Might another big fight be on the verge of collapse? After filing a lawsuit against Manny Pacquiao last month, Paradigm Sports Management has filed a motion with California court system looking for an injunction that would prevent Manny Pacquiao from taking on unified welterweight titleholder Errol Spence next month, as reported by WBN.
In June the company filed a lawsuit alleging that it signed Pacquiao to a management agreement back in February 2020 and is seeking a $3.3M advance provided to him after claiming that Pacquiao breached their agreement in a number of ways, including the announcement of his pending fight with Errol Spence.
Paradigm claims that they had negotiated a fight for Pacquiao to face Mikey Garcia in Dubai that would’ve met his financial requirements of a $25M guarantee plus a share in the upside, but after repeatedly promising to put pen to paper and making a verbal commitment to the fight on May 21, 2021, Pacquiao instead tweeted out that he would be taking on Spence without the knowledge of Paradigm, which is alleged to be in direct violation of his contractual agreement with the company. The company says the result of Pacquiao’s actions have not only cost them monetary losses but has also damaged their reputation.
In response to Paradigm’s claims Pacquiao has now filed a cross-complaint, saying that Paradigm’s offer of a $25M guarantee was decreased when the actual paperwork arrived. Pacquiao’s complaint also states that he’s under a promotional deal with TGB Promotions before he ever signed a management deal with Paradigm and that his agreement with Paradigm acknowledged that Pacquiao’s pre-existing obligations took priority, thus not making his scheduled fight with Spence in violation with his deal.
If Paradigm is unable to block the upcoming Pacquiao-Spence fight, it’s requesting that the court grant a preliminary injunction that would prevent Pacquiao from making any future fights before its permanent injunction request is formally resolved.
As of now it’s hard to get a firm read on these types of legal issues. Just in the recent past we were all sure we were on the verge of an undisputed heavyweight title fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua before a legal order immediately scuttled those plans last minute. It would seem that a court order stopping Pacquiao-Spence is unlikely at this point, but the idea cannot be completely dismissed.