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Top Rank v. Golden Boy feud escalates with Pacquiao

As you all know, Manny Pacquiao had signed a deal with Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions prior to his demolition of Erik Morales last Saturday, a fight that was to be his last under Bob Arum's Top Rank banner.

Change of plans. Top Rank and Pacquiao are sticking together, and the Pacman has returned his signing bonus to Golden Boy. Golden Boy, as you may expect, is not pleased, and this could go to court.

This is turning into an all-out war between the two companies. Arum, in particular, has become flat-out nasty, as evidenced by Kevin Iole's article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. From the article:

"(Pacquiao) flew 15 hours to get to the United States and (Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer and De La Hoya) grabbed him, took him to a restaurant and throw a contract in front of him."

"He said, 'I want to discuss it with my lawyer.' They knew he had a meeting the next day with Top Rank, the kid kept saying he wanted to talk to his lawyer and Oscar kept throwing it in front of him, throwing it in front of him, throwing it in front of him."

...

"The kid never even graduated from grade school, damn it. He signed the contract and took the money. That's not right. It's not right. They can be all high and mighty and say they do everything for the benefit of boxing, but they are creeps. Trust me, they are creeps."

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