WORLD Boxing Council founding secretary-general Rudy Salud has called on the United States courts to decide on the case of Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao, who is at the center of a legal battle between Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank.
Golden Boy filed a case for tortuous interference against Bob Arum, who signed Pacquiao to a four-fight contract two months after Oscar de la Hoya signed a seven-fight deal with Pacquiao.
Golden Boy gave Pacquiao $350,000 as goodwill money and a $150,000 advance on his first fight, but Arum upped the ante and gave him a $1-million bonus after he signed with Top Rank.
Salud, an eminent lawyer steeped in sports having served as Philippine Basketball Association commissioner, secretary-general of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines under the late Mayor Nemesio Yabut of Makati and as executive director of the Philippine Racing Commission, which was then headed by Amb. Eduardo ?Danding? Cojuangco, accused the American courts of pampering Pacquiao.
Salud said the courts are ?letting him fight and get the benefits after accepting $500,000 and then getting $1 million. Why is that? What kind of courts do they have over there??
He stressed the US courts, where the cases were filed, one in Los Angeles and the other in Las Vegas, where Arum requested the court to decide on which contract was valid, ?should make a decision. We don?t care how they rule or who wins. We are not trying to make them decide one way or the other, but decide.?
Salud pointed out that the Americans often criticize the slow pace of justice in the Philippines, but on a simple issue of the Pacquiao contract, they have taken months and have not yet handed down a decision.
