£80,000 IN CASH Allegedly Paid by Boxing Promoter to Associate of Disgraced Agent
In a recent investigative breakthrough, a disturbing transaction has been brought to light in professional boxing.
Lindsey Smith, known for her connections with Mazhar Majeed – the disgraced cricket agent implicated in a notorious spot-fixing scandal – has been identified as the recipient of a substantial cash sum from Boxxer, a key promoter in the boxing industry with exclusive agreements with Sky Sports.
Boxing Promoter Linked to Mazhar Majeed
The sum, almost £80,000 (around $100,000), was handed over by a representative of Boxxer in a rather unconventional manner – cash in a bag during a clandestine meeting in central London last July – according to The Sunday Times.
Mazhar Majeed, a figure who became infamous in cricket history for his role in the Lord’s Test match corruption, seems to have extended his controversial influence to boxing. This development is particularly concerning given his previous 32-month prison sentence for the corruption charges.
The Times’ investigation, which was published last week, claimed that two payments were made to Star People Limited, a company which Sheliza Manji, the wife of Majeed, controls. However, this week a third payment has been revealed – the aforementioned cash transaction to Smith, who has worked for Star People since 2020.
Boxxer’s finance manager, Ketu Thaker, has denied any recollection of this meeting or payment but The Sunday Times reports that multiple sources have informed them to the contrary.
More than £300,000 has been paid to Star People with instalments as recent as six months ago. Boxxer’s position, per The Sunday Times, is that payments were made in relation to the 2022 Amir Khan-Kell Brook PPV fight.
A representative of Boxxer has reached out to NoSmokeBoxing/NoSmokeSport and provided their response to this information being revealed, he said:
“Payments made from Boxxer to boxers and their representatives are paid to their companies from our business. They are fully receipted and properly accounted for in our books, with invoices and receipts.”
Boxxer representative to NoSmokeBoxing/NoSmokeSport.
Majeed is understood to represent Joshua Buatsi, who signed an exclusive deal with Boxxer/Sky Sports last March, and Chris Eubank Jr whose last four fights have taken place on the Sky Sports platform.
Matchroom Boxing claims in a £7.7m lawsuit that Boxxer/Sky persuaded Buatsi to break his exclusive deal and join them. Majid was ‘instrumental’ in Buatsi’s multi-million-pound move to Boxxer per a press release published by Star People in August.
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