CHANCES are, it takes a lot to make Manny Pacquiao angry.
The perennially upbeat Filipino, a world champion in seven different weight classes, has for years done everything with a smile: stroll to the ring, punch opponents, avoid punches, get punched, win, lose and draw. But now, according to a post on social media, Manny Pacquiao, boxing’s great smiler, is really, really unhappy.
It has nothing to with boxing, of course. Nothing in the ring could ever get Pac-Man down. Instead, it seemingly has everything to do with not receiving payment (specifically, payment for his July 15 fight against Lucas Matthysse) on time.
In an Instagram swipe at promoters Top Rank, he wrote: “Congratulations and good luck to Top Rank Boxing and ESPN on your 7-year partnership agreement. I know both of you have been very busy finalizing the deal. However, I have not received the US rights payment for my July 15 fight against Lucas Matthysse that was broadcast on ESPN Plus. Therefore, I am initiating legal proceedings against Top Rank and all other parties based on the non-payment and attempt to restrict my future rights. Thank you.”
https://twitter.com/mannypacquiao/status/1039137337605640193
Admittedly, this would have been a newsworthy Instagram post if published off the cuff, ill-advisedly, without thought, and with bad punctuation and grammar. But the timing and tone of it, and the inkling we have that Pacquiao has been instructed to “initiate legal proceedings”, makes it all the more fascinating and, indeed, potentially all the more damaging for Top Rank.
Though a regrettable part of the sport, many boxers don’t get paid on time, and often the ones who do won’t get what they’d been promised. Yet it’s rare, unheard of even, for a star of the sport, someone bankrolling events and broadcasts on his name alone, to go without payment, kick up a fuss and, moreover, do so in the public domain.
Because of this, it’s probably worth keeping an eye on how this one develops. It could get tasty.
The October 5 heavyweight little-and-large battle between David Price and Sean ‘Big Sexy’ Turner is off, according to the Liverpool Echo, Price’s local paper.
Turner’s withdrawal marks the second time a Price fight has been scrapped, following an ill-fated assignment on July 27, and his team will now be searching for a replacement opponent to keep the October 5 date in place.
The Liverpool card, billed ‘Raise The Titanic’, is topped by super-bantamweight Tyrone McCullagh battling Josh Kennedy for the vacant WBO European title, but the presence of a returning Price, in what will be his first fight since losing against Alexander Povetkin in March, is obviously a huge selling point.
It’s important, therefore, that MTK Global, the event’s promoter, find a new opponent for the six-foot-eight Scouser – a decent one, ideally – and kickstart this latest comeback before it’s too late.
