Pacquiao offered P125M deal

International Boxing Federation (IBF) superbantamweight champion Manny Pacquiao arrives in Manila from General Santos City today to confer with business manager Rod Nazario on a whopping $2.5 Million (or the equivalent of about P125 Million), three-year offer from New York promoter Lou DiBella.

DiBella, who set up his own promotions company DiBella Entertainment after quitting as Home Box Office (HBO) cable TV Sports vice president two years ago, sent his final bid to Pacquiao’s manager Marty Elorde the other day.

The major terms of the bid are:

• Signing bonus of $50,000.

• Bonus of $25,000 at the start of the second year.

• Bonus of $25,000 at the start of the third year.

• Minimum of $600,000 in purses for at least three fights on the first year.

• Minimum of $800,000 in purses for at least three fights on the second year.

• Minimum of $1 Million in purses for at least three fights on the third year.

Elorde said he negotiated an increase of the signing bonus from the initial offer of $25,000 to $50,000 and added the bonus of $25,000 for each of the second and third years. He also stipulated that the total purses will be for no more than five fights in a year. Elorde said DiBella agreed to cough up $15,000 in training expenses for each bout. There will be full disclosure of fight contracts and access to DiBella’s accounting books for examination, he noted. If the contract is sealed, DiBella will be Pacquiao’s exclusive promoter in the US for the next three years.

Elorde described the terms of the contract as "very fair." San Francisco-based lawyer Sydney Hall, who represents Pacquiao in negotiations for US fights, said it was "time for a change" and supported Elorde’s position to sign up with DiBella.

Last Saturday, Elorde’s lawyer Leoville Ecarma flew to Davao City to meet with Pacquiao and his wife Jinkee. They discussed the terms of DiBella’s offer for two hours. Pacquiao and his wife drove from General Santos City to talk to Ecarma.

Elorde said he has not seen Pacquiao’s contracts for his last two fights against Agapito Sanchez and Jorge Eliecer Julio. Pacquiao’s purse for Sanchez was $120,000 and for Julio, $70,000. But Elorde, quoting reliable sources, said the purses were much more, hinting that brokers ate into Pacquiao’s take. Elorde said he will demand copies of the fight contracts from the IBF to find out how much the purses really were.

Elorde said DiBella, a Harvard Law School graduate, assured him of legal advice on Pacquiao’s tax liabilities arising from his US fights.

Elorde, financed by Japanese principals Masami Matsunaga and Kunio Takayanagi, became Pacquiao’s manager two years ago for P1 Million in signing bonus and a monthly salary of P10,000 up to 2005. Pacquiao, in turn, signed Nazario as business manager with the exclusive authority to sign contracts in his behalf.

Elorde said DiBella plans to promote Pacquiao in the main event of an Aug. 17 HBO card in Virginia against an opponent of the champion’s choice. Elorde said he will leave it up to Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach to pick the challenger.

When asked to comment on this development, Pacquiao said, "Ako ang nabubugbog iba ang nakikinabang."

He said he would press Nasario to sign the deal with DiBella.