Earlier today news broke that mediator Daniel Weinstein had ruled in favor of Top Rank regarding the dispute over the contractual status of Bantamweight star Nonito Donaire, who recently attempted to jump ship to Top Rank rivals Golden Boy.
Donaire’s existing contract with Top Rank was originally due to have ended by now.
Top Rank boss Bob Arum claimed that the expiration date was extended due to a clause pertaining to periods of inactivity relating to injuries.
Donaire and Golden Boy countered by alleging breach of contract stating that the Top Rank contract guaranteed three fights per year for Donaire which he did not receive.
On the face of things the former would seem to preclude the latter. Top Rank will claim that Donaire’s three fights per year were not delivered due to the same injuries that extended his contract.
The ruling today therefore is perhaps only the opening round of yet another lengthy legal battle between the two promotional giants, who have had to settle their differences in the courts several times over the last few years.
Golden Boy lawyers no doubt read Donaire’s existing contract with Top Rank and decided to sign him anyway, knowing that Arum would immediately challenge it. This suggests that they predicted today’s outcome and have had an alternate plan in place from the start.
Photos: Amir Khan, Manny Pacquiao training in Baguio City
Top Rank have landed the first blow, but Golden Boy won’t go down as easily.
For today though, the ruling is bound to have put a smile on the face of ever wily Top Rank boss Bob Arum, who also came out on top the last time Golden Boy signed a fighter still under contract with him, namely Manny Pacquiao.
On that occasion Top Rank retained promotional rights while Golden Boy gained a percentage of Pacquiao’s future earnings.
An ongoing lawsuit in which Golden Boy have accused Top Rank of falsifying information on income generated in several of Pacquiao’s recent fights could change that arrangement in the coming months.
This time around the Oscar De La Hoya owned outfit haven’t initially been so lucky, and for now will likely either have to sit and wait until Donaire’s contract with Top Rank expires, next year at the earliest, or to appeal the ruling of the mediator.
For Nonito Donaire himself this means one of two things.
The first and most likely outcome of the ruling is that Donaire’s next fight will be promoted by Top Rank, whether or not he goes ahead with his planned next fight date in May.
It is unclear at this point whether either Arum or Donaire are open to working together again.
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From a business standpoint retaining the services of Donaire certainly makes sense for Top Rank, who have several possibilities for big money fights involving the mercurial Fil-Am.
Further down the road if marketed correctly, Donaire could also potentially be the natural successor to pound for pound king and Filipino mega star Manny Pacquiao, who will likely retire in the next couple of years.
The alternative for Donaire is that he could be forced to sit out the remainder of his contract with Top Rank, essentially staying on the shelf for the at least a year and possibly longer depending on what legal action takes place between Top Rank and Golden Boy.
So for Donaire, working with Top Rank for the time being seems to make the most sense, even if he still intends to fight under the Golden Boy banner as soon as he is able to.
Sanjit Dahal, Pitt: “Arum might make Donaire sit out just to spite him and ruin his momentum for when he does leave”
Al Buaya, Philly: “Donaire gets everything he wanted, more attention, more money and when he is free the two biggest promoters fighting over him”
