Manny Pacquiao had conflicted feelings on Friday, three days after the settlement of a federal court case that made him a free agent. The former world champion had sued promoter Murad Muhammad and former manager Rod Nazario, alleging fraud.
Shortly after the case went to the jury in New York, a settlement was reached that frees Pacquiao from any obligation to either Muhammad or Nazario.
“I’m very happy, but very sad, too,” said Pacquiao, a Filipino who speaks little English. “I’m sad because somebody I trusted stole my money. But I’m happy because now I can just think of boxing.”
Testimony in the case alleged that Nazario conspired with Muhammad to steal money from Pacquiao’s purses and failed to pay his taxes.
According to the testimony, Muhammad approached Pacquiao about a 2003 fight with Marco Antonio Barrera, which Pacquiao went on to win, and told Pacquiao his purse would be $1 million. Of that, Muhammad was supposed to get $250,000.
But, testimony indicated that Nazario came to Pacquiao two days after that pact and told him there wasn’t as much money available as had been thought. Nazario convinced Pacquiao to sign for a purse of $350,000, though the license fee HBO was paying Pacquiao’s side remained $1 million.
That meant that Muhammad and Nazario were getting $650,000 while Pacquiao was getting $350,000. However, there were further dips into Pacquiao’s end, according to testimony.
Another manager, Marty Elorde, took 30 percent off the top of Pacquiao’s $350,000, while Nazario then took the 10 percent that his contract said he was owed. Pacquiao, according to the testimony, wasn’t aware Nazario had already gotten a share of the $650,000.
That left Pacquiao a pre-tax net of $210,000, out of which he had to pay trainer Freddie Roach and his other cornermen.
“This isn’t fair,” Pacquiao said.
One of Pacquiao’s new manager, Las Vegas native Nick Khan, said he spoke to five of the eight jurors after the settlement. Khan said the jurors told him that they had decided within 30 minutes that they would side with Pacquiao and had just begun to work on determining damages when the settlement was reached.
Pacquiao said he didn’t want to use the court case as an excuse for his March 19 loss to Erik Morales, but admitted he was confused and distracted when he learned of the problems that week.
In addition, he got little sleep, as Nazario kept bringing Filipino luminaries to Pacquiao’s room to meet him. Khan said Pacquiao’s contract for the Morales fight called for him to get a two-bedroom suite at the MGM Grand plus six other rooms. However, Khan said Muhammad checked into the two-bedroom suite. Pacquiao stayed in a room with one king bed with at least three other people at all times.
Pacquiao will fight on Sept. 10. He hopes for a December rematch with Morales.
• ‘BABY FACE’ ON FIRE — Ahmed Kaddour, better known as “Baby Face” from the since-canceled NBC reality series, “The Contender,” will fight for the first time since losing twice on the show when he fights an eight-rounder against an opponent to be named on July 22 in Santa Ynez, Calif., on Showtime.
Kaddour (18-2, 9 KOs) remains colorful and outspoken and said he’s excited to be fighting again. He hasn’t fought since his last fight on “The Contender” on Sept. 1.
Kaddour said he felt used by “The Contender,” said he wants nothing to do with Hollywood and ripped Las Vegan Ishe Smith, with whom he developed a fierce rivalry on the show.
“I might have lost, but it made me wake up to the light and see what Hollywood is all about,” Kaddour said. “It’s all bull. It’s nothing but fake. So many different people took advantage of me, or they tried to. They promised me this and promised me that, but it was all bull. I got to know Sly (Stallone) and Sugar Ray Leonard, but so what? They’re not paying my bills.
“There are a lot of rude and mean people in Los Angeles. I don’t want to be there again any more, not unless I have to.”
Kaddour said the show was edited poorly and didn’t portray the fights accurately. In addition, he said producers intentionally tried to make him look like a bad guy, even though he charged that Smith initiated much of the controversy between the two.
He was clear that he hasn’t forgiven Smith, who won a unanimous five-round decision over him.
“If I saw him on the street today, I’d kill him,” Kaddour said. “Well, I wouldn’t kill him, because I wouldn’t want to waste my time. But I’d rip his lungs out. I hate the guy. He knows what I’d do to him. That’s why he won’t come near me.”
• BACK IN JANUARY — Former world champion Arturo Gatti, who was stopped after six rounds by Floyd Mayweather on June 25, will return to boxing in January.
Carl Moretti of Main Events, Gatti’s promoter, said Gatti will fight as a welterweight.
Moretti said the loss to Mayweather shouldn’t hurt Gatti’s appeal.
“Arturo makes great fights against just about everyone, but this guy was just too good,” Moretti said.
• MOSLEY NEXT? — Mayweather, meanwhile, will fight again on pay-per-view on Nov. 12. Attoney Judd Burstein confirmed that he has had preliminary discussions with Mayweather promoter Bob Arum about matching him with three-division former champion Shane Mosley.
Mayweather has long sought a bout with Mosley and derided him as “easy work.”
• GET WELL– Shelly Finkel, one of the sport’s most prominent managers, underwent prostate cancer surgery in New York on Thursday.
Finkel said he’s feeling better and that doctors believe they got all the cancer.
“I’m pleased, because everything sounds positive,” Finkel said.
• MESSED UP HEAVIES — WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko will fight on Sept. 24, though the opponent is still up in the air. Finkel said that Russian Oleg Maskaev remains in the running to be the opponent, but there is not much support from the television networks for a Klitschko-Maskaev fight.
Klitschko was to have made his mandatory defense against Las Vegan Hasim Rahman on April 30, but injured a leg and postponed the fight until June 18. But then Klitschko injured his back and had to push the fight back until September.
Finkel said he told Rahman promoter Don King that Klitschko would be available to fight Rahman on Sept. 24, but King convinced the WBC to sanction Rahman against Monte Barrett for the interim title. That bout will be on Aug. 13 in Chicago.
Finkel said the Rahman-Barrett winner will be a future foe for Klitschko, who could stripped by the WBC for failing to make his mandatory defense in a timely manner.
