De La Hoya apologizes to Pacquiao over doping claims; defamation suit settled
MANILA, Philippines—Pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao has settled his defamation lawsuit against Oscar De La Hoya, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer and GBP itself, but will pursue the case against Floyd Mayweather Jr., his father Mayweather Sr., and uncle and trainer Roger Mayweather.
Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz told the Philippine Daily Inquirer from Los Angeles Tuesday that “Manny is very happy” that his differences with De La Hoya, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, and GBP itself had been resolved.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said he couldn’t divulge the terms of the settlement but noted that “we resolved the issues that we were raising against them and this will give us a chance to work together again.”
Photo by AP
But Arum said the case of WBC/WBO bantamweight champion
was not part of the settlement.
“We agreed that they (GBP) would stay away and if we (Top Rank) couldn’t settle with Donaire, we will continue to litigate with him,” Arum said.
De La Hoya and his group apologized for statements accusing Pacquiao of taking performance-enhancing drugs during his fights. “We wish to make it crystal clear that we never intended to claim that Manny Pacquiao has used or is using any performance enhancing drugs, and further state that we do not have any evidence whatsoever of such use,” said De La Hoya, and his group in a statement released after the settlement.
“Manny Pacquiao is one of the greatest fighters of all time, and we apologize if anyone construed our prior remarks as in any way claiming or even suggesting that Manny uses or has used performance enhancing drugs,” the statement added.
As for the trilogy between Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, Arum said the unprecedented worldwide promotional tour, would start in Manila with possible stops in Singapore, Abu Dhabi, London, New York, Los Angeles before ending in Mexico City.
Arum said he expected to kick off the promotional tour at the end of August, and end in the first week of September.
