The notorious cricket spot-fixer who has become a leading player in the big-money world of boxing has been declared bankrupt.
Mazhar Majeed, 40, who was sentenced to 32 months in prison in 2011 for his role in the corruption of a Test match between England and Pakistan at Lord’s, acts as an adviser to Chris Eubank Jr, who fights Conor Benn at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on April 26.
A Sunday Times investigation last year revealed the extent of Majeed’s influence in boxing and his links to Boxxer, the promotional company co-founded by Ben Shalom that was awarded a four-year exclusive contract worth £36million by Sky in 2021.
The promoter paid in excess of £300,000 to Star People, a company solely owned by Majeed’s wife, for consultancy services, including a payment of about £80,000 that was delivered by Boxxer’s finance director to an employee of Star People in cash in a bag at a meeting in central London in July 2023.
Boxxer said the payments related to Majeed’s role as an adviser to Amir Khan, who fought Kell Brook in February 2022, and were all “fully receipted and accounted for” in their books. However, Majeed has also been considered by the promoter to be the representative of Joshua Buatsi and Eubank Jr, who have both fought on Sky multiple times over the past 18 months.
It is understood Eubank Jr will earn upwards of £6million for his upcoming bout against Benn and Majeed has been a visible part of the boxer’s team at promotional events around the fight.
But Majeed was recently adjudged to be bankrupt on April 1 at Croydon county court over a legal bill worth £56,778.59 relating to a legal dispute with a former business partner.
After being sentenced to prison for a further two years in 2015 after pleading guilty to HMRC charges of tax fraud relating to his property business, Majeed established himself in boxing as an adviser to David Haye when the former world heavyweight champion made his comeback after almost four years out of the ring.
Haye was managed by AMD Boxing Management Ltd, a company owned by the lawyer Adam Morallee, who later co-founded another management company, S-Jam Boxing, which represents several prominent British fighters including the 2016 Olympic silver medallist Joe Joyce.
In September 2023 Majeed filed a claim at the High Court against Morallee, alleging that the pair had signed a deed of trust that entitled Majeed to 50 per cent of the shares in AMD Boxing Management Ltd. Majeed alleged that Morallee had breached their contract and pursued him for damages. Morallee alleged the deed had in fact been forged.
The claim was discontinued in June and Majeed was considered liable for Morallee’s costs. After Majeed missed an October deadline for payment, Morallee filed a bankruptcy petition in January.
Majeed, whose last known residence was a large house in Croydon that he purchased for £860,000 in 2006, posted photographs on Instagram of himself only last month standing on the stairway of a private jet in Saudi Arabia. He was also pictured there with Buatsi, who is understood to have earned about £800,000 for his most recent fight against Callum Smith. Buatsi, who commented with two love hearts on the photo, has said that he is self-managed.
Majeed has attended promotional events around fights in a Rolls-Royce with a personalised number plate. However, according to records at the Land Registry, he was previously adjudged to be bankrupt in 2019. Any assets which he owned as of April 1 will now be dealt with by the bankruptcy trustee. He will be required to meet the trustee to discuss the extent of his assets.
Majeed’s presence has remained a source of consternation for executives at Sky, particularly given it was the broadcaster of the corrupted Test in 2010, when Pakistan bowlers took money to deliberate bowl no-balls. Majeed was arrested again in August that year while on bail, along with his wife, as part of a second criminal investigation conducted by HMRC.
David Le Cluse, then the chairman of Croydon Athletic, the football club that Majeed said in a newspaper sting he had bought for money-laundering purposes, was found dead in a garage near his home in Surrey weeks after the scandal broke. An inquest ruled that Le Cluse died by suicide.
However, Sky committed itself to airing the fight between Eubank Jr and Benn on its Box Office channel despite some internal concerns and it is now also expected to extend its contract with Boxxer in some capacity.
Majeed did not respond to a request for comment. Morallee declined to comment.
