Hit Man - Brian Hughes [20]
Smith enjoyed the trappings of wealth and lived a lifestyle which was the envy of Hollywood movie stars, owning homes in fashionable sections of southern California such as Pacific Palisades, where President Reagan had lived, and Marina del Rey. He possessed an $84,000 cabin cruiser, a fleet of top-of-the-range cars, including a brown Cadillac and custom-made Cadillac convertible, a stable of thoroughbred racehorses and even a private Beechcraft jet. Smith was also a high stakes gambler. It was not unusual for him to bet $10,000 on a single horse race or $25,000 on a roll of a roulette wheel in Vegas. When he was asked where his money came from, Smith would offer two stock responses: “My wife is very wealthy,” or, “I make money the old-fashioned way: I earn it.”
Smith’s entry into big-time boxing promotion was not subtle. He used money – and lots of it. Stories soon began to emerge of his extravagance. He carried flight bags full of cash around and offered boxers over four or five times as much money as the other promoters. Incredibly, Smith seemed able to outbid both Don King and Bob Arum, and they were worried. On one occasion, Smith flew to Las Vegas, which was rapidly emerging as the new capital of top-class boxing, to watch the Ray Leonard–Wilfred Benitez welterweight title fight. There he arranged a meeting with Larry Holmes in his suite, where Smith attempted to lure the world heavyweight champion away from Don King. Holmes recounted how Smith offered him $1.5 million to sign an exclusive contract with MAPS. Smith entered the suite with two Wells Fargo cashier cheques for $500,000 each and another half million in $50 and $100 bills. The meeting was aborted when a snarling Don King arrived and chased Smith out of the suite shouting threats and obscenities.
In September 1979, Hearns and Steward boarded a Los Angeles-bound aircraft for a meeting with Smith. MAPS had widened its scope from amateur boxing into professional boxing and was keen to meet with the potential superstar and his trainer. When the two Detroiters entered the offices, Smith was seated behind his expensive desk whilst his executive secretary, Teri Key, busied herself making drinks for the guests. The MAPS office was in keeping with Smith’s sense of style, with lush wall-to-wall carpeting and potted plants. One long hallway had huge portraits of Muhammad Ali and other boxers whom Smith had signed to box under the umbrella of MAPS. The views along Ocean Park Boulevard into Santa Monica were also spectacular. It all looked impressive to Hearns and Steward.
Smith immediately got down to business and stunned Hearns when he started discussing purse money. He offered $500,000 for Hearns to challenge World Boxing Association welterweight champion Jose Cuevas and offered a cash incentive of $100,000 if they signed a contract with immediate effect. They signed straight away. In their book Empire of Deceit, former United States attorney’s special prosecutor Dean Allison and reporter Bruce B. Henderson recount how Smith sent someone over to Wells Fargo to get a cashier’s cheque. At this point in his career, Hearns’s biggest payday had been $85,000. The stunned boxer walked out of Smith’s office that same morning with more than that in his pockets and another $400,000 to come, with an additional $25,000 for training expenses.
The three men left in a limo and headed for the airport. They boarded Smith’s private jet and headed straight to Mexico City, where Smith had arranged a meeting with Cuevas and his manager. After some brief discussions, in which Cuevas was offered a purse of over $1 million, he too signed the contract to fight Hearns in Detroit.
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