Feds Investigate Lee For Allegedly Fixing Rankings

International Boxing Federation president Robert Lee is being investigated by federal officials on charges that he accepted payoffs in exchange for fixing boxers’ rankings, the New York Post reported Tuesday.

According to the Post, Bob Arum, one of boxing’s top promoters, was given immunity for his testimony that said he paid Lee to rig the ratings, used to determine which fighters get title shots.

Lee denied the allegations.

Lee said Arum was angry with the IBF because “he didn’t get his way with us” on fights involving George Foreman and Oscar de La Hoya, two of the fighters Arum promotes.

Arum denied he has any deal or has received immunity, said he does not have firsthand knowledge that anyone is investigating Lee.

The investigation is based on a 1995 civil suit filed by Patrick English, the lawyer for IBF heavyweight champion Michael Moorer. The suit said Lee “solicited bribes and/or extorted money.”

The alleged bribes were given to Lee to fix the heavyweight rankings in favor of lesser-known fighters such as South African Frans Botha and Germany’s Axel Schulz, the Post said.

Moorer, 28, who won the IBF title June 22 from Schulz, was ordered to fight Botha, a former champion. Botha won a disputed decision over Schulz for the title in December 1995, but lost it March 27 in Newark, N.J., when a federal judge disqualified him because he tested positive for steroid use after the fight.

The IBF fined Botha $50,000 in February, but instead of stripping him of the title, ordered a rematch.

The IBF’s failure to remove the champion, who eventually admitted using the banned substance, was an “egregious” violation of its own rules, the judge said.

The U.S. Court of Appeals turned down Botha’s request for an appeal.

Botha had never beaten any fighter ranked in the top 20 before the title fight with Schulz.