After Mike Arnaoutis’ fight fell out last Thursday, manager Jimmy “Zeek” Hartofilis was far from a happy camper. Arnaoutis was scheduled to headline last Thursday against late minute replacement Ilido Julio but the New Jersey State Athletic Commission pulled the fight at the last minute due to a 9 pound weight difference.
Arnaoutis, who was originally scheduled to face Troy Browning, did not attend the card and was reasonably upset over the situation. Pound For Pound, the card’s promoter also had to give a refund to a number of fans who specifically bought tickets to see Arnaoutis fight.
Garden State Fight Scene: Jimmy, I have heard different stories about what happened once Mike got off the scale. The commission told me at the show they axed the fight immediately after the weigh in while others claim they didn’t can the fight until Thursday morning. What really happened?
Jimmy Hartofilis: Mike got on the scale and weighed 143.4 (while) he had his chain and his underwear on. Julio weighed in at 134.5 and they (the commission) never said anything! Mike went to the car and grabbed something to eat and the commissioner said he had to reweigh. Julio then claimed Mike was supposed to weigh 141 lbs but the contact he signed said 141.5 plus two (meaning either fighter could weigh up to 143.5 lbs).
Why (Julio) came in so light, I don’t know. He got off the scale and got something to drink. He may have come in light because he worked out the morning (of the weigh in) but it made no sense.
We weren’t made aware of the fight cancelation till 10:30 Thursday morning. I was notified by (promoter) John Lynch that the fight was pulled because of the weight. I spoke to the commissioner that morning and we had a nice talk. I suggested a re-weigh in Thursday since Mike is not one to gain weight. The commissioner said he didn’t want to do that since everybody would try to use this as an example if we did so.
MY: The whole weigh in situation was strange to begin with. While we don’t know if Julio was training or not, the fight weight was clearly in the Junior Welterweight range, where he had been fighting the last few years. Do you think that Julio perhaps misread the contract? It was strange for him to come in so light especially considering his last recorded weight was 142.5.
JH: Maybe he was light when he signed the contract.
MY: Approximately how many tickets did Team Arnaoutis sell for the show?
JH: We sold 250 plus tickets. The commissioner asked that our fans still come and enjoy the fights but our fans honestly weren’t going to come without him fighting.
MY: Let’s get back to the original opponent for a minute that Mike was slated to face, Troy Browning. Browning pulled out with an upper respiratory infection just a few days before the fight. Some people believe that Browning’s issue was with the weight since he did not weigh anywhere near the 142 lb contract weight in ten years. Do you think that he may have pulled out due the inability to cut ten pounds off the weight he has been fighting at since he is 41 years old and fighters at that age don’t move down in weight?
JH: From what I understand the day he signed the contract he weighed 148 lbs and that was six weeks ago. They said he was having a good camp and was sweating it up at the gym. Supposedly he got sick the last week of camp and couldn’t train.
My issue was why he had to wait until Monday night (to pull out of the fight). He really screwed a lot of things up and I know that if he was sick, he would have known a few days earlier.
MY: Browning’s manager contacted Garden State Fight Scene and said he wants to make the fight on another card. Do you have another fight date scheduled? Is Browning still a possible opponent? He has never been stopped and all three of his losses came against good fighters.
JH: I don’t think he is a potential opponent because of what he did. Where are the doctors notes? If he was doing the right thing he would have gave a heads up. Troy isn’t a guy we need to fight again since nobody knows who Troy is and it wasn’t a big fight or anything.
MY: What do you have to say to Mr. Aaron Davis; the New Jersey Athletic Commissioner?
JH: I am on good terms with him but I think he was worried that Mike was going to come in too heavy against Julio. (Honestly) he didn’t only screw me but he screwed a big part of the show.
MY: Jimmy thanks for coming on to clarify some things. Is there anything you’d like to add in closing?
JH: Mike had a great training camp for this fight and had a new trainer. Mike was injury free and 100% ready to fight. The fans were ready to go but in the end, they (the commission) screwed us. Mike was bent out of shape (after the fight was called off) and he just left for Greece. They offered us a fight on September 19 but he wouldn’t have been ready for that since he peaked already.
Mike apologizes to his fans for what happened. I wan to thank our new trainer Ray McCline for a great camp and the Lynches for the opportunity. There are some big fights (possibly in the works) and we hope to fight again soon.
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