One week after going viral with a bizarre ring walkout on national television, heavyweight Curtis Harper tells his story in-depth.
Last week, journeyman heavyweight boxer Curtis Harper (13-6, 9 KOs) made headlines by walking out of his fight against prospect Efe Ajagba (6-0, 5 KOs), prompting a disqualification loss in literally the opening second of the six-round contest. The fight was shown on national television through Premier Boxing Champions on Fox Sports 1.
PBC reporter Jordan Hardy spoke to Harper in the locker room and relayed that Harper’s decision to bail was because of “not getting paid enough to fight and that he wants respect.” Nate Campbell, a former world champion and Harper’s longtime trainer, disputed Harper’s reasoning and lashed out on social media.
With the Florida-based Harper under the mandatory two-week suspension handed out by Minnesota’s commission, he has since given reporters a more expansive story on the lead-up to the infamous ring departure, and it’s certainly a lot more interesting than just a vague “not getting paid enough” line.
Harper told the Los Angeles Times that he agreed to fight Ajagba in mid-August for a purse of $6,000. Certainly not a lot of money, and well off from the $22,500 for his eight-rounder vs. Chris Arreola in 2015, but he did agree to that sum. However, it was perceived promoter shenanigans over his bout contract that perturbed him deeply.
“It wasn’t about money. It was about the respect of the game,” Harper said.
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“I touched gloves and in the bottom right corner over my opponent’s shoulder was the promoter and matchmaker all smiling and happy after I never signed a contract. … I never got a copy back [of the electronic contract],” Harper said.
“It felt like I didn’t have a contract. I never saw a contract, so I never knew what they had. I wanted a bout contract and a participant contract and [matchmaker] Chico Rivas told me, ‘Get in the ring or you won’t get paid.’”
Harper also claimed to Sporting News that he was initially told that the Ajagba fight would not be televised, and wasn’t made aware it would be shown on FS1 until the day of the weigh-ins.
According to Leon Margules of Warriors Boxing, the event’s co-promoter, he says Harper and his wife Sanders are “lying. … The commission asked them at the weigh-in, ‘Is this your signature?’” on the electronic contract, “and [Harper] said yes.” PBC officials also said that they were not legally obligated to show Harper a hard copy of the signed contract.
Margules told Sporting News that he believes it should be Harper that should be paying them back for his actions:
“We’re not the bad guys in this,” Margules continues. “There are promoters who would have thrown Harper and his wife out of the hotel and canceled their return flights. I think he should explain himself and apologize. I think he should be suspended for a reasonable period of time with what’s reasonable being determined by his explanation. And I think he should repay the direct out-of-pocket expenses that his doing this cost us.”
Then, Margules rattles off a list of direct out-of-pocket expenses: 1) roundtrip airfare for three people (Harper, Rosenberg, and Campbell) between Jacksonville and Minneapolis ($1,541); 2) hotel accommodations (two rooms for three nights, $1,002); 3) meal money ($40 per day for three people for three days, $360). That comes to roughly $2,900. Now double that and then some when adding in expenses for Ajagba. Margules says that direct out-of-pocket expenses for Ajagba-Harper (not including the fighters’ purses) came to $7,465.
Another issue that has since been cleared up was whether or not Harper should’ve been allowed to compete at all. Harper was not licensed by the New York State Athletic Commission for a scheduled fight in March because he’d recently undergone cataract surgery, as well as treatment for a detached retina in 2015. Jacksonville ophthalmologist Robert Schnipper said that Harper underwent corrective surgery on July 17th and was given the okay to fight on July 26th.
The Minnesota commission is investigating the situation and will soon have a ruling on the matter. Harper’s purse has been withheld, but he is hopeful that the investigation will lead to the result being changed from a disqualification to a no-contest. Curtis also hopes that this starts a movement for pro fighters standing up for themselves in the unscrupulous world of boxing.
“The sport of boxing has no union,” he said. “No one can protect themselves. Boxing needs more work by the commissions.”
As for Ajagba, who raised eyebrows with this faceplant KO win at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil, he’s going to return to the ring on September 30th against an opponent to be determined.