Dan Gross: LOW BLOWS: Has-been 'celebs' put on the gloves to cash in before their 15-minute bell rings

November 03, 2011|By Dan Gross

WHERE'S a professional athlete who's gone broke and facing criminal charges to turn? If you're a loyal reader, you know there is only one answer: Celebrity Boxing Federation promoter Damon Feldman.

Embattled ex-Phillies star Lenny Dykstra will take on Jose Canseco in Alki David's Celebrity Fight Night, featuring a Battle of the Baseball Bad Boys, at the Avalon Concert Hall, in Hollywood.

The fight, at 9 p.m. Saturday, will be streaming online at FilmOn.com and, according to Feldman, will also be available on pay-per-view TV through Comcast and other providers.

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It costs $19.95 to stream or watch through TV pay-per-view.

Feldman's collaborator, the Nigerian born Alki David, is an Internet mogul whose websites include FilmOn.com, Battlecam.com, FightNight.com and 9021go.com.

Dykstra had been a scheduled guest at a sports memorabilia show this weekend at Oxford Valley Mall but, according to Feldman - who is promoting the fight with David, Dino Bomis and Bobby Capone - the guys are paying Lenny more than he would have made at the autograph show, though he declined to say how much that was.

Poppel.com, which is staging the autograph show, confirmed that Dykstra pulled out early yesterday, and it expressed disappointment that he did not honor their signed agreement.

"We believe in second chances, and that is why we wanted to give Lenny an opportunity for this appearance," said Poppel.com's director of business developement, Eric Poppel. "At this time he has used up all the goodwill we have," he said. Poppel said that other guests, such as former Phillies Mitch Williams and Rudy Seanez, and former Flyer Reggie Leach, will still appear. (More info at Poppel.com.)

Poppel said that in 18 years his company has had more than 1,000 athletes as "guests" and has had "two guests die prior to the event, one broken leg and a handful of family emergencies," but never has someone "knowingly cancel his appearance for the sake of not wanting to honor his contract."

But Dykstra wants to take his fight to the ring. "Lenny is fighting for his good name in baseball," said Dykstra's business manager, Dan Herman, of West Chester. "Lenny's life for the last two years has been upside-down, mainly because of snitches."

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