RAY OF HOPE FOR PACQUIAO VS MAYWEATHER
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 28 Sep 2012
MANILA (PNA) -- The mega-fight between the world?s finest pound-for-pound fighters Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. the entire boxing world has long been craving may yet be realized soon.
That is if the reported settlement between the two camps on a defamation suit filed by the Filipino ring hero against the undefeated American welterweight, his father Floyd Sr. and Uncle Roger, has, indeed been reached.
"The matter has been resolved," Malcolm LaVergne, a lawyer representing Floyd Sr., was quoted as saying Tuesday following the filing of a supposed pre-trial agreement in U.S. Court in Las Vegas.
"Any alleged terms of the resolution would be strictly confidential, quipped LaVergne, adding, ?Floyd Mayweather Sr. is very happy that this lengthy case has finally come to a conclusion."
Pacquiao, who had just returned from the three-city media tour to promote his coming December 8 fight against Juan Manuel Marquez, could not be reached for comment as well as his promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank.
Arum?s spokesperson Lee Samuels said Top Rank was not involved in the defamation case, filed by Pacquiao in December 2009 seeking unspecified damages based on allegations that Floyd Jr. defamed him by suggesting he used performance-enhancing substances, which the Filipino vehemently denied.
Pacquiao?s Canadian business adviser Michael Koncz, in an interview with boxing writer Lem Satterfield, said due to ?strict confidentiality? gag order as condition of the agreement, questions regarding the matter could be referred to the eight-division fighter?s lawyers David Morroso and Dan Petrocelli of the Los Angeles-based O?Melveny and Myers law firm.
Neither counsels responded to the People?s Journals message asking for comment.
Freddie Roach, the fighting Congressman from Sarangani Province?s chief trainer, when contacted at his Wild Card Gym in Hollywood in Los Angeles, could only say, ?They didn?t say anything about me, so I don?t care. It?s? something I don?t want to get in the middle of. It?s between them.?
LaVergne, according to Ken Ritter of Bleacher Report, said documents filed under seal ask U.S. District Judge Larry R. Hicks to dismiss the lawsuit. Documents filed publicly said each side would bear its own attorney fees and costs.
In a statement released Tuesday night, the Mayweathers said they never claimed ?that Manny Pacquiao has used or is using any performance enhancing drugs, nor are they aware of any evidence that Manny Pacquiao has used performance enhancing drugs."
A week or so ago, a Judge Hicks issued a ruling ordering Floyd Jr. to pay Pacquiao about $114,000 in legal fees and costs for his refusal to undergo disposition proceedings and answer questioning under oath from Pacquiao's lawyers.
Hicks faulted Mayweather for failure to comply with a court order, but rejected an earlier motion of Pacquiao lawyers to render decision favoring their client by default.
This development is believed to have paved the way for what could be the richest confrontation between the ?Pacman? and the ?Money? in terms of gate receipts and pay-per-view buy Nevada State Athletic Commission chief Keith Kizer said he wasn't aware of any talks between the two camps about scheduling a fight yet, but ut Kizer added if such a fight materializes, it could set records for the highest purse, gate and number of cable television paid viewers.
A Mayweather-Pacquiao fight stands to surpass the Mayweather super welterweight fight against Oscar De La Hoya that drew 17,078 fans, who shelled out $18.4 million to watch it in May 7, 2007 it at the the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
"Based on my dealings with the boxing public and boxing insiders, the proposed Mayweather-Pacquiao fight has as much interest as any fight I can remember in the last 20 years," Kizer said. "I think this would be our first gate over $20 million."
Pacquiao, 33, who holds a 54-4 win-loss record with two draws in 60 fights, 38 of them via stoppage, is due to fight Marquez for the fourth time on Dec. 8 at the MGM Grand Garden.
Mayweather, 35, served two months of a three-month sentence in a Las Vegas jail on a domestic battery conviction and was named by Forbes magazine this summer as the highest-paid athlete in the world for 2011.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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