LOS ANGELES ? Golden Boy, Top Rank or free agency?
Manny Pacquiao, according to someone close to him, will be much better off staying as a free agent rather than tie himself up with multi-fight or long-term contracts with any other promoter.
“It?s the most logical thing to do ? stay as a free agent,” said a very reliable source from within the camp of Pacquiao, now at the center of a tug-of-war between Golden Boy and Top Rank.
Golden Boy, owned by boxing superstar Oscar dela Hoya, and Top Rank, owned by legendary boxing promoter Bob Arum, are contesting the rights over the 27-year-old Filipino.
“But why would Pacquiao tie himself up with a seven-fight contract with Golden Boy or a four-year deal with Top Rank?” the source, who requested anonymity, said.
“That?s the best thing to do (stay as a free agent). That?s the best way to get the best fights and the biggest purse. Logically, staying on as a free agent is the best thing to do,” he said.
“He?s Manny Pacquiao. He doesn?t really need any other promoter than himself. The fights will come to him. Then he only has to choose which one is better,” the source added.
Many consider Pacquiao as the most exciting fighter today, and probably the best boxer pound for pound. No wonder almost everybody is after his fancy signature.
Last September, it seemed that Golden Boy had beaten Top Rank to the draw when Dela Hoya announced that he had signed Pacquiao to a seven-fight contract.
Dela Hoya said Pacquiao signed the contract when they met over late dinner in Los Angeles, barely a few hours after the left-handed slugger got off a 12-hour flight from Manila.
Pacquiao reportedly received $500,000 upon signing the contract, which should give Golden Boy the right to promote Pacquiao?s next seven fights in probably a span of three years.
But Arum protested, saying that Pacquiao, under the Grand Finale fight contract, is prohibited from signing up with any other promoter until after his Nov. 18 bout with Erik Morales.
Then there was an impasse as Pacquiao entered the crucial stages of his training for the Morales fight. He won the bout, knocking out the Mexican in less than three rounds in Las Vegas.
During the post-fight press conference, Arum shocked the media when he announced that Pacquiao and MP Promoptions have signed a four-year contract with Top Rank.
Arum said Pacquiao has renounced the seven-fight contract he signed with Golden Boy, and that the Filipino had returned the $500,000 together with all the paper work.
Golden Boy reportedly shipped them back to Pacquiao.
When Pacquiao formed his own MP Promotions early this year, he said he would promote his own fights starting next year, and that he doesn?t need the services of any other promoter than himself.
Pacquiao hooking up with Top Rank, after he had signed a deal with Golden Boy, will surely invite probably a string of lawsuits from Dela Hoya, according to Shelly Finkel, Pacquiao?s manager.
“He doesn?t need any of these. He should be on top of the world right now,” said Finkel.
