Arum says Pacquiao, Roach payment a ‘non-issue’

MANILA, Philippines – Top Rank boss Bob Arum dismissed the row over Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao’s pays, calling it a “non-issue” and saying that both men had been paid for the fight against Jeff Horn on July 2.

The matter became a public issue when Roach told Sports Illustrated that he had not yet been paid his training fee, speculating that it may be because Pacquiao was upset at him following the unanimous decision loss in Brisbane, Australia.

Pacquiao issued a statement Wednesday, July 3 saying he had “no problem” with Roach, and that he had also not been paid by Top Rank. He said it was Top Rank’s responsibility to handle Roach’s payment.

“We’d been sending emails, a bunch, to Team Pacquiao to tell us where to wire the money,” said Arum according to a report by Michael Woods of RingTV. Arum said Pacquiao’s team did not respond until Wednesday.

“Once we got the response, we wired the money!”

Arum adds that Roach was to be paid through his agent Nick Khan and that he was paid by check via FedEx that day as well.

“I blame Freddie for opening his mouth for no reason,” said Arum.

“The fight was in Australia, it wasn’t a fight that happened in Las Vegas. We had to get money wired from where it was made, in Australia. And as soon as we did, we did our fiduciary responsibility, which was to find out where to wire it to. 

“All of this is truly, truly a non-issue. Everybody has the money they are entitled to, end of the story!”

Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 knockouts) has indicated that he will continue his career and is considering a rematch with Horn (17-0-1, 11 KOs), who upset Pacquiao for the WBO welterweight title.

Arum says any rematch would likely take place in November at Docklands Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. Docklands, which seats more than Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium with a listed capacity over 53,000, has a retractable roof which would guard against rain and intense heat. – Rappler.com