KHURTSIDZE IN ARREST SHOCK
BROOKLYN-BASED Georgian middleweight, Avtandil Khurtsidze – due to fight Billy Joe Saunders for the WBO title on July 8 – is arrested due to alleged links with organised crime.
In a statement the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York say members and associates of a Russian crime syndicate had been arrested for racketeering, extortion, robbery, murder-for-hire conspiracy, fraud, narcotics, and firearms offences.
Joon H. Kim says, “Today, we have charged 33 members and associates of a Russian organised crime syndicate allegedly engaging a panoply of crimes around the country. The indictments include charges against the alleged head of this national criminal enterprise, one of the first federal racketeering charges ever brought against a Russian ‘vor’ [which refers to an order of elite criminals from the former Soviet Union who receive tribute from other criminals]. The dizzying array of criminal schemes committed by this organised crime syndicate allegedly include a murder-for-hire conspiracy, a plot to rob victims by seducing and drugging them with chloroform, the theft of cargo shipments containing over 10,000 pounds of chocolate, and a fraud on casino slotmachines using electronic hacking devices.”
The unfortunate Saunders won’t fight on the bill now, but the Copper Box show goes ahead with light-heavy sensation Anthony Yarde taking on Richard Baranyi, an appearance for Daniel Dubois, and the Darryl WilliamsJahmaine Smyle rematch.