Just earlier today, Golden Boy announced that it had signed #4 pound for pound fighter Nonito Donaire to an exclusive, multi-year promotional contract. Donaire, fresh off his resounding KO win over Fernando Montiel, is rapidly becoming one of the sport’s biggest names and best fighters, so the signing would be huge for Golden Boy. However, there is already controversy brewing over this, and there looks to be an inevitable slate of lawsuits and other action to come as a result.
Donaire and Montiel were both promoted by Top Rank, but Golden Boy has its own star bantamweight in the mix, Abner Mares, who is slated to face Joseph Agbeko for the bantamweight tournament championship next month. So not only would Golden Boy be obtaining one of the sport’s best and brightest stars, they would also be able to line him up with their own in-house fights, in classic Top Rank fashion.
But no so fast. Bob Arum and Top Rank have already come out and said that they have the Filipino Flash under a valid, legal and still ongoing contract. Say what? It certainly brings back memories to when Oscar De La Hoya tried to woo Manny Pacquiao away from Top Rank, allegedly with a suitcase filled with money, and did so, until the legal fireworks came blasting away.
The two promotional companies have been at odds for years, in part thanks to that episode, and already have had a string of lawsuits against one another. This figures to be an additional one to add to the mix.
Top Rank says the contract between it and Donaire is still valid. Donaire apparently has said it’s not, because he has not gotten the 3 fights per year that the contract dictates. Top Rank has countered, saying that injuries were the cause of that, and that by picking up a one year contract extension, the contract extends through 2012, and potentially 2013 as a result of that injury-related inactivity.
So who will win out and get the prize of keeping Nonito Donaire in their promotional stable? Whoever it is, let’s just hope that this legal drama doesn’t keep Donaire out of the ring, where he belongs. Floyd Mayweather has already been on the sidelines largely due to legal issues, let’s not make it two of the four best fighters in the world.
