Undefeated boxer's $70,000 purse stolen from luggage

Knockout artist Jonathan Guzman scored a scintillating 11th-round KO against Shingo Wake to claim the vacant IBF World super bantamweight title along with $70,000 in cash for his purse back on July 20.

He returned to a hero’s welcome in his home country of the Dominican Republic on Monday and was greeted by a large crowd of fans and a convoy accompanied him to his home. But after hours of celebration, the boxer found that the luggage that he stored the cash in had been opened and all $70,000 of his purse had been stolen.

Guzman’s promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, confirmed the news with Yahoo Sports. According to Lewkowicz, Guzman attempted to carry on his recently won world title and luggage, but he was informed by airline staff that he needed to check one of his bags. Guzman decided to check in the bag with the money in it for the flight from Miami to Santo Domingo and, when he arrived, he realized that the money was gone.

An investigation is currently underway and, according to El Caribe, it is being conducted by a joint committee of officials from the Directorate General Customs, the Specialized Airport Security Corps and Civil Aviation (CESAC) and Aeropuertos Dominicanos Siglo XXI (Aerodom).

Lewkowicz says he’s lost sleep over the incident and has done his best to console his fighter. He has told the newly crowned champion that he will get him back in the ring sooner rather than later so he can continue to make money fighting.

“He will defend his title in December and make his money back plus more,” Lewkowicz said about the unbeaten Guzman (22-0, 22 KOs). “God gave him the power and the talent to be a great champion and he will recoup the money in his first defense plus his regular payment and he will fight anyone.”