Ring Magazine featherweight champion Manny Pacquiao?s quibbling over the wording of an addendum to his mother contract with international promoter Murad Muhammad, relating to a scheduled Feb. 26 rematch with champion Juan Manuel Marquez and a planned July showdown with former World Boxing Council super featherweight champion Erik ?El Terrible? Morales, has placed the Marquez rematch in jeopardy.
A top official of HBO Sports, senior vice president Kery Davis as well as Muhammad, warned that HBO may give the date to someone else if Pacquiao doesn?t resolve the issue quickly.
In an exclusive interview with Viva Sports/Manila Standard at his home on Tuesday, Pacquiao said he declined to sign the addendum, which stated that he would be paid $900,000 for a rematch against Marquez ?or a bout against another credible opponent? because he feared he may wind up fighting an opponent not considered ?credible? and his purse would be reduced.
He claimed this happened when he was promised $1.5 million to fight Morales after his Nov. 15, 2003 victory over Marco Antonio Barrera but ended up fighting Marquez for $700,000. Pacquiao also insisted he wants to sign for one fight at a time and not a two-fight deal, which includes a showdown with Morales in July.
Credible opponent
Muhammad made it clear, in an overseas telephone conversation with Viva Sports/Manila Standard, that the words ?credible opponent? were inserted ?to ensure that in case Marquez is unable to fight on the scheduled date because of injury, illness or some other reason, it allows us to keep the date and find an opponent acceptable to HBO, which will guarantee that Pacquiao gets the same amount which is $900,000 even if he fights someone else.?
Muhammad explained the danger in removing the words ?credible opponent? is that should Marquez or Morales be unable to fight for whatever reason, then Pacquiao will ?lose the fight date and the chance of earning $900,000 in the case of Marquez and $1.75 million in the fight with Morales.?
He stressed that only HBO will decide on whether the substitute opponent is a credible opponent and acceptable to HBO, considering the money they are paying Pacquiao.
The no. 2 man at HBO Sports, Davis, confirmed what Muhammad said. Davis told Viva Sports/Manila Standard that Muhammad would ?lose the date? if Marquez or later Morales couldn?t fight and just any other opponent was chosen as replacement.
Davis indicated that the clause ?credible opponent? was for ?insurance, so you don?t lose the date? and the chance to fight someone else for the same purse. It was also disclosed that heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko?s handlers and the promoters of a rematch between Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson were both out to grab the Feb. 26 date and any further delays on the part of Pacquiao in agreeing to the provisions of the addendum could result in HBO giving the February fight date, which has long been set aside for the Pacquiao-Marquez rematch, to other interested parties.
Muhammad?s warning
Muhammad warned that should Pacquiao decline to sign for the two fights and insists on only signing up for Marquez, he would have to ?give back the July date? which means he would have to ?renegotiate Pacquiao?s next fight date which will be sometime after September.?
The American promoter also revealed that under the terms of the Exclusive Promotion Agreement signed by both Pacquiao and business manager Rod Nazario dated March 1, 2004, he had the rights for Pacquiao?s next four fights ? beginning with the clash with Marquez last May ? with a minimum guarantee of $500,000 per fight.
However, Muhammad said he was willing to pay Pacquiao $900,000 for the rematch with Marquez and $1.75 million for the battle with Morales which HBO officials themselves classified as being ?too much.?
?They don?t know the business?
It was pointed out that Top Rank, in a purse bid for the Bernard Hopkins-Howard Eastman title fight, had offered a mere $1.8 million, which meant that Hopkins, who holds four middleweight belts, the WBC, World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization, would be entitled to a purse of $1.35 million which Muhammad said was ?much lower than what I am offering Pacquiao for a fight with Morales where both fighters have no belts? even as he reminded people ?whispering to Pacquiao and feeding him false information because they don?t know the boxing business? that Hopkins, in his last fight against Oscar de la Hoya, received $8 million and now Arum is offering him $1.35 million.
Davis said that while Pacquiao may be a big draw in the Philippines, he was a disappointment in terms of HBO TV ratings and his last fight against Marquez ?rated only 4.5 percent,? which Davis disclosed was below the HBO standard of ?no less than 6 percent.?
He said fighters who ?fail to get the required ratings on HBO are scheduled on Boxing After Dark? which is regarded as a lower level boxing program where the total purse for both fighters is only some $500,000 to $600,000.
