By Keith Terceira

 

In the middle of thunder and quarter size hail, undefeated heavyweight John David Chapman broke his silence in an exclusive to BoxingScene.com and announced that his promotional contract with Scott Hirsch and Hirsch Borao Promotions has been transferred to Don King Promotions.

 

J.D. Chapman (29-0 26KO) once ranked as high as 6th in the world broke with Hirsch’s promotional company over the last minute attempt to get Chapman to face David Haye.

After the David Haye fiasco Chapman returned home to Arkansas and Haye went on to face Monte Barrett.

 

“I came back home and had to go to work, they cut off all my money. In my contract they were supposed to be paying me so much a week to train, I can’t just train for free that doesn’t work, I have to fight to make a living. They weren’t getting me fights, they offered me the David Haye fight for peanuts compared to what it paid then they got all pissed off at me because I wouldn’t take the fight on two hours notice. In their eyes I screwed them out of a lot of money because I wouldn’t let them screw me out of the deal overall.”

 

In conversations with BoxingScene.com prior to the Haye fight offer, Chapman was concentrating his training on fighting Tarus Bidenko (26-3, 12KO). The Bidenko fight had been in the mix for several weeks prior to the Haye offer. Bidenko was recently stopped by undefeated Denis Boystov (25-0, 20KO).

 

“Scott (Hirsch) and I had talked about an elimination fight with Bidenko who at the time was ranked fourth and I was ranked sixth. They offered me even more money than they did for David Haye. So I had been training for him and they kept on saying that, kept on saying that. Then one Sunday evening around eight o’clock, I get a phone call from my trainer, it wasn’t even from the promoter, telling me they want me to fight David Haye. Here is was the great thing about the whole deal is, they want to say I’m yellow and all, that I’m a coward which is a bunch of shi* , They gave me two hours to say yes to this fight without seeing any contract of any sort, I had two hours to make the decision. They told me at five o’clock the next morning I would be on a plane for a press conference.”

 

The twenty six year old Chapman still livid over the last minute wheeling and dealing with his career continued, is still plainly disappointed at the way things played out.

 

“Now I’m not putting what I worked my entire life and my entire career on the line, I am not making that decision in two hours. It’s just not going to happen and they got mad about that. What’s sad is all my friends and family back home, they tell me to go on the computer and check out what David Haye said …..Their Headline news over in England are calling me USA’s Coward an all of that. I didn’t know anything of the fight… Everyone agreed to the fight but me the fighter. Over there (England) they were acting like they had offered me the fight a month ahead of time. They had a first class ticket for me… I never seen no stinking ticket, I never heard anything of it, until eight o’clock that Sunday and have an answer by 10 and be on a plane by 5 am. Just a big bunch of crap.”

 

A simple question was put to Chapman about whether or not he was still with Hirsch’s promotional company.

 

“No, I’m not with Scott Hirsch; I’ll never be with Scott, that’s why I’m still home”

 

Chapman sounded distinctly accusatory in regards to his former promoters and offered some disturbing remarks.

 

“”I was the patient one with the deal. (Hirsch) Held out on some fights that I thought I could have won at the time. He didn’t want to take them for a bigger fight. Then when the big fight got there, I guess that was his plan, when the big fight got there, he wanted to take all the money.”

 

BoxingScene.com asked Chapman if he thought there was some side money that he didn’t know about.

 

“I have no idea how much money was getting thrown around. I know there was a lot more money getting thrown around with my name on it then I had ever imagined. I’d be setup pretty good right now if they hadn’t been so greedy with everything.”

 

When we explored Chapman’s contract with Hirsch, John David explained that he had attempted to get out of his contract by asking for a release. He had already been approached by another promoter and needed the release to seal the deal.

 

“I tried to get the release and hired a lawyer, so he (Hirsch) just turned around and sold my contract to Don King. I had no knowledge of it whatsoever. At one minute I’m trying to get out of a deal with Hirsch and Hirsch Borao Promotions, now out of nowhere  now I have got to get a release from Don King. I’ve never even met the man. It’s a big mess. It’s turned=2 0into a big soap opera and that’s fine.”

 

“Now Don (King) wants me because he has a big white kid that’s 29-0 and was ranked sixth in the world. Now he wants to work the deal but at the time there was no deal to be worked. They sent my lawyer a certified letter saying they had transferred all contract with me to Don King Promotions.”

 

According to Chapman there were parts of his contract that insured him so much a week for living expenses etc. When we confronted him about that money he responded.

 

“Exactly, that is what we are trying to do right now….You can’t just have the number six ranked heavyweight in the world at the time for free. Somebody has to get some money and I tell you after all those fights I sure wasn’t getting it. There was definitely people getting paid but this white country boy wasn’t the one getting the money…”

 

We touched on the recent problems with the Haye back injury and Chapman used the discussion to issue his own challenge.

 

“I am not exempt from needing money like everyone in America right now. I have to do what I have to do to get back into the ring  and get ranked back up again. Then let’s hook it up with Haye. I’ll knock his big ass out, I don’t give a damn. I don’t give a damn about England, I don’t give a damn about any of tho se fu%^ing countries over there. They want to call American’s fuc**ng cowards when I never heard a word of it.”

 

Chapman issued the warning to everyone that he will be back and back at the top within a couple of fights.

 

Hear the full story next week with JD Chapman on Ten Count Radio with Keith Terceira on www.blogtalkradio.com/Ten-Count-Radio.