I got involved at a point where Mr. Wynn had already convinced Mr. Stuckey to be his investor.

As with most major fight promotions, the Tyson-McBride bout was filled with drama where all sides would threaten to pull out, squabbles were had with the site, the TV broadcaster, the sponsors, the commission, the bank, the medicals, the undercard, the announcers, ect.

The fight was quite a success for DC as there were over 17,000+ in attendance, 300,000 PPV and closed circuit buyers and a large international audience.

Post fight, there seemed to have been some financial snafus where some checks issued by Mr. Wynn and or Mr., Stuckey were initially returned unpaid, however they were quickly made good and all fighters were paid their proper amounts.

Mr. Stuckey seems to have met all of his obligations for the fight.

Mr. Wynn’s claim to have invested $600,000 and his claim to have a 50/50 split of the revenues of the promotion and his claim that the bank and Mr. Stuckey participated in some sort of fraud, all seem wildly exaggerated.

Best Regards,

Rock Newman

I returned his email with thanks for providing his communication to balance the story. After all, Marty Wynn was interviewed at length with little rebuttal.

The next day I received the following email message from Rock:

Aside from the baseless absurdity of a frivolous lawsuit that is expected to be quickly dismissed, there really is no story…

Thus far the case has received little publicity, and perhaps in the final analysis, there is no story, as Rock writes. But there appears to be plenty of dirty laundry here that will soon be put on display. The, when as Rock says, the heads begin to roll, it may become a very big story.