'This frivolous lawsuit intends to distract my preparations' - Manny Pacquiao reacts to Conor McGregor's manager suing him for $3 million
Manny Pacquiao recently responded to the lawsuit filed against him by management company Paradigm Sports, who manage Conor McGregor.
Deeming the lawsuit to be 'frivolous', Pacquiao claimed that it's a deliberate attempt to foil his preparations for a historic title fight against Errol Spence Jr.
Manny Pacquiao also revealed that his own lawyers were already ready to press counter charges against Paradigm Sports. The 42-year old said in a statement released on Monday-
"Paradigm Sports’ lawsuit against me has no merit. Sadly, this frivolous lawsuit intends to distract my preparations for a historic fight. But it does not bother me a bit. My lawyers are on top of this lawsuit and are ready to file counter charges against Paradigm Sports.”
Manny Pacquiao signed a deal with Paradigm Sports in February 2020 which gave them the exclusive right to negotiate Pacquiao’s next two fights. The deal also had a mega-money boxing bout between Pacquiao and UFC superstar Conor McGregor seemingly in the works.
However, Conor McGregor's manager and CEO of Paradigm Sports Audie Attar filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Manny Pacquiao accusing the Filipino senator of breaching his contract.
The lawsuit claims that Pacquiao breached his contract after agreeing to fight Errol Spence Jr. for the WBC and IBF welterweight titles.
Manny Pacquiao's lawyer is confident of winning the lawsuit
As part of the contract, Paradigm founder Audie Attar had previously negotiated a $25 million purse for Manny Pacquiao to face four-division champion Mikey Garcia on May 15 in Dubai.
According to the lawsuit filed by Attar, the deal fell apart as Pacquiao had asked for a $5 million guarantee even if he did not compete against Garcia.
But Manny Pacquiao's lawyer Dale Kinsella is confident that the eight-divison world champion will face Errol Spence Jr. on August 21 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Kinsella said in his statement-
“Had Manny Pacquiao known that Paradigm Sports appears to have had no intention of fulfilling its contractual obligations, he never would have entered into any relationship with them. Should this matter actually proceed beyond Friday’s filing in a court of law, Mr Pacquiao will vigorously defend this action, assert his own claims against Paradigm Sports, and seek to recover his attorney’s fees as well."