His Back's To The Wall -- Seattle's Bill Wheeler Embroiled In Legal Battle, Not Historic Boxing Match In China

Bill Wheeler was supposed to be there when boxing history was made in Beijing, China. But tomorrow, the show he envisioned years ago will go on without him.

Wheeler is a Seattle lawyer turned fight promoter. The "Brawl at the Great Wall," the first professional boxing card in China, according to its new promoters, and a major step in the country's bid to host the Olympic Games in the year 2000, was supposed to be his project. Now it is just the latest disappointment in a promoting career that has been long on talk, short on results.

Last September, the Brawl became the wishbone in a federal lawsuit. Stacks of papers, filed in U.S. District Court, claim that Wheeler manipulated a Chinese company into financing the fight by misrepresenting his credentials, then failed to deliver on promises he had made.

The company wants its $3.1 million back. Wheeler claims the company owes him money, perhaps as much as $3.4 million. In any case, the show is going on without him.

The Brawl at the Great Wall is a tale of two countries, one of them new to the ways of capitalism. It's about alleged double agendas and Chinese bureaucracy. But at its heart, it's a tale about money.

Both the famous and the ordinary play parts, large and small. Lawyers, FBI agents, and chicken restaurant owners. Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.

But at the center is Wheeler, an athlete, a tenor, a lawyer, a husband and a father. Poor as a child, he grew up to be a man with a million ideas that would make him rich and famous. He was going to clean up boxing, drive Don King and Bob Arum out of business, and ultimately become the sport's top promoter.

Late in February, 1991, a call from China came into the Seattle law offices of Rosellini, Wheeler and Smeltzer, where Wheeler shared a practice with the former governor of Washington, Albert Rosellini.

Gong Yong Qiang, the vice president of Beijing Xinghua Industries, had read about Wheeler's attempt to set up a fight in Beijing between Mike Tyson and George Foreman in 1989 and was impressed by Wheeler's enterprise. Gong also had read about Wheeler's "Seattle Showdown," which he promoted in the summer of 1990 in the Kingdome. That the Beijing attempt failed and the "Showdown" lost money did not discourage Gong.

Gong asked Wheeler to try another fight in China. Xinghua would put up the money for fighters, expenses, advertising and the rest; Wheeler would set up the event.

A fight involving Foreman and an eight-figure price tag was discussed. Two voices, one in Beijing, the other in Pioneer Square, sealed the deal with an oral handshake.

Wheeler went to China and was treated royally. A Chinese delegation visited America and was treated in kind. Eighteen months went by, $3.1 million was spent, and several fight dates were set, then canceled. Foreman turned into Tim Witherspoon, then Iran Barkley and finally Bert Cooper.

On Sept. 25, 1992, Xinghua's Seattle attorneys, Camden Hall and Thomas Ahearne, filed a civil lawsuit against Wheeler's company, Wheeler and Associates Inc.

Xinghua dropped Wheeler but continued to plan a fight. Cooper and Mike Weaver are the featured fighters on tomorrow's card. But the legal fight will go on long after that.

Rex White, who worked for Wheeler for more than two years, before turning against him in a dispute over White's role in the venture, said he has been questioned by the FBI about Wheeler.

Wheeler's attorney, James Frush, claims the deals between his client and Xinghua fell through because the Chinese did not pay the amounts of money they promised in time.

Frush said one of the five contracts signed by Wheeler and Xinghua's president Li Wei has since been altered, and another hidden, so that Xinghua could get out of its obligation to pay Wheeler. Frush doesn't deny that fraud was committed, but says it was committed at the request of Li and Gong.

If the case is not settled by March 7, 1994, it will go to trial. At that time, Wheeler's past may be called into question.

While he paid much of his bills from the Seattle Showdown - fighters, hotels, advertisers, and event staff were paid - a lot remains unpaid.

Wheeler and Associates still owe King County the rental fee for the Kingdome, an amount that has grown to more than $23,000 because of interest. Wheeler also has acknowledged debts owed by his company, to a Seattle travel agency for plane tickets and to Prime Sports Northwest for broadcasting the Showdown.

Wheeler said the debts are the responsibility of Bill Thomason, a San Francisco real estate developer, and chief investor in the Showdown. An arbitrator ruled a year ago that Thomason owes Wheeler $194,594, but Wheeler has not collected. When he gets paid, Wheeler said, the county, Huff and the others will get paid.

Xinghua's lawsuit also attacks Wheeler's credibility and integrity. It says Wheeler portrayed himself as a successful filmmaker, sports agent and restaurateur, while he was actually none of these things.

In a letter to Gong, dated Feb. 28, 1991, Wheeler claimed his company had produced three television shows - a TV movie, "The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson" and two TV series, "A Man Called Hawke" and "Tour of Duty." He also stated he had managed the careers of Olympic hurdler Edwin Moses and pro football players Herschel Walker and Willie Gault, and had purchased a majority interest in Ezell's,' a local fried-chicken restaurant.

In reality, Wheeler had only proposed going into business with Ezell's five co-owners. The television shows and the athletes came from the resume of Travis Clark, a producer, screenwriter and sports agent from Los Angeles, who said he discussed business the two could do together, but that nothing ever came of it.

"I wouldn't have said those things unless all I had to do was say `yes,' and it would have all been true," Wheeler said. "The only reason I didn't go forward with those things was because the Chinese weren't interested. I was thinking creatively, to benefit everybody. That's what I'm about."

Wheeler's expenditures are also an issue in the case. Xinghua's attorneys claim Wheeler irresponsibly spent the money given to him to promote the fight, using it for high-stakes gambling, jewelry and a $50,000 car, items Wheeler said he purchased with money that came out of his fee.

While promoting the fight, Wheeler ordered Dom Perignon champagne for the limousines he rented, enjoyed luxurious accommodations and threw a lavish party in Las Vegas attended by "half the NBA." He threw the party while hosting 16 Chinese business people and officials, sent by Xinghua, to view a June 19, 1992, fight between Evander Holyfield and Larry Holmes. Gong says now that he did not expect Wheeler to use Xinghua's money for such extravagances.

In addition to boosting his lifestyle, being a boxing promoter brought Wheeler status. On a visit to China he slept in the official state guest house, where Richard Nixon once slept. He had the clout to bring Ali to China on a promotional visit in May of 1992 - at a cost of $50,000.

"I lived very well, but I did what I thought was good for the event," Wheeler said. "I'd do it the same way again.

"The Chinese were fully aware of what I was doing. They were doing it with me in most cases. We ate together, stayed together, rode in limousines together.

"I always attempt to go first class. That's the way I do things. It's only now that they've lost money that they're denouncing that style, saying I lived too well."

Xinghua's attorneys have entered two documents in their suit, as evidence that Wheeler made false claims: a letter from Wheeler saying he paid boxers Tony Tucker and Tim Witherspoon $2.4 million as down payments on fight fees, and a letter of credit from Seafirst Bank in the amount of $4 million. Wheeler's attorney agrees both documents are false, but said Xinghua knew all along they were not authentic.

"The case is all about getting funds out of China," Frush said. "They asked our clients to make statements and produce documents they knew at all times were not what they purported them to be, in order to (get money out of their country)."

Wheeler's defense is that he was merely an accomplice in Xinghua's efforts to get around strict government regulations, ones that make it difficult for Chinese companies to wire money overseas. In order to facilitate the extraction of funds, Wheeler's attorney claims, Xinghua executives had to make it look as though the money was being spent prudently.

The scenario is plausible. Nick Lardy, a professor at the University of Washington who is considered one of the foremost authorities in the country on Chinese economics, said the government of China does not readily let foreign currency leave the country because its own currency, the yuan, is not yet convertible. That makes foreign money very valuable.

Lardy said many Chinese companies try to avoid the tedious bureaucracy by covertly moving money offshore.

There is no disputing that Wheeler is dynamic, charismatic and in many ways successful. He has made friends of Rosellini and Mayor Norm Rice. His partner in Wheeler and Associates, and also a defendant in the lawsuit, is Dick Twiss, a prominent Seattle lawyer and president of the Seattle Opera board.

Once a football player at USC, Wheeler has sung on stage and always thrived in front of an audience.

"You've talked to him, you know," said White, Wheeler's former assistant. "When you listen to him, you really believe this guy can do everything he says."

But his audience is fading. The Chinese deal has hurt Wheeler's credibility, his attorney said, because managers and fighters were promised money that wasn't delivered.

"I'll take responsibility for my own decisions," Wheeler said. "When are others going to take responsibility for theirs? I did do some deceptive stuff. When I take the stand I'll tell the truth. And let's see where the chips fall."