In what seems to be a huge victory for Team Pacquiao, New York federal judge Loretta Preska has ordered for a speedy trial of the US$33 million lawsuit filed by Filipino ring star Manny Pacquiao against his estranged promoter Murad Muhammad of the New Jersey-based M & M Sports starting on June 20. Mannypacquiao.ph reported the news was relayed by Judd Burstein and boxing manager Keith Davidson of California, Pacquiao’s lawyers in the case, where the General Santos City-native fighter is seeking $13 million on five claims of relief and $20 million in punitive damages.
“This is a big victory for the (Pacquiao) team,” said Los Angeles-based lawyer-boxing manager Nicholas Khan, after getting news from New York of the expedited jury trial. “A protracted and drawn-out court battle is the least thing we wanted.”
The New York judge seeks to come up with a judgment in a whirlwind period of only two weeks.
The Manhattan-based Burstein, Pacquiao’s lead counsel, is elated by this latest development, saying that they were really pushing for the speedy resolution of the case.
“They made a motion for a preliminary injunction which barred Manny from fighting essentially over the next two years until they got ready to go to trial,” Burstein stated in a report by Fightnews.com.
“We cross moved that they shouldn’t get an injunction at all, but in the alternative we wanted a trial immediately…..The thing that was most important to us was unequivocally getting a quick resolution. Manny’s contractual status will be resolved by the end of June now.”
Pacquiao and Murad’s relationship turned sour after the Filipino boxer openly accused Murad of short-changing him on his ring earnings and other potential money-making ventures in the United States.
Pacquiao also wants to recover his $3 million share in pay-per-view earnings during his epic March 19 showdown against Mexican Erick Morales, which Murad claimed for himself. Morales tamed the lion-hearted Pacquiao in that classic 12-round contest at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
