The Snitch: Boxer drops Beaches Sports Management after agency boss Keenan Mickley charged

A champion boxer has wiped the evidence of his association with a major sponsor after the sports agent was charged with attempting to cocaine with a value of $16m. Read The Snitch.

A champion middleweight boxer has quietly wiped the evidence of his association with a major sponsor after the sports agent was charged with attempting to import 50kg of cocaine.

As the World Boxing Organisation’s Latino middleweight champion, Mexican-born Australian fighter Cesar Mateo Tapia was the most successful – and perhaps only – athlete affiliated with the newly minted Beaches Sports Management.

Snitch has discovered the champion boxer has now scrubbed any references to Beaches Sports Management as his sponsor from his social media, after agency boss Keenan Mickley was charged with attempting to import 50kg of cocaine from Vietnam.

Cesar Mateo Tapia has quietly dropped Beaches Sports Management.

Keenan Mickley has been charged over a 50kg cocaine haul. Picture: John Gass

Mickley — who is also the award-winning principal of LJ Hooker Home Loans Northern Beaches — and his son Taj were arrested after a weeks-long investigation into a peculiar package stowed inside an industrial generator.

Police will allege 50kg of cocaine was secreted inside the machinery. The Mickleys allegedly bought multiple angle grinders in efforts to breach the generator’s secret compartment where the cocaine was located.

Both are expected to apply for bail on Tuesday.

Tapia – who’s not accused of any involvement in the bust – will contest a regional title fight in Orlando later this month.

COURTING DISASTER

A Sydney man who pretended to be a lawyer for months in scenes reminiscent of hit TV drama Suits will endeavour to have his sentence overturned on mental health grounds.

Matthew Laba pretended to be a lawyer. Picture: Linkedin

Extraordinary scenes unfolded at Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court in January last year, where Bondi cafe owner Lucas Azzopardi was defending domestic violence allegations through his representative Matthew Laba.

Azzopardi’s charges were later dismissed and it is not suggested he had any knowledge of Laba’s licence to practice law – or otherwise.

Snitch hears a cavalcade of police prosecutors filed in to watch their colleague level an amazing accusation in the middle of Azzopardi’s proceedings – that Laba was not a lawyer at all.

A subsequent investigation by the NSW Law Society revealed Laba had never been admitted as a solicitor but had repeatedly represented clients in NSW courts without seeking leave to appear as someone without a practising certificate.

The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to four counts of engaging in legal practice when he was not qualified and two counts of advertising he could engage in legal practice while unqualified, for which he received a nine-month intensive correction order and $16,000 in fines.

Snitch can reveal Laba is now set to appeal his conviction in the District Court on mental health grounds.

COP THIS

Which senior Sydney cop is off sick after being involved in an alleged punch-up outside his home on a Saturday night?

Rumours began circulating the well-known officer of a couple of decades’ service confronted a couple of gentlemen he believed were acting suspiciously near his vehicle.

NSW Police would only say: “Investigations are under way by officers attached to the Professional Standards Command following allegations of an assault by an off-duty officer that occurred about 9.50pm on September 21, 2024.”

Snitch knows the name of the highly regarded officer and suspect he will claim self defence, which will no doubt be closely scrutinised.

Brenden Hills is on leave

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