FROM ALI TO PACQUIAO, MURAD MUHAMMAD IN HIS OWN WORDS PT. 11: THE COST OF MAKING PACQUIAO A HOUSEHOLD NAME

"The world didn't know Pacquiao, so I stuck Pacquiao on every major fight's undercard and this is how I did it…I took short money and I placed Pacquiao under some of the biggest names in the business. I knew what I was doing. I was building the fans. Everybody started talking about Pacquiao…You would think we were the biggest thing in boxing. Ross Greenburg says, 'Nah, I still don't think he got it.'…So I called Bob Arum. I said, 'Bob, give me Erik Morales.' He goes, 'Are you out your mind Murad? Give you Erik Morales? We're not going to fight a tough nobody'... I'm no freak; I'm trying to get to the real money. I'm taking a shortcut. I believe in my kid…So I go back to Arum and I can't get the deal and here come all of the wolves coming after Pacquiao," stated promoter Murad Muhammad as he revealed intriguing details about Manny Pacquiao's bouts with Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez. Don't miss this behind-the-scenes look into the history of the sport as Murad himself tells his story in his own words. From Muhammad Ali to Manny Pacquiao, he has worked alongside some of the biggest names in boxing and you don't want to miss more of his extremely revealing tales. Check it out...

I did something different than any other promoter. They tried to say that I didn't promote Pacquiao. I am an intelligent man and surely I can have an ego and put Pacquiao and my name on the ring just for ourselves, but who would turn us on? The world didn't know Pacquiao, so I stuck Pacquiao on every major fight's undercard and this is how I did it. I said, "Kerry, I want the semi-event." He said, "Well Murad, there are a lot of people ahead of you." I said, "But will a lot of people take $125,000?"  He said, "No, you got it." I asked him for some major events and he said, "Murad, this is a huge event." I told him, "I'll take $200,000." I got it! Kerry told me for the Tyson-Lewis undercard, that was huge and people were asking for this and that and I told him we would take $250,000. I got it! I took short money and I placed Pacquiao under some of the biggest names in the business. I knew what I was doing. I was building the fans. Everybody started talking about Pacquiao. These pea brains out here saying, "He didn't promote him." Man, they don't have a clue.

So now I'm ready and I get $1.5 million dollars, but before I got that, they asked me, "Who do you want to fight?" I said, "Give me Barrera!" They said, "You ain't ready for Barrera." I said, "Let me prove it to you." They give us Barrera. I get a call from [Richard] Schaefer and he says, "Hey Murad, what do you want for Barrera?" I said, "1.2 [million]!" He said, "Are you out of your mind? I can't give you 1.2." I asked, "Well how much can you give me?" He goes, "I can give you $300,000." So I said, "Are you out of your mind? I ain't taking no $300,000?" He said, "350 is all I can give." Now, I could have told him to go to hell. I called Pacquiao's manager and I said, "Listen man, we got 350, more than we ever made before." He said, "Man, Pacquiao wants $500,000!" I said, "Well, where's he getting' these figures from?" He said, "Someone is whispering in his ear that he's worth a half a million. He said we took short money all this time." I said, "Okay."

So I go back [to Schaefer] and I say, "Alright man, I'll take $900,000." He said, "I ain't giving you $900,000; I'll give you 450." I said, "450? I'll call you back." I called Pacquiao's manager back and told him that we had 450. He said, "Murad, you going to put the other 50 in it?" I said, "No!" He says again, "He wants $500,000." So I call Kerry [Davis] and say, "Kerry, we going to blow this deal. If he's not willing to pay me my money, I'm going to have to call this off." He said, "Can you bend a little bit? 900 is a lot of money. He said call him back." So I called Schaefer back and he said, "Alright, this is our last offer." I said, "How much?" He said, "700." I said, "Deal!" So I called Pacquiao's manager back and let them know I got 700, the same thing I did all of my life. I didn't say, "Okay, you got your 500 and then I keep 200." I told him we got 700. He says, "Good deal Murad. 5 is what Pacquiao is asking for and 2 is yours."

So we put the fight on. While we in the fight, they realize that they [Team Barrera] getting ready to put the wrong gauze on, and I give blame to the Texas Commission because he didn't know nothing about changing the gauze and all of that. I told him, "The gauze will be alright if they don't wet it, so let us police it and make sure we get to see the gloves go on and they tied up." He granted it to me. So they shaking now because they can't wet it and they got the gloves on. In the first round, we whooping Barrera's tail, the 2nd round, we're whooping his tail, but if you recall, the bell went ding and seconds after the bell, he [Barrera] hit Pacquiao and dropped him. If he had that gauze that was soaking wet, it would have turned into a cast and that fight would have been over, but Pacquiao gets up and goes back to his corner and we beating him so bad that he's willing to quit in the 6th round. His corner told him, "You can't go out like this. You gotta fight like a man." He stood in there for 11 rounds and we beat him up and knocked him out in the 11th round. You would have thought we were God.

You would think we were the biggest thing in boxing. Ross Greenburg says, "Nah, I still don't think he got it." I give credit to Kerry Davis, who is the only one who believed in me. He's believed in me since day one and that's another story. So we are all in a room with Ross Greenburg, Kerry Davis and Mark Taffet and I said, "We want to take on Marquez, Erik Morales, Hatton and Mayweather." The President [Ross Greenburg] said, "My God, this is my kind of fighter." I said, "Well if it's your kind of fighter, why don't you give us a contract?" He wouldn't give us a contract, but Kerry says, "I will give you $1.5 million." Now I took Pacquiao from $500,000 to $750,000. So now he got 750 and now I got 750 of my own money. I could put the fight on for $250,000 and make $500,000 if that's all I want to do is make $500,000. No, I want to get to the millions. So I called Bob Arum. I said, "Bob, give me Erik Morales." He goes, "Are you out your mind Murad? Give you Erik Morales? We're not going to fight a tough nobody." I said, "I'll tell you what, I will give you $750,000 for Joe Frazier." He says, "What do you mean Joe Frazier?" I said, "Marquez." He said, "You will give me 750 for Marquez? Marquez can fight Murad." I said, "Yes! I'm going to prove to you and beat Marquez to get to Erik Morales." He says, "What do you mean you're going to get to Erik Morales?" I said, "Stipulation! You gotta sign that Erik Morales will fight me next and I will give you 750." Well, Arum thought that I was out of my mind; 750 for a guy that he bought for 100. So for 750, he signed the deal. We beat Marquez and we fight Erik Morales.

So we had the date signed 3 months later on HBO. I'm no freak; I'm trying to get to the real money. I'm taking a shortcut. I believe in my kid. We knocked this fighter down 3 times, all in 1 round; the fight's over. Cortez called the fight over. I know when you call a fight over, you turn your back and you wave the fight off. I'm damn near in the ring, but Marquez gets up, Cortez realizes that Marquez ain't finished, so he pushes Pacquiao back. I had to get out of the ring and he let the fight continue and it was a war for 11 more rounds, but still, we had a 3 knockdown round and no way Marquez won the fight, but they gave us a draw. Since they gave us a draw, I said we were going to sue everybody. So the Pacquiao's came to me and said, "Murad, we got a good lawsuit?" I said, "Nah, we don't have a lawsuit." They go, "Why are you suing?" I said, "Controversy! I want to turn the lights on. I want to make sure we don't get cheated next time. But controversy is what makes you big. We gotta give them something to talk about for 3 months because now we can't take the fight with Erik Morales because we're hurt."

So I called Arum and I said, "Hey man, let's postpone the fight." He goes, "Postpone what fight? In my contract it says you gotta win. You didn't win, you drew." I said, "Hey, you're right old fox. You got me on that one. We didn't put a clause in there, draw or win." But the Pacquiao's are asking me why aren't we going to win this case? I said, "Let me explain something to you, just use your practical common sense. Number one, people bet on Pacquiao. If they win, they are going to make so much money. People who bet on Marquez, if he wins, they are going to make so much money, but on a draw, maybe 1 % bet on a draw. You think they going to give back all of that money because the Nevada Commission is going to overturn the decision? You cannot do it. They will chase them out of Vegas. So don't count on us winning the case. Count on us opening up some eyes, turning on some lights and that we will be giving the people an understanding." So I go back to Arum and I can't get the deal and here come all of the wolves coming after Pacquiao!

BE SURE TO CHECK BACK FOR PART 12 AS MUHAMMAD REVEALS MUCH MORE ABOUT MANNY PACQUIAO AND HIS YEARS AS HIS PROMOTER

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