The amount is piddling but the targets of the lawsuit are incredibly wealthy.
I've learned Thursday that the World Boxing Council has sent word to Manny Pacquiao, who WBC leader Don Jose Sulaiman has lauded as "a modern day Henry Armstrong," that if sanctioning fees amounting to $80,000 are not paid within 48 hours the organization will file a lawsuit against the fighter and his promoter, Bob Arum (Top Rank Inc.).
"Ever since (Graciano) Rocchigiani won that $31 million federal lawsuit against the WBC in 1998 and the group nearly dissolved, it has been financially hardpressed," a source close to the situation told me. "The WBC cannot afford to let world title fight combatants ignore their sanctioning fees."It is said that a $50,000 fee is due the Mexico City-based Alphabet Soup group from the Dec. 6, 2008, TKO 8 Pacquiao victory over Oscar de la Hoya and the $30,000 is owed from the March 15, 2008, bout in which the Pinoy Idol notched a close, hotly-debated split decision over Juan Manuel Marquez.
Pacquiao, 32 and a sitting Congressman from Sarangani Province, has said he was unaware of the situation and would resolve it.
I've heard persistently that the confidential settlement between German boxer Rocchigiani, who was shamelessly stripped of the WBC light heavyweight crown he won against heavy favorite Michael Nunn, requires the group to pay him about $330,000 at the start of each calendar year.
The WBC said it was "a typographical error" when it listed Rocchigiani as its 175 pound champ and handed the belt back to popular American Roy Jones. Backtracking, the WBC claimed that Nunn and Rocchigiani had only fought for an interim title.
When the WBC went to bankruptcy court and threatened to dissolve, a settlement was reached inj 2003.
"We got up off the canvas only seconds from disappearing," Sulaiman said at the time.
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
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