Gomez v. New Champion Promotions

Background

The court held a bench trial from September 2 through September 5, 2025, concerning two agreements:

- The Exclusive Promotional Agreement between Cruz and New Champion Promotions, LLC (NCP), dated November 8, 2022 (the NCP PA). - The Boxing Promotional Agreement between Cruz, NCP, and Matchroom Boxing USA, LLC (Matchroom), effective May 4, 2023 (the BPA).

The court found that Cruz, his managers, and NCP’s president and sole employee, Jesse Rodriguez, mutually agreed that Rodriguez would act as an intermediary to find a major boxing promoter for Cruz. Rodriguez contacted major promoters and ultimately secured the BPA with Matchroom.

The central dispute was compensation. Rodriguez testified that Cruz and his managers agreed NCP would receive 25 percent of payments Matchroom made to Cruz. Cruz and his managers denied making that agreement and testified that NCP would be paid by the major promoter rather than from Cruz’s payments. Neither the NCP PA nor the BPA specified how NCP would be compensated for finding a major promoter or assigning Cruz’s promotional rights.

Findings about the NCP PA

Applying Florida law, the court explained that a valid contract requires an offer, acceptance, consideration, and sufficiently specified essential terms. The NCP PA gave NCP exclusive promotional rights for five years, subject to extensions, and allowed NCP to assign those rights. But the agreement did not state its actual purpose—allowing NCP to find and negotiate with a major promoter—and did not state how NCP would be paid for that work.

The court found that the parties did not mutually agree on Rodriguez’s compensation or other essential terms. It also found that Cruz did not expect NCP to promote his boxing bouts; instead, the purpose of the agreement was for Rodriguez to secure a major promoter. The court therefore held that the NCP PA was not a valid contract, was unenforceable, and was void.

Quantum meruit

Quantum meruit is a legal theory that can provide payment for the reasonable value of services when there is no valid express contract but the parties agreed that the work would be performed and the recipient received a benefit. The court found that Cruz and Rodriguez agreed that Rodriguez would work to find a major promoter, that Rodriguez performed that work by securing Matchroom, and that Cruz received the resulting benefit.

The court held that Rodriguez was entitled to quantum meruit damages for the reasonable value of his services. It did not determine the amount. Instead, it held that a jury would decide the damages.

Effect on the BPA

Because the NCP PA was invalid, the court held that NCP had no rights as Cruz’s promoter under the BPA and had rights only to compensation to the extent of its quantum meruit damages. The court relied in part on a BPA provision stating that, if the promoter could no longer provide Cruz’s boxing services, Cruz would provide those services directly to Matchroom and the agreement would be treated as one between Matchroom and Cruz.

The BPA otherwise remained valid between Cruz and Matchroom. The court held that Cruz retained his rights and obligations under that agreement.

Disposition and next steps

The court’s conclusions affected pending claims in Cruz’s Third Amended Complaint and NCP’s Amended Cross-Complaint, including issues addressed in an earlier summary-judgment order. The court stated that some conclusions from that earlier order would need to be reconsidered in light of the bench-trial findings. It set a case-management conference for December 2, 2025, and directed the parties, including Matchroom, to meet and confer about the remaining issues and propose a schedule for the rest of the case.