The wheels of justice has grinded exceedingly fast in favor of Filipino ring star Manny Pacquiao. This as in less than two weeks, the landmark $33 million suit filed by Pacquiao against his estranged American promoter Murad Muhammad of the New Jersey-based M&M Sports has ended without going to the jury after the two parties agreed on an out-of-court settlement yesterday.
The wheels of justice has grinded exceedingly fast in favor for Filipino ring star Manny Pacquiao.
Fightnews.com reported that this development releases Pacquiao from Muhammad’s so-called “air-tight” promotional grip, making the General Santos City-native bomber a free agent.
Murad has also agreed to cover Pacquiao’s court fees and dismiss a lawsuit he filed against Pacquiao’s new management team that include lawyer Keith Davidson, Shelly Finkel, Nicholas Khan and trainer Freddie Roach.
“This is a triumph for all of boxing,” said Pacquiao. “Win or lose, I said to myself, I had to fight for what is right and what is mine. Thank God, we won and now, I can concentrate only on boxing. There is truly justice in this world,” he added.
In boxing parlance, Pacquiao and his team scored a technical knockout win over Murad, who “quit on his stool” before the eight-man jury could come up with a verdict in the highly publicized court case the Filipino boxer filed last April in a New York federal court.
“Everybody is happy. Murad Muhammad settled with Manny and gave him back his freedom. He also settled for an undisclosed amount to cover court fees,” said Pacquiao’s lead lawyer Judd Burstein, who along with Pacquiao’s lawyer-manager Keith Davidson, has sealed any chance for Murad to get away with the pay-per-view proceeds from Pacquiao’s last fight with Erik Morales, among others.
Pacquiao thanked God, his ever supportive family, lawyers and proponents of the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, which has been crafted to protect boxers from unscrupulous boxing managers and promoters.
Sponsored by Sen. John McCain, the Muhammad Ali Act mandates full transparency in business transactions between boxers and managers/promoters, a thing Murad failed to comply with since he inked a promotional pact with Pacquiao in 2001.
Pacquiao even accused Murad of pilfering huge sum of his purse money in his US fights and depriving him of other potential money-making ventures, the most recent was his $3 million share in Pay-Per-View sales in his epic battle against Erik Morales, which Murad claimed for himself.
Pacquiao, on the other hand, extolled the quick and speedy manner by which Judge Loretta Preska of the Southern District Court of New York presided over the case.
Preska ordered for an expedited jury trial starting on June 20 and the select eight-man jury was expected to hand out a verdict before the July 4. Pacquiao arrived in New York last June 13 for the pre-trial deposition and was amazed at how fast the case was settled.
“This is very, very good. We are happy this is behind us. We told Manny that we’re gonna get him out of this and we did. I guess, we go from there,” said Finkel, who is now arranging for a September fight date for Pacquiao against a soon-to-be-named opponent.
