This article is not about Ronnie Nathanielsz, but I cannot help it because his name is part of this piece due to the fact, he is the loudest person in the Philippine media who tried to defend the PPV shares that Murad Muhammad kept in his own pocket from Manny Pacquiao.
I am not out to crucify Ronnie in this article and to make it fair, I always admire his passion to bring sports programs right into our living rooms. As a person who has an undying love for sports, I owe a lot to Mr. Nathanielsz. I also would not demean on his true citizenship or his true heart for the Philippines because it is unfair towards a sports writer who brought lots of media coverage to the Filipino sports fans.
However, I question his continuous defense on Murad Muhammad.
Ronnie Nathanielsz’s retaliation to the fans especially at www.mannypacquiao.ph , to Freddie Roach and Winchell Campos is just natural, especially when his integrity is being put on the line.
However, from the view of this writer, no matter how you try to defend yourself, you have to maintain reservations and importance to what is morally acceptable to the society.
We can discuss many controversial issues on Manny Pacquiao, but the biggest of which is the PPV issue that I want to discuss in this article.
To be fair, let me dissect one by one the enumerated explanation of Ronnie, which is obviously benefiting Promoter Murad Muhammad.
1. An addendum of the contract that was made last year (2004) stated a fight with Marquez would pay Pacquiao $900,000, and then later against Morales he would receive $1.75 million. It is clear no PPV shares or coverage was involved in the contract, thus, it is natural Manny will not get anything out of the PPV shares.
2. In spite of the fact that Pacquiao signed for a Morales fight, he has to hurdle first Marquez, which should serve as a qualifier for him before earning a match with Morales. With the Morales fight still there was a gray area at that time, the PPV fight could never be disclosed in the contract.
3. Mark Taffet, head of the HBO PPV business said they only deal with Bob Arum and Top Rank and not with Murad Muhammad and they have no knowledge at all about Pacquiao having a share on the PPV revenue.
4. In relation to number 3, HBO beamed Pacquiao as not yet a PPV material since his last fight with Marquez failed to reach the rating of 5.0, which HBO made as a benchmark for a fighter to be showcase on PPV.
Here is my take on those items benefiting Murad Muhammad.
For number 1 – It is a legitimate contract indeed, but does this mean Murad never knew a fight with Morales would be a PPV fight? Considering Murad is an experienced promoter! Besides, the Pac-Morales fight became official with still two months prior to fight day that they could still amend the contract anytime they want just adding the PPV details!
For number 2 – If the Marquez fight was to serve as a qualifier, why then did Murad require Pacquiao to sign for the Morales fight? With the way Murad forced Pacquiao to sign to fight Morales is simply to allow him to silently get away with the PPV shares because once Pacquiao beat Marquez and Murad failed to let Pacquiao sign prior to the Marquez fight, the PPV environment against Morales would resurface and he would have no escape, but to involve the PPV details in the new contract.
For number 3 – I really believe HBO was only dealing with Top Rank on the PPV and would have nothing to do with Pacquiao getting any PPV shares. However, why did Murad manage to get 40% of the PPV? If he is not directly with HBO, his source of business is with Arum. With Muhammad having knowledge of the PPV negotiations, it is his responsibility to inform Pacquiao and give what is due to his fighter.
For number 4 – Actually, I was smiling sarcastically at #3 explanation, but I am now laughing on my number explanation. Does this mean that HBO is telling me they don’t know their business? No matter if Pacquiao’s match with Marquez failed to reach the 5.0 requirement of HBO, the Morales-Pacquiao match would surely be a PPV hit! Morales fought Carlos Hernandez on PPV coverage. And you can’t tell me Hernandez is more popular than Pacquiao!
My general take here is that no matter if the contract was made and signed in 2004 that created gray areas, it is still the job of the promoter to lay down what is best for his fighter. It is quite clear to me that the PPV business was kept from Manny Pacquiao. I still give the benefit of the doubt to Ronnie on advising Pacquiao what is best for him, but giving him the benefit of the doubt means Murad Muhammad also screwed him.
I commend Murad for getting the best money fight for Pacquiao, but giving the best fight is no reason at all to take more than your fighter is supposed to get. Protecting your investment is natural, but protecting it more than your fair share and at the expense of the fighter who risked his life in the ring is more brutal than pitting Jorge Arce against Mike Tyson in the ring.
As Quinito Henson said, it is all about morality not legality.
