Arum: No breach of pact

MANILA, Philippines - Bob Arum is hoping that Nonito Donaire Jr., sooner or later, would come back home to Top Rank.

“We’ll clear this up. He’ll probably come back into our fold,” the 79-year-old promoter told The Los Angeles Times yesterday.

Donaire has sought a divorce with Top Rank, his promoter for the last three years, and reports said he has already signed a contract with Golden Boy.

Donaire, through his wife, Rachel, said the contract with Top Rank, technically live and existent, had been breached, therefore making him a free agent.

The Donaires said Top Rank failed to honor the contract that should have given the Filipino fighter three fights per year. But Arum said it was never breached.

Arum told Lance Pugmire of The Times that Donaire has been bugged with hand injuries the last couple of years, leading to six-month and four-month suspensions within the contract.

“By that, we’re just starting our third year with him; there’s been no breach,” insisted Arum.

If this holds, then Arum won’t find it difficult to convince everybody, including the Donaires, those at Golden Boy, and even mediator Daniel Weinstein, which is right and wrong.

And that the same thing that happened to Manny Pacquiao a number of years back might happen to Donaire.

Pacquiao once signed a contract with Golden Boy despite an existing contract with Top Rank, and the court ruled in favor of Top Rank, as the rightful promoter of the Pinoy icon.

“We have a valid contract and there’s an anti-poaching provision in our arrangement with Golden Boy, so Judge Weinstein will have to adjudicate that. Our contract prevails,” Arum contended.

Wherever he lands, Donaire, now the reigning WBC and WBO bantamweight champion, is looking at a fight in May, the 18th perhaps, or just 11 days after Pacquiao fights Shane Mosley.

Arum also defended his decision never to put Pacquiao and Donaire on the same card.

“You don’t put these two great Filipino fighters under one card. That’s not how you sell them,” he once said.