AN OPEN LETTER TO GARY SHAW By Elisa Harrison

Gary Shaw, President of Gary Shaw Productions, and Phillip N'Dou's promoter has made recent headlines with some serious accusations against Team Freedom's attorney Leon Margules as well as fellow promoter Cedric Kushner.

Hoping for a catchy headline, and taking a page from the Steve Kim school of "How A 'Catchy' Title May Come Back To Bite You In The Butt," Shaw states: "Casamayor is seeking asylum again, not from Castro, from N'Dou!"

In these times of political correctness, may I respectfully point out to Mr. Shaw that the issue of political asylum is a very serious one, not to be toyed with or taken lightly particularly by those who have never experienced it personally or through their family members.

Cubans in particular have endured over forty years of psychological hell, with families being disbanded and torn apart by a barbaric regime which has made the issue of political asylum -to which Mr. Shaw refers to in almost a joking fashion- a real life tragedy.

Whatever Mr. Shaw's dealings with Mr. Margules regarding Joel Casamayor are or were, they needed not be brought to this level. In case you are not aware, Mr. Shaw, Joel Casamayor has very close relatives in Cuba, including his mother, whom he hasn't been able to see in many years -and may never see again- simply because he chose the path to freedom and democracy. I can tell you all about it, because I too left my entire family at a very young age, never to lay eyes on them again. It is not a joking matter, it's painful and very, very personal.

In Shaw's press release, which made the obligatory main pages of all the "I'll print whatever you send me" sites, he further states: "Now I find out that Casamayor already had a December date in place to fight on ESPN2 when I was dealing with his group. Talk about negotiating in bad faith!"

May I point out to Mr. Shaw that there is a fight schedule to which most boxing folks refer to on a regular basis, (actually Marty does an excellent job with it), and in said schedule the entry for Joel Casamayor fighting at the AmericanAirlines Arena on December 20th has stood out for at least two weeks now. You mean to tell me that you don't check the schedule? Tsk, tsk, tsk... I would want to think that a pawn broker of your stature would be sharper than that, no?

In his closing statement, Shaw adds: "If it is not Casamayor, it will be someone with as much talent...but more guts." Well, Mr. Shaw, you certainly are entitled to your opinion, and your catchy style might have been a hit to some, but it flunked with this writer. Question the money split, question the way Team Freedom may or may not have handled this situation as you perceive it, but never, ever, question the guts or the heart of Joel Casamayor. His real life actions as well as his prominent career, have demonstrated that in the guts department he lacks absolutely nothing."