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from the boxingscene.com front page
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Photo © Chris Cozzone/FightWireImages.com
WHEN hard-hitting radio talk show host and journalist, former US Golden Gloves champion Pedro Fernandez likened Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao to Mexico’s greatest fighter Julio Cesar Chavez, it was unfortunately not in relation to their exploits in the ring. Fernandez drew the parallel because of both fighters’ propensity to sign anything placed in front of them, including contracts.
Right now, Pacquiao is caught in the middle of a legal battle between Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and Bob Arum’s Top Rank. Nobody, including Pacquiao, is dis*****g the fact that he first signed a seven-fight deal with De la Hoya in mid-September and received a total of $350,000 as a signing bonus and $150,000 as an advance. Some two months later, Arum claimed Pacquiao and his MP Promotions signed a four-year deal with Top Rank and although Arum didn’t indicate how much he gave Pacquiao as a signing bonus, it was believed to be substantially more than what he got from De la Hoya.
The intriguing question is how in heaven’s name did Pacquiao’s lawyer Franklin Gacal allow the fighter to sign both contracts when he should have known, as any two-bit lawyer would, that the law doesn’t allow it. There is no way Pacquiao could return the money he received from De la Hoya and rescind the contract and then go over to Arum and pocket the bigger bucks. If this kind of wheeling and dealing is allowed, there will be chaos and contracts would never be binding.
If Gacal had advised Pacquiao properly and he still didn’t follow, then the lawyer obviously isn’t being listened to and delicadeza would dictate that he quit. On the other hand, if he posed no objections or didn’t realize the legal implications of signing two contracts, then he failed miserably to give Pacquiao the proper advice and should be fired. It reminds us of the time Pacquiao signed a three-fight TV contract with ABS-CBN when Solar Sports had the rights and his manager Shelly Finkel sued for violation of his management contract in terms of the right to negotiate deals, but later withdrew the suit in seeming sympathy for Pacquiao who was obviously given very poor advice.
While he’s about it, Pacquiao should also take a good, hard look at the people around him, who continue to exploit his kindness and generosity and milk him for all he’s worth. The 20 percenters, who continue to cheapen his image and sell him like an ordinary commodity in the marketplace, are not doing him any good and while millions adore Pacquiao because of his incredible exploits in the ring, it won’t last forever.
The other day we were told that some of the so-called advisers of Pacquiao were attempting to peddle his birthday celebration to the two biggest networks—ABS-CBN and GMA. The proposal was for the network, whichever comes up with the best deal, to stage a star-studded show in Pacquiao’s hometown of General Santos City at the network’s cost, pay Pacquiao a guaranteed fee and then split the profits from advertising revenues! In fairness to Pacquiao, one top network executive told us that when they checked with the fighter, he said no way. In short, it’s the people around him who are hurting his image and you’ve got to sympathize with Pacquiao.
Of course, when it comes to the issue of the promotional contracts, he should have known better. What is obvious is that Pacquiao failed to consult his management team headed by the astute Finkel and top notch lawyers Nick Kahn and Keith Davidson before signing the Golden Boy and Top Rank deals which puzzles us since the management team is supposed to handle these things for him.
Trouble is, there are a couple of individuals who have wormed their way into Pacquiao’s inner circle and who want Finkel et al. kept out so they could hopefully make some money on the side by getting Pacquiao to go along with what they propose. Right now, we believe that the only person who could probably extricate Pacquiao from the contractual quagmire he has gotten himself into is Finkel. But then, that would obviously mean—and rightfully so—extending Finkel’s management contract.
Obviously, some of the individuals who got Pacquiao into this mess don’t want that to happen because they are salivating over the prospect of sharing in the 20 percent of Finkel’s take from Pacquiao’s purse when Finkel’s contract ends on Jan. 31. How sad it is that a national treasure like Pacquiao is being looted by some people around him. And they are not even Murad Muhammad, but Pacquiao’s own countrymen!
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Photo © Chris Cozzone/FightWireImages.com
WHEN hard-hitting radio talk show host and journalist, former US Golden Gloves champion Pedro Fernandez likened Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao to Mexico’s greatest fighter Julio Cesar Chavez, it was unfortunately not in relation to their exploits in the ring. Fernandez drew the parallel because of both fighters’ propensity to sign anything placed in front of them, including contracts.
Right now, Pacquiao is caught in the middle of a legal battle between Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and Bob Arum’s Top Rank. Nobody, including Pacquiao, is dis*****g the fact that he first signed a seven-fight deal with De la Hoya in mid-September and received a total of $350,000 as a signing bonus and $150,000 as an advance. Some two months later, Arum claimed Pacquiao and his MP Promotions signed a four-year deal with Top Rank and although Arum didn’t indicate how much he gave Pacquiao as a signing bonus, it was believed to be substantially more than what he got from De la Hoya.
The intriguing question is how in heaven’s name did Pacquiao’s lawyer Franklin Gacal allow the fighter to sign both contracts when he should have known, as any two-bit lawyer would, that the law doesn’t allow it. There is no way Pacquiao could return the money he received from De la Hoya and rescind the contract and then go over to Arum and pocket the bigger bucks. If this kind of wheeling and dealing is allowed, there will be chaos and contracts would never be binding.
If Gacal had advised Pacquiao properly and he still didn’t follow, then the lawyer obviously isn’t being listened to and delicadeza would dictate that he quit. On the other hand, if he posed no objections or didn’t realize the legal implications of signing two contracts, then he failed miserably to give Pacquiao the proper advice and should be fired. It reminds us of the time Pacquiao signed a three-fight TV contract with ABS-CBN when Solar Sports had the rights and his manager Shelly Finkel sued for violation of his management contract in terms of the right to negotiate deals, but later withdrew the suit in seeming sympathy for Pacquiao who was obviously given very poor advice.
While he’s about it, Pacquiao should also take a good, hard look at the people around him, who continue to exploit his kindness and generosity and milk him for all he’s worth. The 20 percenters, who continue to cheapen his image and sell him like an ordinary commodity in the marketplace, are not doing him any good and while millions adore Pacquiao because of his incredible exploits in the ring, it won’t last forever.
The other day we were told that some of the so-called advisers of Pacquiao were attempting to peddle his birthday celebration to the two biggest networks—ABS-CBN and GMA. The proposal was for the network, whichever comes up with the best deal, to stage a star-studded show in Pacquiao’s hometown of General Santos City at the network’s cost, pay Pacquiao a guaranteed fee and then split the profits from advertising revenues! In fairness to Pacquiao, one top network executive told us that when they checked with the fighter, he said no way. In short, it’s the people around him who are hurting his image and you’ve got to sympathize with Pacquiao.
Of course, when it comes to the issue of the promotional contracts, he should have known better. What is obvious is that Pacquiao failed to consult his management team headed by the astute Finkel and top notch lawyers Nick Kahn and Keith Davidson before signing the Golden Boy and Top Rank deals which puzzles us since the management team is supposed to handle these things for him.
Trouble is, there are a couple of individuals who have wormed their way into Pacquiao’s inner circle and who want Finkel et al. kept out so they could hopefully make some money on the side by getting Pacquiao to go along with what they propose. Right now, we believe that the only person who could probably extricate Pacquiao from the contractual quagmire he has gotten himself into is Finkel. But then, that would obviously mean—and rightfully so—extending Finkel’s management contract.
Obviously, some of the individuals who got Pacquiao into this mess don’t want that to happen because they are salivating over the prospect of sharing in the 20 percent of Finkel’s take from Pacquiao’s purse when Finkel’s contract ends on Jan. 31. How sad it is that a national treasure like Pacquiao is being looted by some people around him. And they are not even Murad Muhammad, but Pacquiao’s own countrymen!