Right then. Ra'eese Aleem turned up to the Atlanta scales 2.8lbs heavy on Friday morning, and the entire Salita-promoted DAZN show fell apart inside an hour. Atif Oberlton vs Carlos Gongora got upgraded to the main event, the IBF title fight got binned, and Angelo Leo — who made weight cleanly — got robbed of a fight, a title defence and (briefly) a paycheque.
Make no mistake — Leo's getting his money. Georgia commission rules are clear: a fighter who makes weight is entitled to 100% of his purse when his opponent doesn't. That number is $147,000. The question that's caught Aleem's camp completely off-guard is who exactly is signing the cheque.
The Finger-Pointing
Lance Pugmire's reporting in BoxingScene laid it out cleanly. Garry Jonas, who promotes Leo and owns ProBox/BoxingScene, has told the Atlanta commission that Leo is entitled to the full $147,000 and is to be paid by Saturday evening.
Aleem's advisor is Sean Gibbons, an executive at Manny Pacquiao's MP Promotions. Asked about the purse, Gibbons did what every promoter does in these situations — pointed at someone else. "Talk to Salita," is the gist. Dmitriy Salita of Salita Promotions co-promoted the show, and according to Salita, MP Promotions are on the hook because they won the IBF purse bid for the fight back at the start of the year. Salita also flagged what he says is a possible dispute over Aleem's bout agreement and the weigh-in time.
The bit that sums it up: Gibbons told BoxingScene he was alerted that Aleem was overweight nine minutes before the official weigh-in. Nine minutes. That's not a man who came up just short on the morning. That's a fighter whose own camp didn't know where he was on the scales until it was already too late.
The Surety Bond — And Why It Matters
Jonas has already started checking what's covered by the surety bond Salita Promotions had to put up to run a sanctioned event in Georgia. That bond exists exactly for this reason — to make sure a fighter who makes weight gets paid even if the show falls over. The catch is, the bond doesn't necessarily cover the full $147,000, and Jonas has admitted he hasn't yet been told how much it will cover.
The remainder will need to come from somewhere else. Either MP Promotions cough up off the back of their purse bid, Salita Promotions cover the gap, or DAZN steps in to settle it because they're the broadcast rights holder. Right now, none of those three are putting their hand up.
Aleem Has Form Here
Let's not beat around the bush. Ra'eese Aleem is 35, and he's now been at IBF mandatory level for years without ever cashing the cheque. He missed weight twice on Friday — first at 128.8lbs, then at 128lbs after a return trip. He's also fought two of his last four bouts in Australia and Japan, where presumably the rehydration discipline travels less well.
Gibbons floated the idea of moving the fight to Michigan in late summer at a higher weight. Leo is unlikely to have any interest in that. The IBF will probably move on. Aleem will probably go back to Detroit and ponder the most expensive 2.8lbs of his career.
Luke's Read
This one is simple. Angelo Leo did everything he was meant to do. He made weight, he turned up, he was ready to defend his belt. The fight didn't happen because his opponent's discipline gave way. He gets paid. The boxing business has been a mess for decades on this exact issue, and the only reason it ever gets resolved cleanly is when the commissions enforce the rules and the bonds get drawn down.
Pay him tonight. Sort the finger-pointing on Monday. Aleem picks up the bill if he wants any chance of being taken seriously again, because there isn't a sanctioning body in boxing that's going to order another title shot for a 35-year-old who's just cost a champion a Saturday night and a six-figure cheque. The IBF should move the mandatory on, the contracts get torn up, and Leo gets a unification next. Right thing. Easy thing. Do it. If you know, you know.