MANNY PACQUIAO and Murad Muhammad on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) agreed to settle out of court, ending the hearings in US Federal Court in New York and freeing the Filipino fighter from the rest of his contract with the American promoter.
Pacquiao agreed to drop his $33-million (P1.78-billion) suit against Murad, who, in turn, will also withdraw his counter?suit against the boxer’s new management team led by Shelly Finkel on top of paying for the litigation costs.
But the other details of the out-of-court settlement of the case, filed by Pacquiao’s lawyers at the Southern District Court of New York presided over by Judge Loretta Preska, were not disclosed.
“This [outcome] is a triumph for all of boxing,” said Pacquiao, according to an Internet report quoting the popular Filipino boxer, who was in New York to testify in the jury trial that began on June 20.
“The case was settled amicably. I decided [there was] no need of fighting. Manny will go his way, we [former Pacquiao business manager Rod Nazario and Murad] will go ours,” said the American ring impresario in a press statement.
“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,” Pacquiao’s lead lawyer, Judd Burstein, said.
“We will go on with our lives. We will find another Pacquiao or even better. I will continue to build another Pac?quiao, continue to help Filipino boxers and all Asian boxers if they want my help,” said Muhammad, who still had two fights remaining in his contract with Manny.
“I wish Manny all the luck. I feel he should go on to be as successful as he can and represent the Philippines with honor. May God be with him,” he added.
With wife Jinkee reportedly by his side, Pacquiao lauded the manner by which Judge Preska presided over the case.
“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,” Pacquiao said.
Pacquiao, with Jinkee and interpreter-friend Joseph Ramos and wife Joanna in tow, flew back to his US base in California once the outcome was clear.
On the other hand, Nazario said Murad informed him in an overseas call early Wednesday morning of the settlement.
“Murad simply told me that he would go his way and Manny would go his way. Other than that, he didn’t say anything more,” said Nazario in a telephone interview.
“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 reportedly arranging for a September fight date for Pacquiao against a soon-to-be-named opponent.
According to the report, Pacquiao learned of “sweetheart deals” that Murad and Nazario had, which drastically cut the PacMan’s ring earnings.
But Nazario said that the only sweetheart deal he had with Murad “was negotiating for the best purse for Manny,” noting that the promoter wanted to pay his former ward only $100,000 against Marco Antonio Barrera “but I got it raised to $300,000.”
As for allegations that Murad and he failed to remit the taxes on Pacquiao’s previous purses, Nazario replied: “If we did not, the US Internal Revenue Service would have made an assessment. But where is it?”
The lawsuit against M&M Sports Inc. and Murad Muhammad, filed on April 27, alleged the promoters transferred more than 30 percent of Pacquiao’s purses to a shell company, controlled by Nazario and his son, Roberto “Boying” Nazario, on the basis his American taxes would be paid from there.
But the taxes were never paid, the lawsuit said, leaving Pacquiao with huge bills for back taxes, penalties and interest. The lawsuit also alleged the arrangement meant his business managers agreed to purses that were below market, since they could make more from the money they set aside than they would from the 10-percent fee on properly negotiated purses.
