By Rick Reeno and Robert Morales
The news traveled fast on Wednesday. WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao made good on his promise to file a lawsuit against the Mayweathers [Floyd Jr, Floyd Sr and Roger], Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer. Pacquiao filed the lawsuit in Nevada federal court on December 30. He claims the named defendants made false and defamatory statements that accused him of taking performance enhancing drugs. Pacquiao retained Daniel Petrocelli of the Los Angeles-based law firm of O'Melveny & Myers LLP.
Petrocelli told BoxingScene.com that none of the named defendants had any evidence to back up their claims, and they knew the statements were false, but still made them to spite Pacquiao and tarnish his reputation. Petrocelli will pursue millions of dollars in damages on behalf of Pacquiao [$75,000 is the minimum amount that a plaintiff has to allege in order to initiate a suit in Nevada federal court].
"There is no basis for making these public statements and Manny Pacquiao has had an unblemished reputation," Petrocelli said to BoxingScene. "There is zero evidence that he has taken any performance enhancing drugs and we believe that people making those statements knew very well they were false."
"They had no right to try and destroy a reputation that has come through years and years of hard work. Manny Pacquiao is one of the hardest-working athletes of our time. He trains hard, he prepares hard, he is a national hero in the Philippines. His life extends beyond sports and there is no way he could sit by and let these false charges of cheating go unanswered."
