Manny Pacquiao Threatening To Sue Top Rank Over U.S. Rights Fees

Manny Pacquiao is none too pleased with Top Rank Boxing and hints at possible legal action against the company over payment issues.

On a post from Pacquiao’s Instagram account, the eight-division champion congratulated the company for its new broadcasting deal with ESPN before dropping a bombshell announcement about starting to initialize legal action against the company. The issue stems from Pacquiao claiming that he has not been paid for the U.S. rights from his July 15 fight against Lucas Matthysse.

The fight, which saw Pacquiao defeat Matthysse by knockout to win the WBA “regular” welterweight title, took place in Malaysia and the card was co-promoted by Top Rank partnering with MP Promotions. The title fight was supposed to be a pay-per-view event in the United States, but after missing key deadlines, the event was then moved to ESPN+, the new online streaming service launched by ESPN this past April.

After winning the WBA title, Pacquiao did not mention Top Rank in a post-fight interview in regards to his future plans as a boxer. Pacquiao would later tweet that Top Rank no longer has any say in his fight career and is a promotional free agent, confirming rumors from a few months back that Pacquiao’s deal with ESPN has expired.

Pacquiao currently does not have a fight lined up for him, but he has been in talks with Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn with the idea of having the future Hall of Famer fight on the DAZN platform. Two potential fights being explored for Pacquiao if he does agree to a deal would be against either former unified junior welterweight champion Amir Khan or against former IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook.