PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION – A preliminary injunction is appropriate if the moving party demonstrates either (1) a probability of success on the merits and a possibility of irreparable injury, or (2) serious questions going to the merits and the balance of hardships tipping sharply in his favor. Chalk v. United States Dist. Ct., 840 F.2d 701, 704 (9th Cir. 1988). These are not discrete tests, but are instead “outer reaches ‘of a single continuum.’ ” Id. (citations omitted).
“The grant or denial of a motion for a preliminary injunction lies within the discretion of the district court, and its order will be reversed only if the court relied on an erroneous legal premise or otherwise abused its discretion.” Id. An “abuse of discretion” occurs if the district court misapprehends the applicable legal issues or rests its conclusions on clearly erroneous findings of fact. Id. –Source: Legal Text.
So much for the legal mumbo jumbo. What you want to know, boxing fan/Pacmaniac or both, is what are the chances Golden Boy Promotions request before a Nevada judge sitting in Clark County (Las Vegas) has in stopping Manny Pacquaio fighting Jorge Solis April 14 in San Antonio.
The chances are slim and none and, as the old line goes, slim is out of town. No judge is going to prevent Pacman from earning a living because of the ongoing legal dispute over his promotional rights between Oscar De La Hoya and Bob Arum. The Top Rank card will go on as scheduled April 14 although the news about GBP’s seeking to put a screeching halt to the card may hurt Arum with potential sponsors and other third parties who do not want to get dragged into the matter. There is also a chance that GBP could get some of Top Rank’s income from the PPV show in Texas tied up but that is another slim reed.
I don’t think GBP can show “a probability” of success on the merits because which promotional contract is valid is an issue that will, if the case keeps going, be decided by either a judge or a jury. These are factual questions and any judge now will say that he or she does not have enough indisputable information to say whether either GBP or TR is probably going to be successful in the end. As to irreparable injury, Arum’s legal team will argue that win, lose or draw in the ring, any possible damages GBP would incur are financial and thus are not irreparable.
As to prong 2, Arum and De La Hoya are multimillionaires who own large and successful promotiomal companies. Call the balance there a draw between the wealthy promoter (Arum) and the wealthy fighter-promoter (ODLH). This is the same ODLH who is expecting to gross about $30 million from his May 5 Superfight with Floyd Mayweather.
If a balancing of the hardships is done, then it is Pacquaio who has those “tipping sharply in his favor.” Just like De La Hoya, Manny’s career is finite, limited at some point by age and physical condition. How could Oscar argue any differently?
As to Arum, at age 75, he has been promoting multimillion dollar bouts since 1967. Neither De La Hoya nor Pacman will have such longetivity in the ring.
Bottom line? Big headlines, panic in some uninformed quarters, and on April 14 Pacquaio settles matters with Solis in the ring in San Antoio.
The legal battle will drag on and on and on…
