One day after his management contract with Marty Elorde expired last Jan. 31, Ring Magazine and International Boxing Association featherweight champion Manny Pacquiao signed a two-year management deal with Shelly Finkel and lawyers Nicholas Kahn and Kenneth Davidson.
The decision by Pacquiao to junk his Filipino manager, who had made a P10 million contract extension offer for another five years and an even better offer dangled by businessmen-sportsmen friends of the eminent lawyer and founding secretary general of the World Boxing Council Rudy Salud, who were ready to put up P11 million for a two-and-a-half year deal, surprised many.
There were those who felt that Pacquiao would take over management of his own affairs and retain the 25 percent himself, at least until after the Morales fight, which had already been signed and sealed.
Elorde was shocked by Pacquiao?s statement that he wanted to get rid of him, saying ?he didn?t have to get rid of me because my contract has already expired.?
However, Elorde disclosed he was informed by his lawyers and other boxing people that he had a basis to initiate legal action to get a share of Pacquiao?s $1.75 million purse, since the contract for the fight was signed when Elorde was technically still manager.
If ever the issue is taken to court, it would mean a legal battle between the son of the late, great world junior lightweight champion and Hall-of-Famer Gabriel ?Flash? Elorde and Finkel, who was described by award-winning journalist and lawyer Thomas Hauser of Seconds Out as ?a survivor in the jungle of professional boxing.?
David Avila of Maxboxing reported that aside from Elorde, Pacquiao was also dropping Murad Muhammad as his promoter. This prompted boxing writer Ricardo Lois to speculate that with legal responses likely to follow from Elorde and Muhammad, ?one has to wonder why Pacquiao would initiate these moves just six weeks prior to a mega-fight with Erik Morales? The potential distractions could prove ruinous to a fighter preparing for one of the greatest challenges of his career.?
Lois questioned Pacquiao for signing up with Finkel at this point in his career, noting that he would have fought Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez and Marco Antonio Barrera in succession with the Filipino earning a seven-figure payday ? $1.75 million ? against Morales. Lois then posed the crucial question ? ?What can Shelly do for Manny??
Answering his own question, Lois replied: ?Take his money.?
The story on the Web site Fight World said: ?Shelly cannot make Manny any bigger a star, get him bigger fights or make him more money. Pacquiao already has those things.?
The writer said it was interesting to note that Pacquiao has always been touted as a simple man, training at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood and living at a nearby motel ? the Vagabond Inn.
With Finkel in the mix, the Pac-Man was swooped up in a Lincoln Navigator and put up in an upscale apartment, which soon turned into a regular pit stop for some 20 hangers-on, who disrupted Pacquiao?s previous disciplined regimen and this eventually had disastrous effects on his preparation for the Morales showdown.
Pacquiao himself provided an insight into why he signed up with Finkel in a hurry during a visit to the Vagabond Inn on the evening of March 11.
Pacquiao told business manager Rod Nazario, in the presence of Team Pacquiao members Lito Mondejar, Moy Lainez, Gerry Garcia and this columnist, that Finkel and his lawyers said he would get $4 million from the pay-per-view take of the Morales fight, which obviously was an enticement Pacquiao couldn?t resist.
He also revealed that Finkel had promised to include an addendum to the contract he had signed and filed with the California State Athletic Commission, which would reportedly protect Nazario?s role as business manager in the new Team Pacquiao.
Pacquiao also revealed that he had been informed that if the Finkel?s team failed to fulfill its commitments to him, he could go to the Commission and they would tear up the contract.
Finkel had earlier called Nazario in the Philippines and asked for a copy of the HBO PPV contract, but the latter informed him he didn?t have a copy since he was not present when the contract was signed.
During that conversation, Nazario told Finkel it appeared ?inimical to sign a contract at this stage when Pacquiao?s focus should be solely on the Morales fight.?
The new manager said Pacquiao knew what he was signing ?because everything was explained to him? by the California State Athletic Commission.
Finkel concluded by telling Nazario: ?We will be working together and I?m looking forward to a harmonious management.?
(Tomorrow: The New Management Team and how they got to Pacquiao)
