Dan Rafael of ESPN.com is reporting that Manny Pacquiao is planning to file a defamation lawsuit against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Floyd Mayweather Sr., and Golden Boy Promotions.
What began as an apparent simple disagreement between the camps of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. over how to handle drug testing for their megafight — tentatively scheduled for March 13 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas — has spiraled so out of control that the potential biggest money fight in boxing history was in serious jeopardy on Christmas Day.
Pacquiao, angered by accusations from the Mayweather camp that he uses performance-enhancing drugs, said he would file a defamation lawsuit against Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions.
“Enough is enough. These people, Mayweather Sr., [Mayweather] Jr. and Golden Boy Promotions, think it is a joke and a right to accuse someone wrongly of using steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs,” said Pacquiao, who denied that he has ever used any banned substance and who has passed all of his drug tests. “I have tried to just brush it off as a mere prefight ploy, but I think they have gone overboard.”
Payout Perspective:
Perhaps the skeptics were right, and this fight may never happen. It would be a shame.
Rafael goes on to mention that Arum is now planning a secondary fight against former junior welterweight titlist Paul Malignaggi for March 13th in the event that he cannot come to an agreement with the Mayweather camp in time. That fight doesn’t have nearly the appeal that a Pacquiao-Mayweather bout would, which bodes well for the press coverage of the UFC’s two, rather important, events in late March (the debut on Versus for the 21st and UFC 111 featuring the return of GSP just six days later).
Here’s a thought–under U.S. defamation law Manny has no chance. But there may be other courts that have jurisdiction over Floyd, including all of the markets in which the two participants agreed to split revenue of their fight.
BJ Penn’s comments about GSP are much more worthy of a U.S. defamation suit from a legal perspective.
Golden boy CEO was heard saying that Pacquiao is using illegal substance…he told a filipino reporter about it in golden boy office..so now they are convincing this guy to testify against Richard Schafer