Sources close to the information have informed us that although WBO jr. welterweight champion Timothy Bradley signed his contract last Thursday, WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao has yet to put pen to paper for their proposed June 9th clash at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Adviser Michael Koncz was rumored to have arrived in the Philippines early last week with the bout agreement in hand, but according to reports, Pacquiao still hasn't signed the contract to make the fight official.
While he's fully expected to eventually sign his name on the dotted line, one can't help but wonder exactly why Koncz, or promoter Bob Arum for that matter, has not made any official announcements regarding the fight. Thus far, the only person who has suggested that the fight is official is Bradley. In fact, it was last Monday when Arum gave his last update about the fight, saying he was hoping to make an announcement the next day. "It can be difficult dealing with a guy [Pacquiao] so many time zones away in the Philippines, but I feel very good about this and think I'll be in a position to announce something by [Tuesday]. I just have to get all the ducks in a row," Arum would tell Lance Pugmire of the LA Times. "I just need a complete sign-off from Manny." That was a week ago, and yet, still no announcement.
The question is, exactly what ducks does Arum still need to get in a row? According to Koncz, they had already ironed out all the details last Monday and they were just waiting for Bradley's side. "From our end, the fight is done," Koncz told ESPN's Dan Rafael last Monday. "I just got off the phone with Bob Arum and Manny, so we're done. I don't assume there will be a problem from the Bradley side. We came to terms with Top Rank on the fight and Manny has approved everything. This morning I had a number of conversations with Bob negotiating the June 9 fight and I relayed everything to Manny." But again, that was a week ago, yet still no official announcement from Koncz, Arum or Pacquiao. So what gives?
According to a source, contrary to what Koncz originally reported, there's still some "minor details" that Pacquiao wants ironed out in his contract. It's unclear if it has anything to do with wanting more money, however, as Pacquiao reportedly has already been guaranteed a career-high purse of $25 million. Then again, as I pointed out in a previous article, in the past, Pacquiao's guarantees were usually divided between himself
and his promotional company. If that's still the case, he'll likely see roughly $10 million of that $25 million gaurantee set aside for MP Promotions USA, and as part of his co-promotional agreement with Top Rank, his company will be responsible for a portion of the event promotion as well as the undercard fees. Thus far, it's not known what other fights will appear on the card. If he really is considering making this his final fight, Pacquiao could be trying to restructure his agreement to ensure that he'll see a much bigger percentage of the guarantee set aside for himself.
While it's not known when Bob Arum or Michael Koncz will officially announce that the fight truly is a done deal, Pacquiao is expected to arrive in the United States this week, presumably to do his deposition for the defamation lawsuit he filed against Floyd Mayweather. Perhaps Arum will get all the ducks in a row by then.
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