Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 30, 1993 TAG: 9306300243
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Newsday
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
Heavyweight contender and Olympic gold medalist Ray Mercer pleaded innocent Tuesday to a charge of trying to bribe his opponent during a February fight at Madison Square Garden.
Investigators said Mercer was videotaped attempting to make a $100,000 bribe to Jesse Ferguson in a Feb. 6 bout recorded by Home Box Office.
Mercer, 32, had a motive to pay Ferguson to lose, investigators said. Mercer was scheduled to fight heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe, with a guaranteed purse of between $1.5 million and $2.5 million, if he had won his bout with Ferguson.
Although Mercer was a heavy favorite, Ferguson, 36, won the 10-round bout by unanimous decision and went on to lose to Bowe.
"I've been at ringside for 20 years and I haven't come across anything like this," said Randy Gordon, the New York State Athletic Commissioner.
Other than to enter his plea, Mercer did not say anything at his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court. After the arraignment, he walked from the courthouse, flanked by his two attorneys, and hailed a taxi. His attorneys said he will return to Indianapolis, where he has been living with his trainer.
Mercer was released without bail and is scheduled to make another court appearance July 12. He was charged with felony sports bribing and faces a maximum of seven years in prison.
"We'll do our talking in court," said Dominic Amorosa, Mercer's Manhattan attorney.
Mercer's trainer, Hank Johnson, said "the whole thing is ridiculous." Mercer was pulled over by Indiana State Police, arrested by a New York State policeman and taken to Marion County (Ind.) Jail on Sunday, Johnson said.
In interviews early this year with Newsday, Mercer and Johnson denied the allegations. Ferguson testified at the grand jury proceedings but was not granted immunity, said his attorney, James Binns of Philadelphia. Authorities said no charges will be filed against him.
The fight between Mercer and his former sparring partner, Ferguson, was taped by HBO but was not broadcast because the network was just using the undercard bout to prepare for the Bowe-Michael Dokes main event. Allegations that Mercer offered the bribe surfaced just after the fight, Gordon said.
Investigators screened the HBO tape - which does not reveal the allegations, an HBO source told Newsday - but enhanced audiotapes offer more than convincing evidence, investigators said.
by CNB