They blackmailed Manny Pacquiao

“Boxing is not about your feelings. It's about performance.” Manny Pacquiao

By Alex P. Vidal

IT appears Manny Pacquiao will climb the ring on May 2 fighting an opponent allowed to be armed with a revolver and a bolo in both fists.

The Moneyweather vs Pacman contract was a hijack and one of the most one-sided pacts involving the United States and the Philippines probably after the absurd 1955 Laurel-Langley Agreement and the Bell Trade Act.

There was no Filipino involved in the negotiation aside from Pacquiao himself.

All terms were dictated by the world’s number one blackmailer in sports: Floyd Moneyweather Jr.

Bob Arum (Top Rank boss), Stephen Espinoza (Showtime executive vice president and general manager), Ken Hershman (HBO president), Al Haymon (Arum’s bitter enemy and Moneyweather’s adviser), Richard Plepler (HBO chairman and CEO), Matt Blank (Showtime chairman and CEO) are all Americans.

Michael Koncz, Pacquiao’s legal adviser and factotum, is a Canadian.

Koncz, the most loyal non-Filipino member of Pacquiao’s boxing household, can’t beat the Americans in the negotiation table, thus he joined ‘em.

All the dotted lines in the rich contract were acrimoniously sanitized and controlled by a one-man army, boxing’s most expensive spoiled brat.

Where was Juan de la Cruz in the deal?

Not even a witness?

As an elected lawmaker in the Philippines, Pacquiao brings with him the sovereignty of the state wherever he goes.

Who protected his interest in the deal?  

It’s all a Moneyweather show.

BOMBER

A Hollywood movie starring a brown bomber from a conflict-ridden backdoor Philippines directed and produced by capitalist America with an all-American cast.

In a desperate bid to ink the elusive but richest deal in fight history, negotiators allowed Moneyweather to dictate almost everything, including perhaps the brand of Pacquiao’s underwear during the fight.

The Filipino congressman will be subjected to a rigorous Olympic-type doping examination, a random test that would compel Pacquiao to submit a blood sample even during the day of the duel.

We know it’s too much to bear for Pacquiao, but the gentleman from Mindanao had no choice but to tame the brash-talking and arrogant boxing dictator or the fight wouldn’t happen.

What about Moneyweather? Does the contract stipulate that he also undergo the same procedure? 

What's good for the goose that isn't good for the gander?

The purse split shows the cruelty and disparity of the one-sided contract.

But Pacquiao had to cave in to a ridiculous 60-40 share or the much-ballyhooed mega fight would end up in the pigsty.

Even the announcement of the fight--who will do it, the style, the time, the method--became a titanic issue. (Moneyweather delayed it as he was infuriated when Top Rank had supposedly leaked some details ahead.)

GHOST

Cleto Reyes Castro’s ghost would haunt the negotiators if they allowed Moneyweather to include in the contract a clause that would deny Paquiao the right to wear his favorite Cleto Reyes while the unbeaten American can freely choose his pet Grant Gloves.

In order to secure Moneyweather’s signature, negotiators were willing to hand over to the convicted wife beater even the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Since 2009, there was no effort for Moneyweather to make the fight with Pacquiao possible. In fact, it was the Team Pacquiao that walked extra miles to secure Moneyweather’s imprimatur.

Moneyweather manifested a grand dishonesty when he posted the following in the social media the day he announced the duel:

“What the world has been waiting for has arrived. Mayweather vs. Pacquiao on May 2, 2015, is a done deal. I promised the fans we would get this done, and we did. We will make history on May 2nd. Don’t miss it. This is the signed contract from both fighters.”

Take note of the line "I promised the fans..." 
Baloney.

What Moneyweather wanted, Moneywheather had it in the bag.

We hope they didn’t allow him to choose the judges and the referee.

With his rock star status, vanity and influence, Moneyweather can even ask Angelina Jolie to act as the round girl and Clint Eastwood as the third man in the ring, no pun intended.

It would be a total sell-out.