Former 8-division boxing champion Manny Pacquiao found himself wrapped up in a legal battle in early 2023. As Conor McGregor stated already, the Filipino legend was ordered by a US jury to pay off a sum of $5.1 million to the Irishman’s management agency, Paradigm Sports Management (PSM) for an alleged contract breach. However, the tides have seemingly changed and now, things are looking good for ‘PacMan’.
PSM would say in front of the court that Manny Pacquiao had made an improper business arrangement after he got signed by the agency in 2020. The Filipino boxer’s contract prohibited him from cutting a deal with any other firms while he was still engaged with PSM. However, the court recently found Pacquiao to be not guilty, and the agency, representing Conor McGregor and several other athletes, isn’t ready to bow down to that decision.
Conor McGregor’s Paradigm Sports Management to appeal after court sided with Manny Pacquiao
Following the initial verdict of the lawsuit that involved paying PSM a total of $5.1 million, including a 10 percent interest rate that would raise the amount to $8 million, just like Conor McGregor claimed, Manny Pacquiao quickly gathered his legal team and investigated the situation to find that Paradigm Sports Management did not have proper license to operate in the state of California, according to its laws.
Manny Pacquiao has successfully overturned his defeat in his legal case with Paradigm Sports Management. Pacquiao was ordered to pay the company $5.1million last year after they sued him for breach of contract, but a California Superior Court judge has now written a tentative…
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) July 4, 2024
What do you think happened then? Well, the court decided to lift the initial verdict on the lawsuit and gave Manny Pacquiao a sigh of relief because the contract he signed with Paradigm Sports Management was deemed null and void due to its illegal nature. But it seems like PSM isn’t going to stay quiet because this time the Conor McGregor-represented agency is set to challenge the verdict and has revealed its intentions on aiming to appeal against it.
It is important to note that the ruling made by the court isn’t the final one. It’s a rather tentative one. Therefore, reports claim that there will be a status conference held in this regard later this month in July. It is important to note that Manny Pacquiao had already offered to settle the dispute with PSM with a 4$ million offer, but the agency refused it. But let’s take a look at the court’s ruling about the licensing issue.
Paradigm CEO’s license expired long before signing ‘PacMan’
Yes, you’ve heard it right. Apparently, the CEO of Paradigm Sports Management, Audie Attar, according to the judge’s ruling, admitted to the fact that he did not possess any sort of legal license in California in 2019. Also, the PSM CEO did not seem to have any recollection of whether he had a license in 2020, the year he signed Manny Pacquiao, or in 2021.
The last time Audie Attar did possess a boxing manager license in the state of California was back in April 2016. That license expired a year later on April 30, 2017. Since then, Attar never applied to go through the proper renewal procedure and ultimately led the court to rule the decision in Manny Pacquiao’s favor, according to Kevin Iole, a renowned combat sports journalist. Now, we will have to wait and see how PSM’s appeal pans out.
What do you make of Conor McGregor’s agency losing out on the $8 million in total they asked for? Drop your comments below.
