Manny Pacquiao was dealt a knockout blow in his latest legal battle.
Paradigm Sports Management was awarded $5.1 million in damages against the former eight-division titlist upon the conclusion of a jury trial held in an Orange County (California) court. The 12-person jury voted 9-3 in favor of Paradigm in its Breach of Contract lawsuit filed in June 2021.
The settlement amount was based on roughly $1.8 million in damages and an advance payment of $3,300,000 to Pacquiao upon entering an agreement with Paradigm in early spring 2021. The civil suit was filed shortly after the Filipino icon announced plans to instead face unbeaten and unified welterweight titlist Errol Spence Jr. (28-0, 22KOs) despite a four-fight agreement with Paradigm. Tuesday’s ruling was the realization of his wrongdoing.
“We are elated to learn of the jury’s ruling in Paradigm’s favor in our suit against Manny Pacquiao,” Audie Attar, founder and CEO of Paradigm, noted in a statement provided to BoxingScene.com. “The jury plainly found that Pacquiao testified falsely in denying Paradigm’s claims against him, and his excuses for his conduct proves our case that a breach of contract was committed.”
Per the verdict, Paradigm is also entitled to collect ten-percent interest on the awarded amount dating back nearly three years plus at least $2,000,000 in legal fees. The final tally puts Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39KOs) and his team in a financial hole north of $8,000,000 owed to Paradigm.
The legal battle began in June 2021, when it was learned that Pacquaio was not going to honor the prior signed and lucrative agreement with Paradigm. The lawsuit claimed that the two parties agreed to a four-fight deal that was to include a fight between Pacquiao and Mikey Garcia (40-2, 30KOs). Paradigm anticipated such an announcement in spring 2021 when Pacquiao revealed that he had big news to share with his fans.
Instead came the surprise reveal that the full-time Senator was going to challenge for Spence’s WBC and IBF welterweight titles atop a Fox Sports Pay-Per-View event from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The news prompted Paradigm and Attar to take action to protect their alleged investment. Their actions were met at the time with resistance from Pacquiao’s legal team.
“The complaint filed by Paradigm Sports in California state court is a frivolous effort to interfere with Manny Pacquiao’s upcoming mega fight, and it can and will fail for numerous reasons,” Dale Kinsella, representing Pacquiao on behalf of Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump LLP, told Boxing Scene upon the filing. “Moreover, had Manny Pacquiao known that Paradigm Sports appears to have had no intention of fulfilling its contractual obligations, he never would have entered into any relationship with them.”
Added Pacquiao at the time: “If this frivolous lawsuit continues, I will be proven correct in court.”
He was not.
Paradigm was unsuccessful in blocking the event, but remained confident of securing a legal victory.
Ironically, Pacquiao was never afforded the chance to face Spence, who was pulled from the card just eleven days prior to the event after a pre-fight medical examination discovered a torn retina. Replacing the unbeaten southpaw was Yordenis Ugas, who earlier in 2021 was upgraded to WBA ‘Super’ welterweight title after Pacquiao was relieved of the title for failure to defend.
Fate saw the matter ultimately settled in the ring, as Pacquiao was soundly outboxed over twelve rounds in what marked the final fight of his legendary career. He announced his retirement months later along with confirmation of a presidential bid in his native Philippines, though conceding the race after finishing a distant third place after claiming just 6.6% percent of the votes.
“As a boxer and an athlete, I know how to accept defeat,” Pacquiao noted at the time.
In the wake of his retirement and dashed presidential aspirations, Pacquiao has gone the exhibition route to satisfy his boxing itch. He dominated YouTube personality DK Yoo atop an independent PPV event last December, one week prior to his 44th birthday.
Pacquiao then signed with RIZIN Fighting Federation last New Year’s Eve, with plans to fight in another exhibition bout sometime this year in Japan. The matter was since introduced to the case, described on January 4 by Burstein to Pacquiao’s legal team as “disgraceful” on the basis of assurances made three days prior by Frances P. Brower—Pacquiao’s lead counsel for this case—that “Mr. Pacquiao does not currently have any agreement executed wherein he plans to fight.
“Should Mr. Pacquiao have any intentions of entering into any sort of promotional, managerial or bout agreement, we will provide [Burstein] with notice so that [Paradigm] is not caught off guard or surprised.”
The fact that the other side had to read about it through the media did not at all sit well.
“Whether innocent or not (i.e. your client lied to you), your blatantly false representation to me now makes it impossible for me to trust any representation you make,” stated Burstein.
Pacquiao’s name also surfaced as an option for unbeaten, second-generation boxer Conor Benn who continues to eye a June return while attempting to clear his name from an ongoing drug testing investigation from last fall.
Whatever is next in the ring for the iconic boxer and politician in his native Philippines, his team will need to perform better due diligence before signing an agreement. The recent financial hit is the latest proof for that, if not motivation for an undesirable comeback for the 44-year-old southpaw.
“We are appreciative of the court’s time and the jury’s careful attention to the facts of this case,” noted Attar. “Hopefully, Manny will have learned a lesson from the verdict and will henceforth act with the honesty and integrity that was so lacking in his treatment of Paradigm.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox