In Re Ortiz

400 B.R. 755 (2009)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P is a professional boxer. D is a boxing promoter. In 2005, P and D entered into a five-year promotional agreement, D agreed to fight annually in a minimum number of bouts promoted by D and D agreed to pay P a guaranteed minimum purse per bout. An exclusivity provision required that P fight only in televised bouts promoted by D. The contract prohibited P from fighting in bouts for another promoter for ninety days before or after a televised appearance promoted by D. On January 2, 2008, P filed Chapter 7. On April 21, 2008, he filed an adversary action against D, seeking declaratory relief, a permanent injunction, and attorneys' fees and costs. P argued that the promotional agreement was rejected by operation of law on March 3, 2008, because the bankruptcy trustee did not assume his obligations under the contract within sixty days after the bankruptcy action was filed, and D took no action to prevent its rejection within that period. P claims D interfered with his efforts to enter an agreement with Golden Boy Productions, another boxing promoter, by advising Golden Boy that the promotional agreement was still valid. August 18, 2008, the bankruptcy court entered judgment in P's favor on the declaratory and injunctive relief claims. It held that the trustee's rejection of the promotional agreement terminated all of P's obligations and that D's rights under the agreement were limited to seeking monetary damages against the bankruptcy estate. It also held that D’s clause was an unreasonable noncompete agreement. D appealed. D contends that the bankruptcy court erred as a matter of law in finding that the trustee's rejection of the promotional agreement extinguished all of D's non-monetary rights under the contract.