The promoter has never seen anything like it. The trainer says his reputation has been stained. The boxer says he never meant to demean the sport.
A week after the one-second boxing match in Minneapolis that’s now been seen around the world, Jacksonville native Curtis Harper said it still doesn’t seem real.
When the bell rang in his heavyweight fight against Efe Ajagba, Harper calmly turned around in his corner, stepped through the ropes and walked back down the runway toward his dressing room.
The six-round bout was being televised live on FS1 and was officially ruled a disqualification at just 1 second of the opening round. Video of it went viral, with dozens of national and international media outlets picking up the story.
The question that everyone wants answered is why?
Harper, in his first extensive interview since the fight, said that his actions were due to the $6,000 contract that he signed on Aug. 13 and the failure of promoters to give him a final copy of it. He perceived that as one more act of disrespect throughout the process.
Harper and his wife, Sandra, said that they never received a signed contract back from Warriors Boxing, the Florida-based company that handled co-promotion of the event and weren't told that the bout was being televised — an incentive for boxers — until the day before.
The aftermath has been unlike anything in recent boxing history, and it still doesn't seem real for Harper, a 30-year-old Jacksonville native dubbed ‘Curt the Hurt’ with a 13-6 professional record.
“It’s still mind-boggling to me. I tell you, my wife [has] to sit there and hug me sometimes; [there] might be a tear every now and then,” Harper said. “I’m like, damn, I really walked out of a fight. Ain’t no way in hell I should’ve done that.”
The Minnesota Office of Combative Sports did not return emails regarding its investigation of the bout, which is expected to be complete this week. But Harper still said that he should be paid because he did get into the ring. The Harpers say they hope at this point that the state will declare a no-contest and they will just lose the money they paid for the pre-fight medical tests, or they enforce the loss but order the payment to be made.
Curtis Harper made it clear during the interview that he never intended to put the sport in a negative light. He talks about his goals for the future and wanting to have a hand in helping boxing get a toe in the door of the Jacksonville sports scene, of which he’s been a part of since his amateur boxing days in high school.
But Harper knows now more than ever that Aug. 24 will stick with him wherever he goes, branded as the fighter who didn’t want to fight.
Was it truly a bold protest, or was he, as has been portrayed, afraid of Ajagba? Harper’s biggest bout was an eight-round decision loss to former heavyweight contender Chris Arreola in a 2015 slugfest.
He finds the suggestion, spelled out by many online, offensive.
“Ain’t no fear in me against another man in the ring,” he said. “I was truly disgusted with the business aspect of what I saw.”
How did the dominoes begin falling?
Harper, who has been one of the area’s more notable heavyweight fighters ever since his amateur days, received initial interest in the bout on Aug. 12 from booking agent Marvin Romero, according to Curt Harper and his wife. They agreed to a contract on Aug. 13, which listed Harper’s pay at $6,000. That is not in dispute by any of the parties involved.
The agreed-upon contract touched off standard procedures for a sanctioned bout.
A state board must license a fighter to compete and a boxer must have medical clearance for that certification.
Harper had an eye exam completed and signed off on by a doctor in late July and denies that it was forged, something that he said that he’s heard after suffering previous injuries to his eyes.
His wife submitted the ophthalmologist’s report, and his neurological testing results, on Aug. 14, and followed up with blood testing results on Aug. 20. Leon Margules, president of Warriors Boxing, which co-promoted the event with TGB Promotions, said that all of Harper’s medical paperwork was accepted by the state.
Margules said that he’s still stunned by what transpired last week.
“I’ve been in boxing 30 years and I’ve never seen something like this,” he said. “I think he committed a fraud. I think he came to try and extort a check. We had 11 fights on the card and before fighters get on the scale [to weigh in], contracts have to be verified.”
Confusion about paperwork going to the proper channels and reimbursement of costs for the medical tests opened the door for Harper to look for another opportunity, and he initially explored a potential bout in California against Andrey Fedosov (30-3), about that trainer Nate Campbell said could have been far more lucrative, had Harper followed the proper avenues of negotiating the fight.
After numerous texts back and forth with Romero about the medicals, and several to arrange for plane tickets for Harper’s wife and Campbell, the three arrived in Minneapolis on Aug. 22.
Both Curtis Harper and his wife said that when they arrived at the hotel and saw the fights listed, Ajagba’s opponent was still a TBA. That led them to speculate that his status was still up in the air. Weigh-in and pre-bout obligations came and went, which the Harpers said still didn’t include them being given a finalized contract.
In the dressing room before the bout on Aug. 24, Curtis Harper, Campbell and Warriors Boxing matchmaker Chico Rivas had a conversation about the pay.
Campbell said that he discussed his percentage of the purse — 10 percent — with Harper before the bout, which triggered a tense discussion between the men. Campbell said that he planned to circle back with Harper after the fight regarding the money, $600.
Harper said that Rivas told him it was simple: “Go in the ring, get paid.”
Harper said that he didn’t make the decision to walk out until he saw promoters on Ajagba’s side of the ring in the moments leading up to the start of the fight. In Harper’s mind, that was the last straw.
Sandra Harper, who was ringside, snapped photos and filmed Curtis as he faced Ajagba, turned around and left the ring, said that she was stunned when she saw him walk out.
“I’m thinking, ‘why, why?’” she said. “Why’d he go out there and not throw a punch?”
Campbell, one of the most successful boxers from Jacksonville who held three world championship belts, was as stunned as he was incensed. He said that he doesn't believe any of Harper’s reasons for not fighting.
“He was looking for the easy way out, if you’re going to fight, go out and fight and make the money,” Campbell said. “I’ve heard that he wanted to make a statement for fighters. If he goes out there and wins, they put a microphone in his face after the fight and he could have made the biggest statement ever. I’ll never speak to him again after the embarrassment he caused me.”
Justin Barney (904) 359-4248
