We could have a promotional legal war brewing between Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao and his longtime promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank. Pacquiao seems to be stubbornly pushing forward with a potential showdown with Lucas Matthysse under his own MP Promotions banners.
Uh oh, folks. It is never good when a fighter gets tied up in a legal dispute with a promoter. Fighters, like pound for pound elite four division titleholder Mikey Garcia, have lost years to this battle time and time again. Even worse would be this happening late in a career when there is much less time left to be lost.
This might soon be the case with Manny Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KOs). The Filipino legend is on record with media in his native country by stating that he is definitively no longer under contract with Top Rank. His lawyer, Eldibrando Viernesto, has confirmed as much publicly as well. Apparently, Pacquiao is looking to march forward with his potential fight with power puncher Lucas Matthysse in Malaysia under his own MP Promotions alongside Matthysse’s promoter in Golden Boy.
The problem, of course, is that Top Rank does not agree. Bob Arum has also been in the record in the last few weeks stating unequivocally that Manny Pacquiao is still under contract with Top Rank. The legendary promoter has made it very clear that if the Lucas Matthysse fight were to happen, it would need to be under Top Rank banners. He does seem to be open to the fight, however, noting that he would put it on ESPN and that Pacquiao’s people are just waiting for the Malaysian money to come in to make it happen.
Hopefully this ends up being much ado about nothing. Though Pacquiao’s star has dimmed tremendously, he is still an important figure in the sport. He is also still a really good fighter. I’d hate for him to lose any of his little, precious time remaining in the sport to a legal battle with Top Rank.
