IT?S final. Top Rank Promotions will be Manny Pacquiao?s promoter for the next four years.
The 28-year-old Filipino boxing icon announced Thursday that finality of the contract he signed with Bob Arum in Las Vegas, Nevada, after stopping Mexico?s Eric Morales in the third round of their ?Grand Finale? showdown.
?I am here to announce that Top Rank Promotions is my official promoter,? said Pacquiao in a press conference also attended by Arum at the Champagne Room of the Manila Hotel.
Arum said that the immediate plan right now is to stage the anticipated blockbuster rematch between Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera for the World Boxing Council super featherweight title in April next year also in Las Vegas.
The announcement came at the height of the legal battle between Arum?s TRP and Oscar De La Hoya?s Golden Boy Promotions which the General Santos city-born southpaw signed a controversial seven-fight deal this October.
Arum said that the decisions of the legal battle won?t affect the People?s Champion?s quest for a world crown.
?We have agreed that whatever the decision of the court in Las Vegas, we will pay all the damages and Pacquiao will have no obligations whatsoever,? said Arum.
Pacquiao said that he decided to stick with Top Rank because of a better offer including the plan of making him a boxing world superstar similar to the status of Floyd Mayweather and De La Hoya himself.
?We will make Pacquiao a world-wide superstar. He is a great fighter with great talent and we will show him to the world,? added Arum.
A reliable source told Sports Times that Arum gave Pacquiao a lucrative signing bonus worth $1 million, which was doubled of the amount he reportedly the Filipino boxer received from De La Hoya.
Arum said that they will be offering Barrera $2.5 million guaranteed for the April fight while Pacquio will be receiving his biggest paycheck of $5 million.
Pacquiao confirmed the report that he already terminated the services of Shelly Finkel as his manager since August this year and added, ?My manage right now is my wife, Jinkee.?
?For a class A fighter like Pacquiao, he doesn?t need a manager,? said Arum.
