THE LEGACY fight between Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao and welterweight king Errol Spence Jr. will go on as far as the Superior Court of California in Orange County is concerned.
According to Pacquiao’s lawyer Atty. Dale Kinsella, the injunction filed by the Paradigm Sports Management (PSM) headed by President Audie Attar to stop the fight was junked by the court although the senator’s lawyer didn’t elaborate more on the decision.
“Today the Court agreed and resoundingly rejected Paradigm’s injunction publicity stunt in a strong and detailed decision,” Kinsella said in a statement relayed by Pacquiao’s publicist Fred Sternberg to the media on Saturday (Friday in US).
“As Senator [Manny] Pacquiao correctly said after this lawsuit was filed in June, he has an absolute right to participate in the August 21 bout with Errol Spence. Senator Pacquiao looks forward to his bout with Mr. Spence on August 21,” the statement added.
BUSINESSMIRROR learned though the decision of Judge Walter Schwarm was just a tentative ruling. And there is no ruling has been made yet about the advance payment worth $3.3 million, which the PSM is trying to recoup from the Pacquiao camp.
PSM sued the eight-division world champion for not including them in the Spence negotiation and for the alleged breach of contract.
But the Pacquiao camp denied the allegations by filing a cross complaint on the same court against PSM last July 31 for not delivering the promised lucrative mega-fight with Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts superstar Conor McGregor this year.
At the same time, the $4 million advance has never been fully paid, according to Pacquiao’s cross complaint.
Only the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) of Al Haymon, which was also responsible for Pacquiao’s last two fights with Adrien Broner and Keith Thurman in 2019, brokered the Pacquiao-Spence bout last May 21.
PSM lawyer Atty. Judd Burstein told ESPN reporter Mike Coppinger: “I would have preferred the tentative decision be favorable to us, but I live to fight another day.”
Based also on the report of ESPN, the judge made the tentative ruling on the basis that the evidence shows a low probability of prevailing in regard to the accusations of breach of contract and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
Pacquiao has no comment so far on the latest court decision.
Image courtesy of Ryan Hafey