Boxing: IBF faces further censure in bribery law suit

A FEDERAL PROSECUTOR has presented a videotape that he said shows the head of the International Boxing Federation taking bribes and manipulating the organisation's rankings.

The United States government wants a judge to appoint a monitor to rehabilitate one of boxing's three major governing bodies. If installed, the IBF would become the first sports group with a monitor, a sanction usually implemented as a remedy for racketeering and mob-riddled labor unions.

The government law suit accuses Lee and others of taking $338,000 (pounds 216,667) in bribes to change the rankings of the organisation.

Lee, 65, was indicted last week on additional charges of failing to report the bribes as income on his tax returns. He has pleaded innocent to all charges.

The IBF board granted Lee a leave of absence at his full $165,000 (pounds 105,769) salary after Lee said he needed to devote his energy to his defence and his health.

Secretly recorded tapes show Lee taking a bribe and talking about pay- offs. They also show he made the sham appointment of his nephew, Daryl Peoples, to the ranking committee.

Prosecutors have not said how much Lee took in bribes, only that they were paid by "boxing promoters and managers and others, in order to alter ratings of particular boxers and to provide others favourable treatment." Prosecutors want Lee banned from boxing for life.

The indictment said seven promoters and managers were involved, as well as 23 boxers. They have not been charged, and the indictment refers to them only by number.