On September 11, retired boxer Heather Hardy filed a 62-page complaint in New York State Supreme Court. The defendants are:

1. Two of Hardy’s former promoters: Boxing Insider and Boxing Insider Promotions (companies controlled by promoter Larry Goldberg) and DiBella Entertainment (Lou DiBella’s promotional company). DiBella is also named personally as a defendant. Goldberg is not.

2. Everlast Worldwide (which manufactures and sells combat sports equipment used by Hardy) and Frasers Group (a UK company that owns Everlast).

3. Dr. Nitin Sethi (medical director for the New York State Athletic Commission).

4. Unnamed “John Doe” defendants.

A separate complaint was filed against the New York State Athletic Commission in the New York State Court of Claims.

The complaint states that Hardy “lives with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and frontal lobe damage. She has daily seizures, convulsions, and muscle spasms. Her vision is impaired, she cannot sleep, she cannot read maps, and she frequently cannot distinguish right from left. She suffers from debilitating anxiety, for which she takes medication.”

It then alleges that each of the defendants is liable for Hardy’s physical condition and further alleges that the DiBella defendants violated federal and state equal pay laws because he willfully failed to compensate her commensurately with male boxers because she’s a woman.

Referencing the $236,450 that Hardy made for her 25 fights in New York (her other two fights were in Texas and Tennessee), the complaint states, “It is a drop in the ocean compared to the prestige, the legend, and indeed the money that she made for the boxing profession. For every dollar she put in the pocket of her promoter, Lou DiBella – a Harvard trained attorney – Hardy got pennies. Hardy took punches that rattled and permanently mottled her brain, while DiBella took home mountains of gold.”

Here it should be noted that even people who dislike DiBella acknowledge that he did a masterful job in helping Hardy build her boxing career.

Hardy was a professional fighter who entered the ring 27 times as a boxer. Like any fighter who plies her (or his) trade, she deserves respect for her efforts.

That said, the complaint is hyperbolic and often distorts facts. It refers to Hardy as boxing’s “billion-dollar baby” and proclaims, “In a just world, she would be comfortably retired and wealthy beyond measure, living in a beautiful house she bought with her hard-fought earnings, and hers would be a household name. It certainly sounds like one. 'Heather Hardy' is a taut, alliterative comic-book superhero name. And indeed, the woman who owns it bears nearly all the marks of that kind of character that a real-life person can bear. She is 'The Heat.' When she retired in 2023, she had a spectacular career record of 24 wins and only 3 losses. For context, that loss-to-win ratio puts her ahead of Evander Holyfield, Oscar de la Hoya, and Jack Johnson; on par with Mike Tyson, Manny Pacquiao, and Joe Frazier (whose ratio is identical to hers); and within spitting distance of Muhammad Ali.”

The complaint then declares, “Billion Dollar Baby Heather Hardy makes her debut as a fighter in this arena, ready to bring professional boxing to its long-overdue day of reckoning. Bravely on shaky legs that can no longer hold her once-champion boxer’s stance, The Heat is ready to rumble.”

Hardy is represented in the court proceedings by ChaudhryLaw, a firm that specializes in white-collar criminal defense work. Three other law firms are listed as “co-counsel” on a letter that was sent to the defendants asking if they would like to discuss a settlement before being formally served with the complaint.

Hardy is now 43 years old. She boxed professionally from 2012 to 2023. She’s also listed as having had four MMA fights between 2017 and 2019, winning two of them.

Hardy fought with determination and courage. But most of her opponents were carefully chosen. And she got some help from the judges along the way. On June 14, 2014, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, Hardy appeared to have been outboxed by Jackie Trivilino (who had won only once in her previous six outings). But two of the three judges gave Hardy the nod, provoking boos from her hometown crowd. Four years later, that scene was repeated when Hardy was awarded a dubious decision at Barclays Center over Mexico’s Iranda Paola Torres.

In some ways, the most impressive performance on Hardy’s resume was her September 13, 2019, loss to Amanda Serrano at Madison Square Garden in New York. All of Hardy’s previous fights had been made for her to win. Here, Serrano was a clear favorite. Hardy took a pounding in a lopsided first round that two of the judges scored 10-8 in Serrano's favor. Round 2 was more of the same. But Hardy hung tough. Over the next eight rounds, she showed courage and heart. The final scorecards were 98-91, 98-91 and 98-92 in Serrano's favor.

Unfortunately, that fight led to more than a blemish on Hardy’s won-lost record. On October 3, the World Boxing Council announced that a urine sample taken from her by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency one day before the bout pursuant to the WBC Clean Boxing Program had tested positive for furosemide, a banned drug used to facilitate weight loss and also as a masking agent for illegal PEDs. Hardy professed her innocence (as most fighters do). But she was suspended for six months and fined $10,000 by the New York State Athletic Commission.

Hardy’s claims against DiBella, DiBella Entertainment and the Boxing Insider companies focus on two of the last three fights of her ring career. Goldberg promoted these fights (against Calista Silgado on October 13, 2022, and Taynna Cardoso on February 23, 2023) pursuant to provision of services agreements with DiBella Entertainment. Silgado had won only three of 13 fights during the preceding six years, and Cardoso has now lost her last four outings. Both fights were contested at Sony Hall in New York. Hardy won each of them by decision.

Hardy’s August 5, 2023, rematch against Serrano in Dallas on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz is referenced in the complaint, but there is no specific claim of liability with regard to it in the lawsuit. Serrano won all 10 rounds on two of the judges’ scorecards and nine out of 10 on the third.

Hardy’s lawsuit seeks compensation from the DiBella and Boxing Insider defendants for brain damage that she allegedly suffered in the two Sony Hall fights. Her lawyers concede that, in each instance, the New York State Athletic Commission ruled that Hardy was fit to fight. Nonetheless, they seek to hold the promoters liable on the theory that responsibility for a fighter’s safety should be shared between the governing commission and the promoter.

In that regard, Justin Mungai, an attorney with ChaudhryLaw, has stated, “Fighter safety is not merely the Commission’s responsibility. Promoters, as key stakeholders, are also responsible for the fighter’s safety.”

The contracts that Hardy signed for the two Sony Hall fights contained clauses acknowledging the dangerous nature of boxing and that she might suffer permanent physical injuries, including but not limited to traumatic brain injury or death during her preparation for or participation in the fights. These contracts also purported to release the promoter and certain other potential defendants (such as the venue where the fights were contested) from any and all claims of liability that might arise from injuries sustained by Hardy during her preparation for or participation in the fights.

Hardy’s lawyers argue that these clauses releasing the promoter and other potential defendants from liability should be ruled void and unenforceable because they are “against public policy” and “unconscionable.”

They also claim that the exculpatory clauses should be ruled void and unenforceable because Hardy lacked the cognitive capacity to enter into the bout contracts in question. In that regard, the complaint alleges that Hardy was “exhibiting post-concussion and neuro-ophthalmic symptoms contemporaneous with, and escalating after, the aforementioned agreements, including: intermittent double/blurry vision that resolves with monocular closure; intermittent loss of the lower halves of both visual fields; headaches; memory changes; poor concentration; confusion; poor coordination; getting lost; insomnia; anxiety, and depression.”

The complaint then states, “Under New York law, a contract is void or voidable where, by reason of mental illness or defect, a person is unable to act in a reasonable manner in relation to the transaction, and the other party has reason to know of the condition. Contracts made without the capacity to comprehend and understand the nature of the transaction are unenforceable. ... Applying those standards, Plaintiff’s recent fight agreements — or, at a minimum, their exculpatory/assumption-of-risk clauses — are void or voidable for incapacity.”

Here, one might ask whether Hardy signed a retainer agreement with ChaudhryLaw in conjunction with her lawsuit and, if so, whether she had the capacity to enter into that contract.

But let’s return to the issue at the core of Hardy’s claim against the DiBella and Boxing Insider defendants: The assertion that a promoter can’t rely on the fact that a state athletic commission has ruled that a fighter is medically fit to fight; that the promoter has an independent obligation to conduct its own medical inquiry regardless of what the governing athletic commission has said.

“Do you realize how insane that is?” DiBella asks. “That’s not the promoter’s job. There are trained people at the commission who make that determination. If a court ever accepted this absurd theory, it would end combat sports in New York. Can you imagine Bob Arum or Eddie Hearn or Frank Warren or Dana White ever promoting a fight in New York if they knew they were responsible and could be held liable, regardless of what the commission medical staff decided, for determining whether or not a fighter is fit to fight?”

DiBella might have added that, under ChaudhryLaw’s theory, rather than just sue their promoters for allowing them to fight, fighters would also have a cause of action against their trainers and managers (who, unlike promoters, actually have a fiduciary duty to the fighter). And if the promoter is responsible, then any sanctioning body that takes a share of a fighter’s purse (and implicitly believes that the fighter is fit to fight since its title is on the line) might also be held liable.

Hardy’s complaint further alleges that the DiBella and Boxing Insider defendants “violated [their] contractual obligations by failing to secure and maintain the medical insurance coverage required under New York law and Commission regulations for plaintiff’s October 2022 and February 2023 New York contests” and that they “defaulted on [their] duty to supply plaintiff with the policy details, carrier information, and claim procedures necessary to obtain medical benefits for diagnosis and treatment of fight-related head trauma.”

These claims are factually flawed.

Under New York law, a fight is not allowed to proceed unless the promoter has provided the New York State Athletic Commission with written proof of the required insurance coverage. And after the fight, each fighter is given a printout that lists the relevant insurance information.

More specifically, after a fight, each fighter is examined by an NYSAC doctor. Then, with someone who worked the fighter’s corner or another representative (such as the fighter’s manager) present, the fighter is given a written suspension form. All fighters in New York receive a mandatory seven-day suspension after a fight. Often, circumstances warrant a longer suspension. The fighter, the fighter’s representative and the examining doctor must all sign the form. Then the fighter is given a copy of the executed document along with a separate form that contains all relevant insurance information. Only then is the fighter given her (or his) purse check by a commission representative.

Alex Dombroff, an attorney for the DiBella defendants, spoke to this issue in an October 11 letter to Priya Chaudhry, the founding partner of ChaudhryLaw, in which he stated, “Ms. Hardy’s counsel had the wherewithal to query to New York State Athletic Commission for a record of Ms. Hardy’s boxing purses but did not bother to inquire if the relevant insurance was procured for each of her bouts. Undoubtedly, this was to preserve their ignorance in order to assert such an erroneous claim. Indeed, willful ignorance runs rampant throughout the complaint.”

The complaint also alleges that the DiBella defendants “failed Heather Hardy by willfully failing to compensate her commensurately with male boxers” in violation of federal and New York State equal pay laws. Here it’s best to let the complaint speak for itself.

“Throughout Hardy’s career,” the complaint states,” the purses for the men’s fights, including those for individuals LESSER KNOWN (capital letters added) than Hardy, were significantly larger. Some examples include: Pacquiao vs. Mayweather (2015) had an estimated combined purse of $250,000,000; Canelo vs. Kovalev (2019) had an estimated combined purse of $40,000,000; Joshua vs. Pulev (2020) had an estimated combined purse of approximately $17,000,000, and Fury vs. Wilder II (2020) had an estimated combined purse of approximately $50,000,000.”

Lesser known?

It’s also worth noting that the complaint doesn’t list as defendants Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions or Holden Boxing, the promoter of record for the August 5, 2023, fight card in Dallas that featured Paul vs. Diaz and Serrano-Hardy II. It doesn’t even mention them. Whatever physical deterioration Hardy has suffered was, by definition, more advanced when the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation found her medically fit to fight than it was before her earlier fights at Sony Hall. And the complaint acknowledges that, in her final fight, “Heather took 278 punches from Serrano.”

Moving on from promoters, the complaint then alleges negligence on the part of Dr. Nitin Sethi, a respected neurologist and medical director for the New York State Athletic Commission.

“As Ms. Hardy’s treating physician,” the complaint states, “Dr. Sethi owed Ms. Hardy a duty of care. Dr. Sethi breached this duty of care by failing to provide adequate care to Ms. Hardy through the provision of timely MRIs, as well as more thorough neurological examinations.”

Priya Chaudhry adds to that allegation, saying, “Heather’s current condition makes it clear that she could not possibly have been medically fit to fight two years ago.”

There’s a threshold issue here. The statute of limitations for medical malpractice in New York is 30 months. In other words, a lawsuit must be filed within 30 months of the events that give rise to a cause of action. And the last of the fights in New York that Heather complains of occurred more than 31 months before her complaint was filed.

However, the statute of limitations period may be extended by certain contingencies, one of which is “fraudulent concealment.” In that regard, the complaint further alleges, “Upon information and belief, Dr. Sethi also breached this duty of care by fabricating the results of the MRI tests that Ms. Hardy received, including by concealing that these tests revealed that Ms. Hardy was suffering from repetitive concussive injuries and could not participate in any additional fights.”

This allegation has no apparent basis in fact. Dr. Sethi is respected throughout the boxing community as an honorable man, for his dedication to fighter safety and for his cautious approach in determining whether a combat sports participant should be allowed to fight.

Dr. Margaret Goodman, also a neurologist, is among the foremost advocates for fighter safety in the United States. She has served as chief ringside physician for the Nevada Athletic Commission and chair of the medical advisory board. More recently, she founded and is president of VADA, boxing’s most credible PED-testing organization.

“Dr. Sethi,” Goodman says, “is one of the finest ring physicians working in the sport today.”

DiBella goes further, declaring, “The entire complaint is a disgrace. And the allegations against Nitin Sethi are particularly disgraceful. I’ve been in boxing for more than 30 years, and I’ve never worked with a doctor in my entire career who’s more concerned with the health and safety of fighters than Nitin Sethi. And to suggest that he would fabricate medical records or conceal relevant medical information is obscene. It’s garbage like this that drives good people like Nitin out of boxing.”

The complaint against the New York State Athletic Commission filed with the New York State Court of Claims — as opposed to the complaint against Dr. Sethi personally — repeats the allegations made against the defendants in the New York State Supreme Court proceeding and accuses the NYSAC of various “willful and deliberate” failings. But many of its allegations are based on misstatements of fact as they relate to medical matters.

For example, both complaints allege that, during “the entirety of Heather Hardy’s career as an active boxer, the only examinations Ms. Hardy ever received were annual MRIs that were conducted by Dr. Nitin Sethi.”

That’s ridiculous. As a matter of course, all fighters in New York undergo a pre-fight medical examination conducted by a commission doctor on the day before they fight and again on fight night before they enter the ring.

Similarly, the complaint claims that Hardy "never even received ringside or locker room evaluations post-bout” during the 12 years that she fought in New York.

As a matter of course, all fighters in New York undergo a post-fight medical examination conducted by a commission doctor immediately after every fight.

And, as noted earlier, the complaint states that Hardy “lives with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).” But a definitive diagnosis of CTE requires an autopsy to examine the brain for tau protein deposits and other pathological changes.

Next, the complaint alleges that the Everlast defendants were “negligent in their design, testing, assembly, manufacture, marketing, and engineering of the boxing gloves and headgear” that Hardy and her opponents used. In florid language, it states, “The companies that supplied Heather Hardy with professional equipment (and thereby joined the long list of persons and entities who profited from her work, sweat, blood, and brain damage) failed her by leaving her to rely on foreseeably defective products that exposed her to near unquantifiable amounts of physical and neurological damage over time.”

The complaint doesn’t explain how the products were “defective.” But going further, it then alleges, “Upon information and belief, Everlast and its competitors monitored concussion-related injuries for professional boxers and MMA fighters, giving them unique insight into how their equipment enabled the prevalence of these injuries to persist. ... [But] just like the tobacco industry and Ford Pinto executives, the Everlast Defendants suppressed the findings of their extensive research and failed to disclose the significant risks associated with the use of their boxing and MMA equipment while participating in multiple boxing and MMA fights. ... The Everlast Defendants failed to warn fighters, including Ms. Hardy, of the risk of long-term brain injury from repeated concussions so that the fighters could make an informed decision on whether they should return to the ring after sustaining repeated punches to the head.”

The complaint acknowledges that the Everlast equipment Hardy used “was received in a box with the following generic warning on the back of the box: ‘WARNING: HIGH RISK ACTIVITY AND ASSUMPTION OF RISK: Products sold by Everlast include equipment and gear used in combat and contact sports, including boxing, martial arts, mixed martial arts, fitness, weight training, and kick-boxing. Participation in any exercise program can be dangerous and result in serious injury or death. Use of this equipment is at your own risk.’”

But Priya Chaudhry says this warning did not go far enough. Everlast, she says, should have put warnings on the actual equipment (not just on the box that the equipment came in) to advise combatants, among other things, that gloves protect a combatants’ fists and thereby enable a fighter to strike his or her opponent harder, and that engaging in fighting with gloves exposes a boxer to an increased chance of incurring brain damage.

Were this claim upheld, virtually every boxer would have a cause of action against Everlast.

When questioned about the legal theory behind her complaint against Everlast, Chaudhry was asked, “By that logic, every fighter in the world might have a cause of action against Everlast and every other glove manufacturer. Is that true?”

Chaudhry answered, “Potentially, yes.”

Several other points regarding Hardy’s situation are also worthy of mention.

No one is questioning the claim that Hardy is suffering from brain damage. The overwhelming likelihood is that boxing (her amateur and professional fights, in addition to sparring in the gym) contributed heavily to this condition. But her lifestyle might also have been a contributing factor.

Hardy has acknowledged drinking to excess long before the 2022 and 2023 fights referenced in her lawsuit. In an April 18, 2025, Facebook post, she wrote: “The last time I was in AA was during my 2019 fight camp.”

Attending AA meetings is a laudable step toward sobriety. But that post is a clear indication that alcoholism has been an issue in her life. More recently, in a June 10, 2025, Facebook post, Heather wrote, “Earlier this year at my absolute peak, I was downing an entire wine sized bottle of vodka every day.”

Bruce Silverglade, who owns Gleason’s Gym, has been a bulwark of support for Hardy over the years. It’s possible that no one has done more to help her than Silverglade. He has let her use Gleason’s facilities free of charge. He has helped her with paperwork, including filing for financial assistance from the World Boxing Council.

“Heather has been drinking for a long time; not just the past year,” Silverglade says. “I’ve never seen her drunk in the gym, but there were times when I could smell it on her breath. Other times, she’d step outside to smoke marijuana. It’s a sad situation. Heather is desperate. She has no money. She’s lost the vast majority of her clients [“white-collar” boxers she has worked with]. She had an episode recently where the cops came here because she’d fallen down and was all bloody, and they wanted to know if I knew her.”

The complaint in Hardy’s lawsuit states, “Heather supports herself at a subsistence level by coaching other boxers ... at the very Brooklyn gym that was her own professional haven for many years.” As earlier noted, the complaint also states, “Heather lives with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and frontal lobe damage. She has daily seizures, convulsions, and muscle spasms. Her vision is impaired, she cannot sleep, she cannot read maps, and she frequently cannot distinguish right from left. She suffers from debilitating anxiety, for which she takes medication.” A later paragraph in the complaint adds “spatial confusion, tremors, and vertigo” to these symptoms.

Given the concern that counsel for Hardy has expressed for her wellbeing, one might ask whether it’s safe for her to continue coaching boxers, including inexperienced white-collar boxers, at Gleason’s Gym.

And there’s another point to consider. Hardy is entitled to vigorous legal representation in pursuing whatever claims she might have under the law. But the people her lawsuit is attacking have rights, too.

Goldberg lost an estimated $80,000 on the two Sony Hall cards he promoted involving Hardy. And he has loaned money to Hardy on several occasions with no reasonable expectation that it would be repaid.

In a September 11, 2025, Facebook post, Hardy wrote of struggling to get out of the “massive financial hole” that she’s in and thanked a variety of people for their help. One of the people she thanked was Goldberg. That same day, her attorneys filed the lawsuit against him.

Hardy’s September 11 Facebook post also said that she was “super grateful” to the World Boxing Council, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman and Jill Diamond, global chair for WBC Cares and co-chair of the WBC Women’s Championship Division. That ties into an interesting situation.

The WBC gives financial assistance to fighters in need through its José Sulaiman Boxers Fund. In recent years, Diamond has forcefully advocated on behalf of Hardy with the fund.

In 2023, the WBC gave Hardy $2,000 on an emergency basis. In 2024, less than four weeks after Serrano-Hardy II, Hardy formally applied for additional financial assistance from the WBC pursuant to an application that stated she was “disabled” and listed her symptoms. The application required her to provide certain medical documentation to support her claim. She didn’t provide it. But Diamond was sympathetic and helped push through the request for aid. The WBC sent her $15,000.

This year, Hardy asked for more. She said she was desperate and needed funds immediately to avoid being evicted from her apartment and to meet other financial obligations. There was no new written application. And she had yet to provide the required medical documentation requested in 2024. But in September, the WBC sent her another $15,000.

“We pushed it through because she was in desperate straits,” Diamond recalls.

But there was a loose end that had to be tied up. The Nevada Community Foundation, which administers the WBC fund, needed Hardy's medical records to justify the payments. That led to the following emails (excerpted below) among Diamond, Hardy, Esteban Ruesga (a liaison between the WBC and the Nevada Community Foundation), and Silverglade:

Ruesga to Diamond (September 18, 2025): “Dear Jill, we are asking Nevada Community foundation to help us in the case of Heather Hardy, but they are asking for medical documentation regarding her physical disability. Would it be possible for us to ask for it. If we can have the description of what she has and the diagnosis, it would be of great support.”

Diamond to Silverglade (September 18): “Bruce wouldn’t it be possible for you to ask Heather to have the hospital release her records to the fund or get copies and send?”

Ruesga to Silverglade (September 24): “It’s very important for us to receive the records of Heather Hardy. This way we can assure that the assistance is destined to her needs.”

Ruesga to Silverglade (September 26): “The Nevada Community Foundation is asking for this documents. Could you please help me out.”

Diamond to Hardy (October 2, 2025): “Heather this is imperative. I think the WBC deserves a response. Other fighters’ donations are at risk. We have to turn the paperwork into Nevada Foundation who distribute our money. They pushed it through because you were in such need and we love you. Please get someone to assist. We issued the money asap but need the follow up. All they need are the doctors’ diagnostics for their records. We need a medical description or diagnosis, an actual document from a doctor, and the name of the doctor and the complete information. Hugs, Jill.”

In response, also on October 2, Hardy emailed Silverglade, “Anything the WBC needs they have to contact my attorney, Justin Mungai, who is attached. They have to direct all their requests to my attorneys office.”

That same day, Silverglade received an email from Mungai that read in part, “Heather’s medical records are HIPAA protected and entirely confidential. Neither the WBC nor anyone else can demand those documents.” Mungai then accused the WBC of attempting to intimidate Hardy and wrote, “It shows that they are concerned about this lawsuit potentially changing the landscape of boxing. Their intimidation tactics won’t work with us.”

“If telling someone you love them is intimidation,” Diamond later said, “I plead guilty.”

Bringing the matter full circle, Ruesga sent an October 3 email to Sulaiman, Diamond and others in the WBC hierarchy, stating, “Through the Jose Sulaiman Boxers Fund, we have been able to help countless fighters when they are at their most vulnerable, just as we have done in the case of Heather Hardy. At the same time, this situation is a reminder that not everyone will respond to our help in the way we would hope. We assist with the best of intentions, believing that the same good faith will be reflected back. But sadly, this is not always the case.”

Now Diamond looks back on it all and says, “Heather has been spiritually and financially supported by the boxing community for a long time. And I don’t like it that she’s hurting innocent people. Nitin [Sethi] is an angel. Nitin has helped so many people in boxing apart from his work for the commission and not charged them a penny for his time. Larry [Goldberg] has been incredibly generous with Heather. Bruce [Silverglade] has let her work at Gleason’s for years and hasn’t charged her a penny.”

As a defendant, DiBella has an obvious bias in evaluating the situation. But he’s still entitled to express his views.

“You’ve heard the saying, ‘No good deed goes unpunished,’" he says. “Well, that’s what’s happening here. Look at the defendants in this lawsuit. Everlast, Nitin Sethi, Larry Goldberg, me. Right now, Heather is suing the very people who helped her in the past. How many people do you think will want to help Heather in the future?”

Goodman is adamant in saying, "Fighters have to take responsibility for their own wellbeing.”

Hardy’s complaint seems to say that all of the parties are responsible for her condition — except herself.