Brooklyn native and former WBO featherweight champion Heather “The Heat” Hardy said she didn’t choose retirement — her body forced it. The 43-year-old boxer suffers from daily headaches, seizures, convulsions, and muscle spasms, symptoms linked to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease often seen in football players.
Hardy filed a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit, the first by a female boxer of its kind, accusing her doctors, promoters, and equipment sponsors of approving her to fight despite medical risks and denying her required insurance coverage.
“The boxing industry has catastrophically failed Heather Hardy,” she wrote in her filing.
Hardy began her professional career in 2012 to support her infant daughter. Over 27 fights, she recorded 24 wins and 3 losses, earning $236,450 total. Her attorney, Priya Chaudhry, accused promoters of exploiting her success and abandoning her afterward.
“They lined their pockets with her pain, then threw her away when she broke,” Chaudhry told The Post.
Allegations Target Doctors, Promoters, and Equipment Makers
Hardy’s lawsuit alleges that Dr. Nitin Sethi, chief medical officer of the New York State Athletic Commission, manipulated or misread MRI results, allowing her to fight when she should have been sidelined.
Court documents claim Hardy was also denied millions in mandated medical insurance, which promoters were required to provide for fight-related injuries. She argued that earlier intervention might have slowed her neurological decline.
Sources told The Post that New York’s fight insurance typically expires one year after a bout if no claims are filed. Hardy claimed the Athletic Commission knew her health was deteriorating but continued issuing licenses anyway.
“They let me fight when they knew I was unwell,” she said in her statement.
Hardy’s final match occurred on August 5, 2023, against Amanda Serrano in Dallas. She absorbed 278 punches and lost by unanimous decision. Months later, she temporarily lost her vision while training. A commission-referred doctor advised her to see a neurologist, but she couldn’t afford the visit.
Her lawsuit names Everlast Worldwide, its parent company Frasers Group, Boxing Insider Promotions, and promoter Lou DiBella as defendants.
Boxing World Splits Over Lawsuit’s Claims
Attorney Keith Sullivan, representing promoter Larry Goldberg’s Boxing Insider, dismissed the allegations as “absolute nonsense.”
“I provided documents proving these claims are false,” Sullivan said. “This case should not continue.”
DiBella’s lawyer, Alex Dombroff, labeled the suit “sensationalist fiction” and filed for dismissal. Multiple boxing insiders criticized the case as a money grab, noting it did not name Most Valuable Promotions, co-owned by Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian, which organized Hardy’s final fight.
“Heather should never have been in the ring with Serrano,” one insider said.
Some sources suggested other factors may have contributed to Hardy’s illness, including past domestic abuse, heavy drinking, drug use, and a recent e-bike accident. One claimed she “admitted online to drinking a bottle of wine every night for 10 years.” The Post could not verify the video.
Hardy previously spoke about surviving domestic violence, and doctors at NYU Langone linked her neurological issues to her boxing injuries and alcohol use.
Representatives for Everlast, Dr. Sethi, and Most Valuable Promotions did not respond to requests for comment. The case seeks unspecified damages and reimbursement for medical expenses stemming from her injuries and long-term neurological decline.
