Promoter Faces Fixing Charges

A celebrity boxing promoter who once staged a bout between Danny Bonaduce and Reverend Bob Levy has been charged with fixing fights and holding events without a license.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett said in a statement that Damon Feldman, who operated as the Celebrity Boxing Federation, held six boxing events between September 2008 and December 2009 without proper licensure.

“The only thing that appears to be ‘real’ about any of these events is the money that went into Mr. Feldman’s pocket and the media attention that he received,” Corbett said. “These so-called fights were staged without concern for the health and safety of the participants, a lack of proper medical care and with a total disregard for the professional standards of boxing in Pennsylvania.”

Feldman’s events never received permits from the State Athletic Commission, the statement said, which requires the use of licensed doctors, referees, judges, timekeepers, matchmakers, trainers and other professionals for the protection of the boxers.

Feldman is also accused of fixing the outcomes of many bouts, Corbett added, “allegedly picking the winners and losers before any punches were even thrown.”

To add insult to injury, advertising for the fights, which appeared on the Internet, in newspaper ads and on TV, allegedly often claimed that proceeds would benefit the families of slain police officers.

The promoter has been charged with six misdemeanor counts of staging prohibited competitions and six misdemeanor counts of rigging publicly exhibited contests, which are each punishable by up to five years in prison and $10,000 fines.