source: abs-cbnNEWS.comMANILA, Philippines – The decision of world bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire Jr. to switch promotional firms has renewed the bitter rivalry between Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. and Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions (GBP).
De la Hoya announced on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) that Donaire, who has fought under Top Rank’s banner for the past 3 years, is the latest addition to GBP’s line up of boxers.
"Nonito Donaire is one of the top boxers in the world today," De la Hoya said. "We're going to make sure he gets the chance to defend his world titles and stays as active as possible."
Arum, however, insisted that the "Filipino Flash," who is coming off a spectacular 2nd-round technical knockout victory over Mexico’s Fernando Montiel, is still under Top Rank until 2013.
“The contract with Top Rank is still valid... If you have a contract with one promoter, you can't sign with another promoter,” he said.
Arum said he has already filed a complaint with an arbiter in charge of handling their dispute with GBP.
“Today, we filed a complaint against Golden Boy with the arbitrator who has jurisdiction on the dispute between Golden Boy and Top Rank. The arbitrator will schedule the proceedings as quickly as possible so we can get a determination,” he said.
This is not the first time the two promotional firms are engaged in a legal battle.
Top Rank vs GBP part 1
In 2006, Top Rank and GBP clashed over the promotional rights of then rising boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao.
Pacquiao, who was then being groomed as one of Arum’s top fighters, was lured by De la Hoya into signing a contract with GBP.
De la Hoya allegedly presented Pacquiao a suitcase filled with $250,000 as a signing bonus for joining GBP’s stable. The offer was made shortly after the Filipino’s 3rd-round knockout victory over Mexican toughie Erik Morales.
However, Arum asserted that Top Rank had legal claim over Pacquiao, citing that their contract with the Filipino champ remained in effect.
Later, Arum announced that Pacquiao had returned his signing bonus to GBP and stayed with Top Rank.
This prompted GBP to file charges against Pacquiao and Top Rank.
In 2007, De la Hoya’s GBP agreed to settle their case with Top Rank under mediation by retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein.
Top Rank was awarded the Filipino's promotional rights but was ordered to give GBP a percentage Pacquiao's fight revenues.
Top Rank vs GBP part 2
In 2010, GBP again brought Top Rank to court over a revenue dispute in 3 of Pacquiao’s fights.
De la Hoya’ promotional outfit accused Arum and his financial officer David Lopez of racketeering as well as fraud amounting to millions of dollars.
GBP claimed that Top Rank owed them millions of dollars from the Filipino champion's fights against David Diaz in 2008, Miguel Cotto in 2009, and Joshua Clottey in March 2010.
GBP claimed that Top Rank falsely reported Pacquiao’s purse from the 3 fights, aside from employing deception regarding the money generated by sponsorships in the Filipino’s bouts.
GBP then sued Top Rank, claiming $5 million worth of damages.
Arum denied the allegations, saying the charges were frivolous.
Some boxing observers have said that the rift between the 2 promoters is one of the reasons why Pacquiao’s super fight with the undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. has not pushed through.
Arum had been quoted as saying that he will treat GBP as garbage after the latter came out with speculations that Pacquiao may have been using performance enhancing drugs (PEDs).
“Manny Pacquiao is dear to my heart, not because he's a great fighter and is very lucrative, that's true. But Manny Pacquiao is my friend, and anybody who defames my friend, I will treat as a piece of garbage,” Arum had said.
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