FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The tattoos, Jose! You forgot about your tattoos!
They were the first giveaway that made people alert celebrity boxing promoter Damon Feldman that Jose Canseco wasn't really Jose Canseco just minutes before a scheduled event at a Hard Rock nightclub on Saturday.
Instead, it was his clean-armed, identical twin brother, Ozzie, the promoter said.
"A bait-and-switch," Feldman said. "I'm disgusted."
It's still not clear what happened, though, because Jose sent out on his Twitter account Saturday night: "Be very careful with Damon feldman who runs celebrity boxing he will not pay you if you fight for him."
The promoter claims he wasn't in on the switch.
"No way," Feldman said. "I was as surprised as anyone."
People are also reading…
The Canseco twins have swapped places for autograph signings before. But in boxing? Feldman said he paid Jose $5,000 in advance of the fight. That represented half the contracted fee. The other half would be paid at the fight.
The problems started shortly before the fight.
"The guy I thought was Jose kept asking me to pay him in cash before (the fight)," Feldman said. "I told him I had to pay him by check for business reasons. He said he needed cash. We went back and forth."
Feldman said he also got a text message before the fight from Jose's phone that read: "You have to pay him."
"I was confused by why he wrote 'him,' " Feldman said. "Who would've thought he would've sent someone else?"
Feldman said he wants the $5,000 he paid Canseco in advance returned.
"Now I've got to look back at the pictures at the time and look if I ever really met Jose Canseco," Feldman said.
In a 2008 Feldman-promoted bout in Atlantic City, Jose Canseco was knocked out by former Philadelphia Eagle Vai Sikahema. Press of Atlantic City photos from that match show tattoos on both of Canseco's arms.
Welcome to the discussion.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.