IBF Denies Triller Default Appeal For Kambosos-Lopez Bout

An appeals panel on Tuesday handed Triller a loss in its effort to recoup the more than $1.2 million it deposited with the IBF after winning a purse bid for the mandatory fight between then-unified lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez and George Kambosos Jr.

Triller spent months trying to schedule the fight. It placed it on a variety of dates in various locations but could never get the fight set and missed various deadlines. When Kambosos’ team pressed the issue the IBF ultimately found Triller in default of its purse bid win.

The promotional rights fell to Matchroom Boxing, the under bidder, which staged the fight on Nov. 27 at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. Kambosos pulled off a major upset and defeated Lopez by split decision to win the unified title in a fight of the year candidate.

After Triller, which did not promote either boxer, shockingly won the Feb. 25, 2021, purse bid for a whopping $6.018 million, it put up the required 20 percent of the money as a deposit over the course of two payments, as required by IBF rules.

That amounted to $1,203,600, which has been with the IBF since a few weeks after the purse bid was held.
Under IBF rules, when a promoter is declared in default of a purse bid the deposit is not refundable and is split 75-25 between the titleholder and the challenger.

Triller appealed the IBF ruling in an effort to have the $1,203,600 returned to it and the appeals panel heard the case late last month.

The panel ruled on Tuesday and found in favor of Lopez and Kambosos, who will each receive their share of the money. Lopez is entitled to $902,700 and Kambosos gets $300,900. This is money on top of what the earned for the fight under the Matchroom Boxing bid the fight staged under.

“On Tuesday, March 29, 2022, an Appeal Panel consisting of Christopher Flores, Henry Grant, and Ernest Shariff convened at the Doubletree by Hilton Newark Penn Station in Newark, NJ to hear an Appeal of Notice of Default — Teofimo Lopez vs. George Kambosos — IBF Lightweight Mandatory Defense,” IBF president Daryl Peoples wrote in a letter to several people involved in the case on Tuesday, a copy of which was obtained by Big Fight Weekend.

“The three-member panel heard the oral arguments and reviewed the submitted documents presented on behalf of Teofimo Lopez and George Kambosos and submitted a written recommendation to this office.

“Based on the written recommendation of the Appeal Panel and after consultation with the
Championships Committee… the appeal has been denied.”

The letter then went on to detail the split of the money between Lopez and Kambosos based on the IBF rules.
When Triller won the purse bid its offer was so stunningly high that it beat the two other bids combined — an offer of $3.506 million from Matchroom Boxing, which was bidding in conjunction with streaming service DAZN and Kambosos promoter Lou DiBella, and $2.315 million offered by Lopez promoter Top Rank, which would have put the fight on its broadcast partner ESPN.