RSSOscar Confirms Manny Signing
“Yes, we have signed Manny Pacquiao,” Golden Boy Promotions boss Oscar De La Hoya told ESPN.com from his home in Puerto Rico on Monday.
That pretty much confirms all of the reports that are floating around out there. Even though there are other fighters with Golden Boy Promotions who Pacquiao may eventually fight, De La Hoya reassures that this is a great decision…
“It was basically us out-thinking the competition,” De La Hoya said. “I had a goal and that goal was to sign Manny Pacquiao. We strategized and we figured it out and we were willing to do whatever it took to sign him.”
This whole ordeal is far from over however, especially with Bob Arum in the mix. If you don’t already know, Arum and Top Rank were heavily banking on being able to resign Pacquiao without a problem. Now that they have lost him, Arum is claiming that him signing with Golden Boy is a violation.
“If he signed with Golden Boy, it violates the contract we have with Manny for this fight,” Arum said. “I have a specific provision against it. It says you can’t sign until after this fight with any other promoter. It’s specific and says it clearly.”
“Golden Boy has torturously interfered with our contract. Under the specific language of the contract, they had to wait until after the fight was over to sign,” Arum said. “I’m not going to let it slide. What we do is up to the attorneys. I don’t like my contracts to be violated. Manny’s lawyer [Jeng Gacal] went through my contract with a fine-toothed comb. I negotiated with him and specifically this paragraph.”
The worst that could come out of this is Arum continuing to press the issue and De La Hoya having to agree to some kind of settlement, possibly in court. The bottom line - Pacquiao is with Golden Boy now and after the fight. Top Rank can go through whatever legal troubles they want, but at the end of the day, Pacquiao won’t be signing with them again…
Promoters • Bob Arum • Golden Boy Promotions • Top Rank • Manny Pacquiao • Oscar De La Hoya
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