chop
09-25-2006, 10:22 AM
By Mark Vester
After being outhustled by Don King for the services of WBA lightweight champion Juan Diaz, Oscar De La Hoya gets the last laugh by signing the biggest American free agent on the market, Filipino idol Manny Pacquiao.
According to boxing scribe Dan Rafael, Pacquiao signed a seven-fight deal with De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions during a secret Monday dinner.
"It's done. It is signed," said one source to Rafael. "Oscar basically kidnapped Manny from the airport," said another source, who attended the dinner. "It was a substantially better deal than the one Manny was offered by Top Rank."
Not only does De La Hoya recover from losing out on Diaz, he also gets the upper hand on rival promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank, who was recently trying his best to sign Pacquiao to a promotional contract. De La Hoya and Arum have become very bitter rivals since the Golden Boy left Arum's company to start Golden Boy Promotions. The two companies rarely do any business together, but will now have two of their top fighters clash on November 18, when Pacquiao and Erik Morales clash for the third time in Las Vegas.
Bob Arum, did not sound like a happy camper when hearing the news from Rafael.
"If he signed with Golden Boy, that's part of the business," Arum said. "I don't give a [expletive]. I really don't care. We have enough on our plate to occupy us. It would have been nice to promote Manny but if we can't, we can't. Life goes on."
Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer would not comment on whether or not Pacquiao signed to his company.
After being outhustled by Don King for the services of WBA lightweight champion Juan Diaz, Oscar De La Hoya gets the last laugh by signing the biggest American free agent on the market, Filipino idol Manny Pacquiao.
According to boxing scribe Dan Rafael, Pacquiao signed a seven-fight deal with De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions during a secret Monday dinner.
"It's done. It is signed," said one source to Rafael. "Oscar basically kidnapped Manny from the airport," said another source, who attended the dinner. "It was a substantially better deal than the one Manny was offered by Top Rank."
Not only does De La Hoya recover from losing out on Diaz, he also gets the upper hand on rival promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank, who was recently trying his best to sign Pacquiao to a promotional contract. De La Hoya and Arum have become very bitter rivals since the Golden Boy left Arum's company to start Golden Boy Promotions. The two companies rarely do any business together, but will now have two of their top fighters clash on November 18, when Pacquiao and Erik Morales clash for the third time in Las Vegas.
Bob Arum, did not sound like a happy camper when hearing the news from Rafael.
"If he signed with Golden Boy, that's part of the business," Arum said. "I don't give a [expletive]. I really don't care. We have enough on our plate to occupy us. It would have been nice to promote Manny but if we can't, we can't. Life goes on."
Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer would not comment on whether or not Pacquiao signed to his company.