Letter: WBC Threatens Pacquiao and Arum With Lawsuit

By Michael Marley

I can't say that Don Jose Sulaiman, WBC President for Life, lied to me in his email Thursday night.

But I can say that Sulaiman, who I genuinely respect, did not tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in his response to my exclusive report, from ealier this week, that he had threatened to sue Manny Pacquiao and Bob Arum for $80,000 in sanctioning fees that are due and owing from Pacman bouts in 2008 against Oscar de la Hoya ($50,000) and Juan Manuel Marquez ($30,000).

"Your column sent to me by a friend is incorrect. The WBC is not suing Manny Pacquiao, nor is it suing Bob Arum."

Those were the words used by Sulaiman in his swift reponse to my widely-circulated report.

I guess Sulaiman was parsing his words carefully because, in a letter written on official WBC stationery dated Jan. 28, he did inform Pacquiao that chasing this money for three years made him "feel like a beggar."

Sulaiman demanded a bank wire be sent to the Alphabet Soup group at a Mexican bank by Saturday, just as I duly reported, or litigation against the Pinoy Idol and Arum's Top Rank would follow.

"It will be your decision if you would prefer to resolve the matter legally," Sulaiman's letter said, before he closed it "respectuflly and cordially."

Earlier in the missive, Sulaiman said:

"We prefer an amicable solution as a show of mutual high esteem than having to take a case to a court of law."

If that is not a threat of a lawsuit, I don't know what is.

>>>>>>Click Here To Read The WBC's Letter Page 1, Read Page 2<<<<<<