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	Boxer Rebellion

FOR ALL PROFESSIONAL BOXERS:

On January 23, 2002 the Boxer's Organizing Committee (BOC) met with Danny Kane, President of Teamsters Local #202, and Walter Kane, Attorney with the Teamsters' law firm of Vladeck, Waldman, Elias and Engelhard, P.C.

Over the years of work to organize professional boxers, the BOC has always known that in order for a boxers' union to work, it needed to be run by the boxers themselves.

A friend of the BOC introduced us to the Kanes. The Teamsters were very interested in helping us to organize the boxers' union. After the above mentioned January 23rd meeting, we met again on March 13, 2002 to talk more about the our work to prepare for a boxers union. The Teamsters remained interested in helping us. After this meeting, they gave us a proposal from Danny Kane, in which they laid out the circumstance in which the Teamsters would get involved with helping the BOC organize the United Boxers Association (UBA). In Step 3 of the their proposed 'Structure for the United Boxers Association,' they stated that the Executive Director of the boxer's union (UBA) would be someone in the first two or three years appointed by the Teamsters. In other words, the Teamsters would appoint the leadership of the boxer's union. We objected to this and when we could not come to terms, we agreed to meet again.

At this next meeting on May 15, 2002, the Teamsters said that they wanted to change the name of the union to Joint Association of Boxers (JAB). We were disappointed that they wanted to rename the union and we still disagreed with the terms of their proposal to appoint leadership, the dues structure, etc. We broke up the meeting without scheduling another one.

Months after this, the Teamsters contacted BOC member and former World Heavyweight Champ Tim Witherspoon and asked him to join JAB. Tim refused. The Teamsters then asked former World Light Heavyweight Champ Jose' Torres to join JAB and Jose' also refused. They then asked Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, who agreed.

It seems to us to be quite disingenuous to call Eddie Mustafa Muhammad and Walter Kane cofounders of the boxer's union under these circumstances.

Please click the appropriate link to see for yourselves the actual proposal (222K PDF) referred to here from Danny Kane and Walter Kane with the Teamsters.

The BOC