Paid $5,000 to box, Canseco pulls a fast one and sends twin brother

Most folks around baseball think Jose Canseco is shady. He's starting to develop the same reputation in the fight world.

The former MLB star was paid $5,000 before a celebrity boxing match in Florida, no-showed and then sent his twin brother Ozzie to fill-in.

Canseco was caught because of some strange texts to the promoter and some observant fans, who noticed Ozzie didn't have tattooed arms like Jose.

"A bait-and-switch,'' promoter Damon Feldman told the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. "I'm disgusted."

The first signs of a problem emerged Thursday night on Jose's Twitter account.

At the event, Feldman grew suspicious when Ozzie kept asking for the rest of his pay 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."

There was also a strange text that should've been the giveaway.

[...] Jose Canseco'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?"

On fight night at Passion Night Club in the Seminole Hard Rock in Florida, the music for Jose's entrance played and no one walked to the ring. It played again and out came Ozzie, several onlookers immediately pointed out that the fill-in didn't have Jose's tattoos.

The crowd was in an uproar and Ozzie was escorted from the club by police.

Jose has responded via text saying he'll make it up to Feldman in the future.

"If you pay my brother the $5,000 I will fight for you again and handle all the media that is calling me and make you look good. If not, well, you're on your own."

Jose fought for Feldman on two previous occasions against former NFL player Vai Sikahema and Danny Bonaduce.

Update: Canseco tweeted that all the money will go to charity.

Jessica Paré Leelee Sobieski Teri Hatcher Lauren Bush Natalie Zea