OSCAR de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions yesterday upped the ante as it offered Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao a much better deal for a March 17 showdown with Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera.
A day after Pacquiao announced he had chosen Bob Arum as his promoter, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, in an interview with Boxingtalk, said Arum has no right claiming he is the legal promoter of Pacquiao.
“We have read reports out of the Philippines that Bob Arum made an offer to Golden Boy Promotions for $2.5 million to provide the services of Marco Antonio Barrera for a fight with Manny Pacquiao on April 28 in Las Vegas,” Schaefer said.
“We are surprised by these actions since Top Rank doesn’t have options on either fighter. Golden Boy, on the other hand, has a valid promotional deal with Barrera and believes that, ultimately, as well with Pacquiao.”
Schaefer’s offer came amid reports that Pacquiao’s manager, Shelly Finkel, lambasted both Arum and the fighter after the press conference that was held at the Manila Hotel.
Schaefer said that, while they understand that both Pacquiao and Barrera want to do the rematch, Golden Boy doesn’t want to be a hindrance to that and “would be willing to stage this fight under a 50-50 deal.”
“We further agree to put the promotional profits attributable to the Pacquiao side of the deal into an escrow account until such time that the courts decide who the legal promoter of Pacquiao is,” Schaefer said.
These profits, he said, would be either distributed to either Golden Boy or Top Rank.
“It’s now up to Manny Pacquiao to accept this deal, which is, of course, substantially better than this fight going to purse-bid where Golden Boy would insist on the standard 75-25 split in favor of the champion, Marco Antonio Barrera,” Schaefer said.
“We have the date, March 17. We have the site, The MGM Grand in Las Vegas and we have the PPV, which we believe is substantially better than doing the fight a week before the De La Hoya-Mayweather showdown.”
