Arum says WBC issue is 'no big deal'

Top Rank Promotions chairman Bob Arum said yesterday the WBC’s threat to strip Manny Pacquiao of the lightweight title unless he pays an allegedly outstanding balance of $30,000 in sanction fee for his fight against Juan Manuel Marquez and $100,000 for his Dec. 6 bout against Oscar dela Hoya is “no big deal” and will be dealt with next week.

“We’ll clear this up as soon as I sit down with Manny,” said Arum who phoned long distance from New York City. “We’ll talk about what Manny really wants. It’s his decision If he wants to keep the WBC lightweight title, then the fee will be paid. If not, we’ll move on. The sanction fee isn’t an issue.”

Arum said WBC president Jose Sulaiman’s public chastisement won’t affect the Pacquiao-Dela Hoya fight which sold out 16,000 tickets within the hour they went on sale and is expected to register over two million pay-per-view hits.

“The WBC shouldn’t have raised the issue publicly,” said Arum. “I think that should’ve been taken up privately. But it doesn’t affect Manny’s fight against Oscar one bit. If Manny decides he won’t go back to lightweight, then he’ll relinquish the WBC title and he won’t pay a fee for the Oscar fight.”

Sulaiman said Pacquiao owed the WBC a balance of $30,000 for his fight against David Diaz last June. He also said under WBC rules, Pacquiao must pay the governing body a 1.5 percent fee for fighting Dela Hoya even if his lightweight crown isn’t at stake. Sulaiman said based on reports of Pacquiao’s purse, the WBC should collect $100,000 for his coming fight.

Arum said from what he knows, Pacquiao has settled all his obligations to the WBC and if there was a mistake in accounting, it was the WBC to blame.

“This balance of $30,000 is a minor issue,” said Arum. “If after the records are verified, it is confirmed that Manny owes $30,000, then he’ll pay it. Manny’s an honorable man and that’s the honorable thing to do. It could be the case that he owes the WBC. If that’s confirmed, then I see no problem paying the balance. That’s not a big deal either.”

A source from Pacquiao’s camp said the WBC was paid $90,000 as sanction fee for the Diaz fight so there is no outstanding balance in that account. But there appears to be a discrepancy in the computation of the sanction fee for the Marquez fight last March. The WBC was reportedly paid $60,000 when it should have been $90,000.

“It was an inadvertent accounting error made by an accountant,” said the source. “I don’t think anyone deliberately did something to circumvent what is due to the WBC. This seems to be an honest human mistake. Manny had nothing to do with it. Manny knows his obligations and pays his bills. If he owes the WBC something, he’ll pay it once verified.”

Pacquiao was paid his purse for the Marquez fight in a check net of the WBC sanction fee. A Pacquiao insider said it was presumed the deduction was correct and nobody questioned the amount.

The WBC has reportedly assigned North American Boxing Federation president Rex Walker, also the WBC Youth Championships committee chairman, to coordinate the settlement of the issue.

“The fighter doesn’t pay the sanction fee,” said the insider. “The promoter takes it out of the fighter’s paycheck. So clearly, Manny has no knowledge of this matter.”

Sulaiman publicly announced the WBC would strip Pacquiao of the lightweight title if he doesn’t settle his bills within 15 days during the recent WBC convention in China.

Former WBC secretary-general Rudy Salud said Sulaiman was “out of line” and “the timing was poor” in bringing out the money issues involving Pacquiao.

“Knowing Don Jose, I didn’t expect that from him,” said Salud who took Sulaiman under his wing when the WBC was in its formative years. “I felt he should’ve been tempered and not gone publicly and angrily against Manny. It’s so close to Manny’s fight against Oscar and I don’t think Manny deserved to be treated that way. Don Jose should’ve handled the matter discreetly and privately.”

Salud said if Pacquiao refuses to pay the sanction fees, the WBC will not be able to enforce payment through the courts.

“The rule is governed by practice,” he explained. “It’s up to Manny whether or not to comply. If he doesn’t comply, the WBC will strip him of the title. Going to court is not an option. Lennox Lewis once refused to pay the sanction fee after a WBC title fight and threw his WBC belt in the trash can.”

Salud said it is unfair for the WBC to assess sanction fees without a cap. “I think sanction fees should be fair and reasonable,” he continued. “With the enormity of purses, there should be a limit to the amount of the fees. At present, it is three percent for title fights and 1.5 percent for non-title fights. If the extent of the WBC benefits and recognition is limited, so should there be a limit to its sanction fees.”

“Sanction fees are not enforceable,” he said. “If a champion refuses to pay the sanction fee, then he faces the penalty of getting stripped of the title. It’s as simple as that. But I remember Don Jose once mentioning that it is the WBC’s goal to sanction fights that the public wants, that money isn’t the main thing. I wonder if that position has changed.”