The FBI raided the Las Vegas offices of Bob Arum Tuesday night, apparently as part of an investigation into the boxing promoter's business practices, and the New York Daily News reported Friday that those practices could include fixing the disputed Oscar De La Hoya-Sugar Shane Mosley II fight.
According to the Daily News, the 20-month investigation also involves New York City police and includes allegations that Top Rank, Arum's company, and some of its fighters schemed to throw fights.
The newspaper reports that law enforcement sources indicate that evidence has been found suggesting that the De La Hoya-Mosley fight in September may have been rigged. Mosley won a unanimous decision but De La Hoya cried foul, demanding an investigation into the three judges' scorecards.
The rigging apparently would involve tampering with the scales to allow boxers of different weight classes to fight each other, according to the paper, and the forging of medical documents.
In this case, De La Hoya, a Top Rank fighter, would have actually been heavier than announced and had a weight advantage that was supposed to translate into a victory and a lucrative third match with Mosley. Nevertheless, a third match is still likely.
Meanwhile, according to Friday's Los Angeles Times, none of the key figures in that match have been questioned.
Mosley's promoter, Gary Shaw, said investigators have contacted neither him nor Mosley. The De La Hoya camp says the same, according to the Times, as does Marc Ratner, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Arum, who is vacationing in South Africa, was unavailable for comment.
"There is no validity to those charges," Ratner said. "There is nothing to my knowledge. There have been no complaints brought to my attention with regard to weigh-ins or medical records. I have no idea what this is about. It makes absolutely no sense."
Said Shaw, "I think the allegation is preposterous. There is not enough money in the United States of America to get Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya to fix a fight."
During its raid Tuesday, the FBI, armed with search warrants, seized computers, financial documents, boxers' contracts, medical records and videotapes of professional fights, tthe Daily News reported.