Manny Pacquiao’s long-time adviser Michael Koncz has reportedly left the Philippines last weekend with a signed copy of the fight contract between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez for their November 12 ring date at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nev. Koncz reportedly got a cold shoulder treatment from Pacquiao’s wife Jinkee who told Pacquiao’s adviser he is not welcome to board a plane she is riding. This was in contrast to the friendly treatment he got from Pacquiao’s lovely wife during their visit to the White House to meet with US President Barack Obama. The signing of the contract by Pacquiao has reportedly irked Vision Qwest, his newly appointed auditing and management firm. Earlier, the company cautioned Pacquiao from signing the contract after some questions were raised regarding his guaranteed purse. Apparently, Koncz got all the issues ironed out possibly on instructions from Top Rank’s big boss Bob Arum. Vision Qwest’s top people and Arum are reportedly not in talking terms. On the hiring of VisionQwest, Arum said, “They are nice guys. None of them do or can do what Michael Koncz does for Manny. What they do is something different,” Pacquiao has hired Vision Qwest to do an audit of his professional fees as boxer and endorser and to handle all accounting, personal and business tax, audits and examinations, as well as all contract reviews. In regards to service and product endorsements by Pacquiao, Top Rank’s owner Bob Arum has earlier hired Lucia McKelvey apparently on recommendation by Michael Koncz. An insider in Team Pacquiao said it is possible McKelvey has not secured new endorsement for Pacquiao other than the HP Computer commercial. “The deal was on the table already with William Morris when they were trying to get MP to sign. She did not earn that deal it was handed to her by default,” he added. He also debunked published reports that McKelvey has worked and secured endorsements for Tiger Woods. He said he does not believe she has ever met Tiger Woods, nor was she the one who ever really did the deal directly with him. From a number of published reports, it appears Michael Koncz, Lucia McKelvey and Top Rank’s Bob Arum have been cashing in on Pacquiao’s growing popularity in terms of product and service endorsements on top of his regular fights. Admittedly they have secured fights and endorsements which they share with Pacquiao but the question is?have they maximized Pacquiao’s income potential with his soaring global appeal and popularity? Meanwhile, VisionQwest has not dropped or cancelled its contract with Pacquiao contrary to reports that it is considering to pull out from the engagement.
