A DAY after offering Manny Pacquiao a tempting 50-50 purse split, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer has given the Filipino boxing superstar only until Monday to either accept or reject a proposed fight with world super featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera.
“Pay-per-view deadlines force us to impose a deadline of Monday (Tuesday in RP), Jan. 1, for Team Pacquiao to either accept or decline our offer,” Schaefer said in the website Boxingtalk.
Schaefer, however, clarified that he does not wish to negotiate with Bob Arum, as the latter “has no promotional right to Manny Pacquiao.”
Arum is top honcho of Top Rank which struck a deal with Pacquiao on Thursday to hold and promote the Filipino’s next few fights. On top of this agreement is a $5 million purse that Arum promised Pacquiao for his rematch with Barrera.
Schaefer said he expects Pacquiao and his team to understand that if the projected fight goes to purse bid, the split would be 75-25 in favor of Barrera, who holds the World Boxing Council belt.
Arum, who flew into the country last Dec. 26, had earlier offered Barrera a $2.5 million purse to face Pacquiao on April 28 in Las Vegas.
At a hastily arranged press conference last Thursday at the Manila Hotel, Pacquiao also announced that he had chosen Arum as his promoter for the next four years.
The Filipino ring icon’s decision to stick it out with Arum did not sit too well with his American trainer Freddie Roach and manager Shelly Finkel.
Both had tried to convince Pacquiao to hook up with Golden Boy Promotions of promoter-boxer Oscar De La Hoya which tendered a better long-term deal.
Following the press conference, Schaefer announced GBP’s own package, including the 50-50 split with Barrera.
Arum said Schaefer’s move was a way of opening up the negotiation process, although the latter maintained that GBP does not wish to negotiate with him.
“Our offer was not intended as a negotiation, but to present a fair and lucrative offer to make this fight a reality,” Schaefer said.
Schaefer proposed to hold the Pacquiao-Barrera fight on March 17 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The GBP top honcho also emphasized that they are willing to deposit into an escrow account all promotional revenues that will be due Pacquiao, until such time that the court decides who is the legal promoter for the Filipino.
“If he (Arum) should win the case, he gets the money. And if he does not, he doesn’t deserve it,” Schaefer said.
