Charles Conwell pulled out of one fight with a fake injury to fight on another card... only for that card to get cancelled.
Charles Conwell pulled out of one fight with a fake injury to fight on another card... only for that card to get cancelled. | Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

Charles Conwell says he was just following his manager's advice.

Rising junior middleweight boxing contender Charles Conwell (15-0, 11 KOs) has alleged that his manager had him fake an injury so that he could fight on another card for double the purse, only for that show to be postponed.

Well now that you're thoroughly confused, let's back up a bit. Conwell was supposed to headline a Ring City USA show on NBCSN back in April against Ivan Golub. He withdrew from the event due to a "hand injury" and that entire event was cancelled. Conwell was re-booked against Mark DeLuca on the undercard of Teofimo Lopez vs. George Kambosos in June, but Lopez's COVID-19 positive test scrapped that show.

According to Conwell, however, there's a lot more to the story. In an interview with ESPN, he claimed his manager David McWater (who also manages Lopez) told him to fake the injury. McWater has denied the allegations.

Conwell said McWater, who signed him out of the Olympics, told him to feign the injury so that he could fight on the undercard for Triller in a June 19 event in Miami featuring Teofimo Lopez vs. George Kambosos. That fight would have paid Conwell $80,000 against an easier opponent, Mark DeLuca, while the Golub bout would have paid $40,000.

"We said hand because that's the hardest to prove," Conwell said. "I didn't really think twice about it. I just said all right."

McWater, who manages Lopez, Steen and Golub, said there was no reason for them to lie because they didn't have a signed contract for the April fight. "We could have pulled out for any reason," McWater said.

"I asked if I can fight on both cards so I can get both of the money," said Conwell, who trains in Detroit. "He says 'too close to it and don't want to risk injury so we're going to just do the one fight.' I was just following the advice from my manager."

Unfortunately for Conwell, 'just do the one fight' turned into not fighting at all and losing out on a potential $120,000 in purse money over a few months. Conwell also expressed remorse for getting the Ring City USA card cancelled, which he said he "didn't mean" to do. He had previously fought on a Ring City show in December in a career-best win against Madiyar Ashkeyev, which saw him earn a $30,000 main event purse. A Ring City USA official said the promoter agnostic company was "disappointed" with this admission.

Conwell ended up taking a stay-busy bout against Silverio Ortiz in June, winning by eight-round decision but only collecting an $8,000 purse for a non-televised show at a community center in Kentucky. Not exactly how he envisioned his 2021 would go, and one can only wonder what his partnership with McWater will be like moving forward. This is not something your normally reveal in public.

The Ohio native will now fight on the non-PPV portion of the Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley card on August 29th in Cleveland.