Pacman: No tradeoff

MANILA, Philippines - Manny Pacquiao will never use the lawsuit, which he filed against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and company as a bargaining chip for his highly-anticipated super-fight with the undefeated American.

“That was never the intention,” said Pacquiao’s adviser, Mike Koncz, yesterday after reports came out that the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight could take place if both sides reach a compromise.

Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, was quoted the other day as saying the fight could happen if Mayweather drops his demand for random blood-testing, and Pacquiao drops the lawsuit.

The Filipino champion has beaten anybody thrown at him, at any weight over the last five years, prompting Mayweather to accuse Pacquiao as taking illegal performance enhancers.

Pacquiao hurled Mayweather to court, saying the accusations have damaged his reputation, and included Floyd Sr., the uncle, Roger, and his promoters from Golden Boy in the lawsuit.

But Pacquiao, said Koncz, has no plans of dropping the case just to get the fight on. Besides, Pacquiao said he’s ready to retire, and not unless he gets what he wants he may never ever fight Mayweather.

“It’s Floyd who needs me. I can retire now if I want to,” said Pacquiao.

“Why do we need to use the lawsuit as a bargaining chip? That’s ridiculous,” Koncz told The STAR from General Santos City where Pacquiao is busy campaigning for the May 10 elections.

“Manny’s reputation has been tarnished. And we just talked to our lawyers in Los Angeles the day before yesterday. It’s full steam ahead as far as the lawsuit is concerned,” said the Canadian adviser.

Koncz stressed that the only way the lawsuit would go away is if Pacquiao is “compensated monetarily or the Mayweathers are punished by the court and asked to pay millions or if there’s an off-the-court settlement.”

Koncz said not even a public apology from the Mayweathers and their promoters can clear the air.

“Manny has said time and again that the fight is going to happen only if Floyd Mayweather lets the commission do what it’s supposed to do,” said Koncz, referring to the old drug-testing procedure.

Pacquiao said it’s always been the commission that has done the testing, through urine tests and blood tests before and after the fight, but not too close to the fight, and it should be the same way.

The Filipino pound-for-pound champion said Mayweather’s demand for random blood testing, which could happen the day before or even closer to the fight, was the American’s only way out of the fight.

“I’m sure Manny won’t change his position because we’re not spending thousands and thousands of dollars for the lawsuit just to use it as a bargaining chip for a fight. No way,” added Koncz.

“It was never our intention to file the lawsuit and use it later on as a bargaining chip for a fight,” he added.

A Pacquiao vs Mayweather could generate revenues of more than $100 million and the fighters could earn $40 million to $50 million each on their purse, pay-per-view sales, television rights, merchandise and ticket sales.

However, many believe that Mayweather was not yet ready to face Pacquiao after a retirement that lasted almost two years. So, he fought Juan Manuel Marquez instead, and will climb the ring against Shane Mosley in May.

“The damage to his reputation and lost business opportunities could be in the tens of millions of dollars,” Pacquiao’s American lawyer, Dan Petrocelli, said in a previous interview.

Pacquiao filed the suit in a U.S. District Court in Nevada against the Mayweathers and Golden Boy Promotions executives Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Schaefer, alleging that they made false and defamatory statements accusing him of taking performance-enhancing drugs.