WBC to Pacquiao: Pay or lose title (Boxing body wants $130,000 fee)

Philippine Daily Inquirer
07 November 2008
Sports section
http://sports.inquirer.net/inquirer...1107-170736/WBC-to-Pacquiao-Pay-or-lose-title

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CHENGDU, CHINA—The Philippines' boxing hero Manny Pacquiao must cough up $130,000 (P6.3 million not P1.45 million as earlier reported) within the next 15 days or be stripped of his World Boxing Council lightweight title, the WBC said on Thursday.
The boxing body’s governors, meeting in Chengdu, are demanding that Pacquiao pay $30,000 in sanctioning fees they say he owes, or they will take his belt.
The WBC is also insisting that Pacquiao pay $100,000 within 15 days of his anticipated fight against Oscar De La Hoya or face the same punishment. That non-title fight is scheduled for Dec. 6 at the MGM Grand Arena.
“Manny Pacquiao is a great champion and the pride of the WBC. But he believes he is the ruler of the organization and that is not going to happen,” WBC president Jose Sulaiman told Reuters.
Pacquiao could not be reached at the Wild Card Gym, his training camp in Hollywood.
“If he doesn’t want to do it, he goes his way and we go our way,” said Sulaiman. “He has made a fortune with the WBC. He became famous fighting WBC champions like Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales and now he’s trying to kick us in the back and send us home. We cannot do that.
“I am very disappointed because he’s a friend, he is the hero of President (Gloria Macapagal) Arroyo and of the Philippines, and I feel very bad because of the way that we’ve been treated. But the phone is there and the door is open.”
Reuters

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Man, that's a lot of money. I didnt know the boxing organizations ask for hundred thousand dollars worth in sanctioning fees per champion. WTF?

I dont know about you guys, but if I were Pac, I'd just let the belt go. Alphabet soup title belts dont really mean a whole lot nowadays.

He's only got a couple of fights left before retiring, and the economy's not doing so well these days.

I'd rather keep that 130 grand on me than give it to old man Sulaiman and his gang.

What do you guys think?

 

:yep

I mean, that's a lot of money to collect from one fighter.

130 grand is already enough prizemoney for a PPV undercard fighter. Good fighters too.

 

If I'm not mistaken, way way back in the early part of the last century, the Ring magazine championship belt was THE one and only recognized world championship belt.

Then came the WBC in the 1970's. And all those alphabet soup organizations sprouted like wild mushrooms and they've been controlling a lot of boxing's influence and power up until today.