Manny Pacquiao Faces Lawsuit, Errol Spence Fight In Jeopardy

The upcoming fight between Manny Pacquiao and Errol Spence Jr. could be called off after Audie Attar of Paradigm Sports launched a lawsuit against the Filipino boxing legend and requested an injunction to stop the August 21 match-up.

Attar, who represents several elite-level combat sports athletes including Conor McGregor claims that he was negotiating for Pacquiao to fight Mikey Garcia next. The sports manager had already given Pacquiao a $3.3 million advance payment for the bout.

The lawsuit filed in Orange County, California was obtained by The Athletic. In the document, Attar claims associates of Pacquiao persuaded the ring legend to walk away from his planned fight with Garcia and towards a mega-money match-up with the welterweight champion, Spence, who’s under Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Championship’s banner.

Paradigm attorney Judd Burstein wrote in the lawsuit, “In addition to the millions of dollars in straightforward economic loss that Paradigm stands to suffer, the damage to its reputation resulting from Pacquiao’s breaches is incalculable. Just when Paradigm was at the cusp of establishing itself as a major player in professional boxing, Pacquiao has left its reputation as a boxing representative in tatters.”

Pacquiao’s attorney Dale Kinsella has since released the following statement on the matter.

“The complaint filed by Paradigm Sports in California state court on Friday is a frivolous effort to interfere with Manny Pacquiao’s upcoming mega fight, and it can and will fail for numerous reasons,” Kinsella said. “Moreover, 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.”

Do you think this lawsuit could force Manny Pacquiao vs. Errol Spence to be scrapped?