UNDER the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act in the United States, chances are great for Manny Pacquiao getting what he?s due from the pay-per-view shares earned in his recent fight with Erik Morales.
It is also the fervent hope of well-known boxing personality Hermie Rivera that a law of the same nature be enacted in the country, if only to protect the welfare of local fighters.
?[Pacquiao] has a good chance of recovering his share in the pay-per-view fight with Erik Morales. But we know that Manny is a millionaire already. The pitiful ones are the boxers who aren?t being paid right for their fights,? said Rivera on Tuesday in the weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Manila Pavilion.
He cited the cases of former two-time world champion Luisito Espinosa, and reigning Orient Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) titlist Rodel Mayol, both of whom were not properly compensated in their previous fights?held in the country at that.
?We need the immediate enactment of a law like the Ali Reform Act that would protect our boxers. If it happened to the likes of Luisito, what more to the other lesser-known boxers we have?? said Rivera, who made his appeal in the same public sports program sponsored by Red Bull, Supermax, Circure and Pagcor.
The 37-year-old Espinosa, once Rivera?s prot?g?, has yet to collect his purse amounting to $130,000 (about P7.02 million) for his successful defense of his World Boxing Council (WBC) featherweight title against Carlo Rios of Argentina in Koronadal, Cotabato 8 years ago.
The case is still in court, with the aging Espinosa?currently based in Los Angeles where he continues to box for a living?only represented by his lawyer, Dennis Almasan.
Between the two, Espinosa suffered the most.
