Shine Fights exec still unsure why card was canceled, vows to return in summer
While the North Carolina Boxing Authority's decision to cancel Saturday night's Shine Fights event is just hours old, the gravity of the situation has already been fully realized by the promotion's CEO, Devin Price.
"It's definitely sunk in," Price told MMAjunkie.com. "This is definitely reality. It's not the reality I was hoping for, but it's definitely reality."
But what Price said he doesn't fully realize yet is why. Why did the commission pull the plug when everyone else involved was prepared to move forward – even without the participation of former boxing champion Ricardo Mayorga?
"I'm still kind of at a loss as to why the commission canceled the event," Price said. "Believe me, on Monday morning, that's going to be the first call I make."
Price never even made it to Fayetteville, N.C., site of the evening's canceled fight card. He was stuck in Florida dealing with the court case brought on by Don King Promotions, the holder of Mayorga's boxing contract.
"Yesterday, I was in court all day; today, I was in court all day," Price said. "We did not get out of court until about 4:30 p.m., and then this other thing started transpiring. I was ready to head to the airport to get on a plane, and the other thing started transpiring with the commission."
On Saturday morning, Don King Promotions was granted injunctive relief against Mayorga and Shine Fight Promotions, and the organization had little choice but to pull the boxer from the card.
But it may have been the "other thing" that ultimately doomed the card.
"I spoke with the commissioner briefly," Price said. "The issue was in the state of North Carolina, you have to pay into the commission, and then the commission pays the fighters, or something along those lines. Obviously, I was not present because I was tied up down in Florida, and that had to be done before 6 p.m.
"I thought we worked through that process and everything, but then the commission saw that we were without the main event, and he got concerned and didn't want to move forward, which we're all surprised at. Pay-per-view was willing to move forward. They had no problems. We were ready to go. We were literally ready to go."
Messages left by MMAjunkie.com for North Carolina Boxing Authority representatives for clarification were not immediately returned, but Price said he'll be seeking answers, as well.
"I was on the phone back-and-forth with the commission, and it was killing me not to be able to be there in person," Price said. "I've been stuck on the ground, can't get on a plane, and I'm dealing with these issues. I get a phone call, and they say, 'The commissioner canceled the show.' I still don't fully understand why he canceled the show. That will be the first call I make on Monday morning.
"Fans were there. It looked like it was going to be a really nice turnout. The fighters were ready to go. Everybody was there. Everybody was ready to go."
"I feel badly for the fighters"
While Price was disappointed his fight promotion's first pay-per-view show fell apart just hours before the first bout was scheduled to commence, the executive it's the fighters he sympathizes with the most.
"In this situation, I feel badly for the fighters," Price said. "They're the ones that are really getting the rawest deal out of this whole thing. They really are. These guys trained, busted their butts, and were ready to go. I think it's not fair for the commission to have denied them that opportunity.
"We're going to take care of the fighters. We've always been a 'fighters and fans first' organization. We are financially going to take care of the fighters to some extent. We're going to make sure they're taken care of financially. We're not going to be one of these promotions to say, 'Oh, it didn't happen. We're out of here.' We're going to make sure the fighters are taken care of."
Price declined to comment on exactly what "taken care of" meant financially, but Shine Fights broadcaster shed some light on the situation through her Twitter account.
"Shine fighters told they'll get paid 25 percent of show money at 2:30 a.m.," Bryant stated. "Been waiting for hours."
Moments later, Bryant clarified that might not apply to everyone on the card.
"Not everyone gets 25 percent," Bryant stated. "Different contracts, different money."
"This is not the death of Shine"
While the cancellation of a show would seem to indicate imminent financial ruin for Shine Fights – just ask EliteXC and Affliction Entertainment – Price insisted that wasn't the case and instead announced plans to host a show this summer.
"Absolutely not," Price said when asked if Shine Fights was done. "My background is finance. I always make sure that if I'm going to do a company, it has to be well-capitalized. We are well-capitalized, and we are excited about throwing a fight this summer and getting the ball rolling again and giving the fans fights they want to see."
Price said his company will go back to the drawing board as it looks for a way to carve out its own niche in the increasingly crowded mixed martial arts scene. But one thing is certain, he's no longer interested in dealing with boxers.
"We're going to revisit things," Price said. "We had some interesting ideas that we were bouncing around well before this. One thing I can say is that we are going to do MMA differently. We tried to do it with this card with the whole 'boxer vs. MMA' thing.
"We're not going to be just a traditional, in-a-cage-type organization. We're going to be different than everyone else out there. Even though this event didn't go off, we're going to stick with the ring. All of our fights going forward are going to be in a ring."
Price does have legal options. Don King Productions filed a $1 million bond on Saturday, and an appeal of the Florida court's decision could net the company some – or all – of that money in the form of damages.
The Shine Fights exec didn't seem too thrilled about the prospect of returning to court.
"I don't know what we're going to do," Price said. "I'm not in the business of boxing. We got into the business of mixed martial arts.
"The whole idea of whether we're going to go back and file an appeal and all that, I don't know. I need to talk with my lawyers and sit down and figure things out. But the MMA side of things, we're going to continue to throw fights. We're going to be throwing a fight this summer, and we're going to get a lot of these guys on that card."
Saturday night's event was to be Shine Fights' third fight card. Despite the unfortunate chain of events, Price said he's still passionate about the opportunity to promote mixed martial arts.
"We're passionate about mixed martial arts, and we're going to stay that way," Price said. "I'm not soured toward promoting. I love it.
"The main thing is I really feel bad for the fighters. I really want to make sure the fighters are going to be taken care of, and we're going to make sure the fighters are taken care of. ... We want to keep things going. We're a fighter's organization at heart, and we're going to continue that way. We're moving forward, and we're going to be putting on more fights this summer, and that's that.
"This is not the death of Shine."
Source: http://mmajunkie.com/news/19163/shine-f ... summer.mma