I asked Ronnie to please explain why he is being blamed by just about everybody for Pacquiao’s failure to get a share from the pay-per-view revenue of the fight.
"They said it was you who strongly urged Manny to sign the contract with promoter Murad Muhammad which they said turned out to be full of loopholes, because no clause in the contract stipulates that Manny is entitled to a pay-per-view share. Pinahamak mo daw si Manny," I told Ronnie.
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"That’s crazy! Why would I do that to him when it is I who have been supporting him all these years," was Ronnie’s strong reply as he traced the paper trail to way back March 4, 2004 when Manny signed a mother contract with Murad for four fights. In each of the fight the Filipino champ was assured of a minimum purse of $500,000," Ronnie explained.
The first of the four, he said, was against Juan Manuel Marquez in May, 2004 in Las Vegas which ended in a draw. A rematch was scheduled the following September, but Manny had to back out because of a hand and leg injury which he incurred during training. Three months later, Manny faced Thai boxer Fahsan 3K Battery.
With only two more fights left in the mother contract, Murad decided to draw up an addendum to the original document, specifying details of the rematch against Marquez which had been reset for February 26 and the fight against Morales which was originally scheduled sometime in July of this year.
Pacquiao refused to sign the addendum.
Since it was stipulated in the new contract that Pacquiao will be fighting Marquez and Morales in the two fights "or another credible opponent in both cases, Ronnie said Manny hesitated to sign, fearing that he might be shortchanged by Murad, since he can always claim in the event of a replacement, that the opponent is not credible.
Ronnie admitted that he had urged Manny to sign the contract, for his own good.
"Otherwise he would’ve been sued and he would never again be able to fight in the US," he said.
Manny signed last January just before he left for the United States, saying that he was doing it because he trusted Ronnie’s wisdom implicitly.
While the purse for the fights against Marquez and Morales were raised to a minimum of $900,000 and $1.75 million, respectively, a projected pay-perview deal was not mentioned in either the mother contract or the addendum.
"That is an option for the promoter, a gamble he could take actually, since he can either win or lose with his investment," Ronnie said.
As you all know, the rematch against Marquez reset for February 26, 2005 again had to be cancelled because he was asking for a purse of $1.5 million, claiming that he had two championship belts as against Pacquiao who had none. Pacquiao was offered $900,000 for this rematch, Marquez a lower figure.
The promoters thought Marquez had priced himself out of he market.
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Ronnie said the pay-per view issue came to fore when Manny signed the contract with new manager Shelley Finkel who told him that he would be entitled to $4 million on the pay-per-view deal, probably an enticement for him to sign.
So now Manny is looking for the $4 million which turned out to be only a verbal promise made by Finkel, who could not live up to the commitment. Ronnie said Murad made about $15 million from the pay-per-view contract, and morally should give Manny a share although he is not legally bound to do it.
Manny intends to file a court case against Murad.
