(TMZ) Evander Holyfield's assistant is on the receiving end of an upper cut of a lawsuit by Julien's Auctions ... claiming she royally cheated them over on a planned auction of Evander's most famous memorabilia. According to a lawsuit filed on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Julien's entered into a deal with Holyfield back in July to sell off some of his boxing memorabilia in order to combat his financial woes.
Julien's claims his assistant, Toi Irvin, was part of the deal as well. According to Julien's, Irvin's role was to secure the memorabilia, obtain Holyfield's permission for each piece (remember that part, it's going to be important later), and assist with confirming the history behind each item. Julien's claims Irvin was given a consulting fee for her services.
But things went horribly wrong. Holyfield filed a lawsuit against Julien's earlier this month to block the auction, claiming he never gave permission to sell a majority of the items -- such as championship belts, an Olympic bronze medal and gloves he wore to fight Mike Tyson.
In their lawsuit, Julien's places the blame squarely on Irvin ... saying she botched the deal and "utterly and totally failed in her obligations."
Julien's claims they have laid out more than $500,000 in expenses to prepare for the auction as well as $20,000 to Irvin as an advance on her fee.
Julien's is seeking damages as yet to be determined, as well interest and court costs. more on this story