This is a reply to the other Rocchigianni thread. I cannot answer there since I'm on his iggy list for some reason.
From boxrec:
From boxrec:
Before this bout, then-WBC Light Heavyweight champion Roy Jones made his intentions to fight Heavyweight James 'Buster' Douglas on May 20, 1998 instead of Michael Nunn, the WBC mandated challenger. The WBC title was then declared vacant and contested between #1 rated Nunn and #2 rated Graciano Rocchigiani. However, in June of 1998 the WBC illegally down-graded Rocchigiani's classification to that of an 'interim' champion, and then stripped him outright, having declared Roy Jones as being the champion in recess. Rocchigiani sued the WBC and was awarded $31 million in damages. Also as a result of this lawsuit, a United States District Judge retroactively restored Rocchigiani’s official WBC Light Heavyweight championship status in April 2003, but only from 03-28-1998 to 04-15-2000, when he lost to Dariusz Michalczewski
Comment